Knife Nut: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

 

There are two things about knives that make them special in movies and television. First, they are [[Badass]], since there is nothing more humiliating than being beaten with a blade [[Freud Was Right|shorter]] than your palm. Second, they are ''scary'', as a single glimmer from its profile in [[Ax Crazy]] hands has been known to provoke screeches of horror (that and the possibility that they're more painful than any gunshot will ever be). And sometimes, it is both.

 

{{examples}}

== Anime and Manga ==

* ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh!]]'': Yami Bakura. ''Especially'' in ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh!: The Abridged Series|Yu-Gi-Oh the Abridged Series]]''. "I like knives. They make me feel all tingly."

* Chloe and [[Mafia Princess|Lady Silvana]] in ''[[Noir]]'' and Nakhl in ''[[Madlax]]'' (almost) never use any weapons other than ritual daggers in combat and are nigh undefeatable with them.

* [[Spell My Name with an "S"|Kuro(u)do(u)]] Akabane (aka Dr. Jackal) from ''[[GetBackers]]'' pulls off [[Diagonal Cut]]s in rapid succession with his (wait for it) scalpels, when he's not throwing them [[Flechette Storm|en masse]] [[Calling Your Attacks|("Deadly Rain!")]]. And you don't want to know [[Nightmare Fuel|where he]] [[Body Horror|stores them]]...

* Arguably Alexander Anderson from ''[[Hellsing]]'' could be considered a Knife Nut, if you just replace knife with holy socket [[Bayonet Ya|bayonets]]. Much like Akabane, he can shoot countless amounts of these blades with deadly accuracy and slice entire subway cars in half with them easily. In one author's note section, Hirano goes so far as to say that the reason Anderson can produce so many out of [[Hammerspace]] is because he's actually fourth-dimensional.

* ''[[Tsukihime]]'':

** Shiki Tohno is the prime example: early in the story, he uses a fruit knife to cut someone into 17 pieces over the course of... one second. This isn't even touching the main ability of Shiki; he can see the "concept of death" on anything [[Functional Magic|under Gaia]]. Cutting the lines causes irreversible (and often dismembering) damage; striking the very center of something's "meaning of existence" ends its lifespan, destroying it so completely only memory remains. He could actually cut the lines or points with anything from a pencil to a corkscrew, because it's just a matter of tracing lines with something sharp for him. But since Shiki prefers his knife over everything else, and because of [[Secret Legacy|certain sides of himself]] [[Locked Out of the Loop|he's not initially aware of]], he's the ultimate Knife Nut. Despite being a carefree, somewhat-irresponsible goof.

** In the novels, Kino is shown to buy knives from nearly every shop she visits, often just because they "look pretty."

* ''[[Basilisk]]'' has all three of these: Akeginu, Hotarubi (from the Iga) and Kagerou (from the Koga) using knives as their [[Weapon of Choice|Weapons of Choice]], in addition to their own powers.

* Shenhua of ''[[Black Lagoon]]'' is as good with knives as [[Heroic Sociopath|Revy]] is [[The Gunslinger|with guns]].

* Palm Siberia from ''[[Hunter X Hunter]]'' definitely qualifies.

* Kallen of ''[[Code Geass]]'' has a knife disguised as a wallet that she ends up pulling on several of the main characters. The only reason it doesn't show up more is that she's also [[The Ace]].

** {{spoiler|Rolo Lamperouge's}} [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3lqzh76IbmQ weapon of choice] tends to be a switchknife that {{spoiler|he uses combined with his Geass}}.

* ''[[Gunslinger Girl]]'''s Pinocchio (particularly the manga version), cites knives to be his favorite weapon.

* ''[[Gunsmith Cats]]''. [[Career Killer]] Natasha Radinov uses a Spetznaz knife that shoots its spring-loaded blade.

* ''[[Full Metal Panic!]]''. Xia Yu Lan likes machettes, at one stage battling Melissa Mao with one in each hand. Even though Mao was armed with a rifle she was lucky to escape with her life.

** And this skill of hers can be traced back to its origins: Gauron. After all, he was the one that took Yu Lan in, and trained and raised her. It's revealed in the novels that Gauron's [[Weapon of Choice]] and specialty is with knives. Sousuke learned this the hard way during his first fight with him.

* The [[Nightmare Fetishist]] narrator in ''[[Goth (manga)|Goth]]'' becomes one of these over the course of the series. He gets his first set of knives from a collection left behind in a home that a [[Serial Killer]] had abandoned and quickly becomes proficient with them, his own homicidal urges being a strong source of motivation.

* Daggers were [[Vinland Saga|Thorfinn's]] [[Weapon of Choice]] for close combat pre time-skip, but he is good at [http://img813.imageshack.us/img813/6219/vinlandsaga05144.png throwing] [http://img43.imageshack.us/img43/6919/vinlandsaga05145.png knives] too.

* After being [[Break the Cutie|blackmailed and broken]] by her [[Complete Monster]] of a teacher, Chizuru Honda of ''[[Bokurano]]'' started to carry a knife with her at all times. She threatens Kako with it when he was about to rape her in her house, and {{spoiler|in the manga, she stabs him in the neck and slits his jugular with it when he [[Freak-Out|freaks out]] during his battle. And before dying, she passes it down to Kirie, who later uses it to injure Hatagai}}.

* The titular character of ''[[Violence Jack]]''. Due to not remembering his name, he named himself after his [[Weapon of Choice|signature]] jackknife. {{spoiler|His real name is [[Devilman|Akira Fudo]].}}

 

== Comic Books ==

** Also Batman's son, Damian.

* Here's some obscure ones from [[DC Comics]]: The assassins Hellhound, Brutale, and Lady Vic all make use of a variety of knives, as does the serial killer Murmur. Wonder Woman occasionally ran into a mercenary who called herself Moot, who favored a stiletto she called "The Moot Point". On the heroes' side, Nightblade and Black Condor II are both noted as skilled knife throwers.

* Many members of the ''[[G.I. Joe]]'' team (as well as Cobra) are skilled with knives, but [[Badass|Snake-Eyes]] has ''collections'' of them. His spike-knuckled trench knives get mentioned more than a few times during the Marvel Comics run alone, and his third costume (assembled from parts taken from his Cobra interrogators) has a pair of knives mounted ''right on his chest''.

 

 

* Shinji Ikari in ''[[Points of Familiarity]]''.

 

* In ''[[The Dark Knight]]'' the Joker carries a number of knives on him. He states that they're his preferred weapon because [[Complete Monster|he can savor his victims' subtle changes in expression as they die]]. He even carries a [[Noodle Implement|potato peeler]].

* ''[[Sweeney Todd]]'' infamously used the barber's straight razor for his killings. Between him and [[Jack the Ripper]], the razor soon developed a reputation as a murder weapon.

* V in ''[[V for Vendetta]]'' carries an arsenal of knives under his cloak.

* Mutt from ''[[Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull]]'' and his switch-blade, which he can be seen playing around with in a couple scenes.

* [[Rambo]] just can't live without one. He actually makes a knife himself in [[Rambo|the fourth film]].

 

== Literature ==

* Each member of the ''[[Black Dagger Brotherhood]]'' gets a custom-made, matched-to-the wielder set of black knives, perfect for stabbing the [[Mooks|Lessening Society]] members back to the [[Big Bad|Omega]]. They are hand forged (literally) by Vishous.

* Aly from ''[[Tortall Universe|Trickster's Choices]]'' and sequel. She gets this from her father, who exhibits the same prowess in the ''[[Tortall Universe|Song of the Lioness]]'' series.

* Briar from the ''[[Circle of Magic]]''. Seems to be [[Tamora Pierce]]'s [[Weapon of Choice|favorite weapon]] for commoners.

* [[Terry Pratchett]]'s [[Discworld]] series features a multitude:

** Carcer Dun is a knife-wielding, psychopathic [[Serial Killer]] who always has an extra one.

** Assassins in general are known to conceal so many knives on their person that they could qualify as a live-in kitchen.

** Lord Vetinari keeps a drawer full of sharp, pointy greetings for rude callers.

* In ''[[Snow Crash]]'', Raven, named by Hiro Protagonist as "[[Badass|the baddest motherfucker in the world]]," is an Aleut from a tribe that perfected the art of making glass knives with [[Absurdly Sharp Blade|monomolecular edges that cut right through kevlar]]. Raven carries an arsenal of them, using them for throwing and fighting. Before the story begins, he steals a nuclear warhead from a submarine after slaughtering the entire crew with his knives. Uncle Enzo, the leader of the Mafia as well as an ex-commando, always carries a straight razor in his pocket. In the end, {{spoiler|the two have themselves a knife fight. Enzo manages to shatter Raven's knives, but gets the worst of the exchange.}}

* Chisel of ''[[Illegal Aliens]]'' who carries hundreds of them at any given point in time. {{spoiler|He survives being stomped by a giant robot due to the sheer number of knives providing impromptu armor}}.

* In ''[[Malazan Book of the Fallen]]'', Kalam Mekhar, Rallick Nom, Crokus, and Apsalar all use daggers and throwing knives to impressive effect against better-armed enemies. Most of the assassin characters in the series, especially the Malazan Claws, are armed with pairs of knives.

* In ''[[The Edge (novel)|The Edge]]'', Declan is quick with his blades and has a canvas roll of knives he cleans regularly. The little boy Jack is awed by the display. Later Declan baits a trap for Jack with a particular knife he'd been eyeing, and then bribes him into cooperating with the knife.

* In [[Andrew Vachss]]'s Burke books, Michelle is said to be very fast with a straight razor.

* In ''[[The Belgariad]]'', Silk, Liselle, Sadi, Relg and Beldin all have a fondness for knives in combat. Silk usually carries at least three or four, Sadi [[Poisoned Weapon|poisons]] his, and Relg's has all sorts of sticky-out bits <ref>That's a technical term.</ref> that do all kind of nasty things both on the way in and on the way out again. Beldin's has ''hooks''. Liselle is straightforward and discreet about hers, at least compared to the others. She only carries a couple of small simple daggers.

* In ''[[Dracula]]'', Quincy Morris carries around a large bowie knife as part of his characterization as an American cowboy. Later he's upstaged by Arthur Holmwood, who busts out a kukri from his days in the military.

* The eponymous character of ''[[The Acts of Caine]]''.

 

== Live-Action TV ==

 

== Tabletop Games ==

** Lelith Hesperax, just to put some specifics out there. Most Dark Elves in Fantasy use swords more than knives, though.

*** To elaborate on just how much of a knife-nut Lillith is; she carries two very sharp, pointy knives as her main weapon of choice, her ''fingernails'' have knifeblades surgically attatched to the underside of them (and for good masure she keps the natural part filed to a point), with the same deal for her toes. She also carries razorblades between her toes, to add a [[Just for Pun|little extra kick]]. Lastly, her very long, very thick hair is filled with razorblades and wire. Sh can [[Battle Dancer|effortlessly and gracefully]] kill you with any of these whilst [[In Love with Your Carnage|making the battle look like a pornography]] (helped by her Stripperiffic outfit ([[No Kill Like Overkill|which is practically made out of knives]]).

* There are also the prestige classes Daggerspell Mage and Daggerspell Shaper, arcane caster/rogue and druid/rogue hybrids, repectively, that gain special abilities when wielding daggers.

* The Whisperknife is a halfling only prestige class that specializes in light thrown weapons, usually daggers.

* Knives are part of standard Al Amarjan dress in ''[[Over the Edge]]''. They're mostly used to open up chip packets and the like.

* In the old Warhammer Battle skirmish-based spin-off, [[Mordheim]], there's a special mercenary character called Johann The Knife... and he has a special rule called Knife Fighter Extraordinare that allows him to bypass the limit of three knives thrown during his turn, allowing him to throw six knives per turn if he doesn't move. He's so good with knives that they count for swords during battle.

** While calling her a nut would be an insult, [[Resident Evil 5|Sheva]] stabs {{spoiler|Wesker}} seventeen times with a knife.

** {{spoiler|Jill}} is portrayed as stabbing with her knife when other characters swipe.

* Larxene, the [[Psycho Electro]] [[Dark Action Girl]] of ''[[Kingdom Hearts]]''.

* One of the [[Rule of Fun|funnest]] parts of ''[[Assassin's Creed]]'' is to kill as many people as possible with your hidden blade. This is particularly fun with the beggars, who constantly harass you for coins, or the lepers, who are apparently well enough to push you two metres back whenever you get remotely near them.

** This may have something to do with the fact that, besides the Hammer and the weaker Nanatsu Yoru, the Knife is one of the only weapons that can kill without draining all of your energy.

* Sherudo Garo, the Stage 2 boss and [[Big Bad]] of ''[[Time Crisis]]''. Given how annoying knives are in the ''Time Crisis'' series, this also has the effect of making him into [[That One Boss]].

** * ahem* ''Queen of Blades''.

* Kyrie of ''[[World Destruction]]: Michibikareshi Ishi'' uses knives for his basic attack. All his attack spells involve either knives or throwing several knives. His [[Limit Break]] can throw up to ''sixteen'' knives that, due to lazy programming, hit ''every enemy''.

** ''Dorkly'' in "[http://www.dorkly.com/post/59701/the-reality-of-call-of-duty-multiplayer The Reality of Call of Duty Multiplayer]" shows how "guns vs. knifes" works in CoD in general.

* The Green Beret character from the ''[[Commandos]]'' series is something of a knife nut, even quipping that they should help an isolated group of Allied soldiers by "offering a hand. Or a knife." Plus, the Diver can throw knives from the second game on.

* Souji in ''[[Suika]]'' always carries a silver knife in his pocket, but isn't actually a murderer or anything. But he does consider using it at several points and appears to have a fairly violent side that he suppresses. {{spoiler|It's finally justifiably used near the end, but he doesn't kill anyone.}}

* Konstantin Brayko in [[Alpha Protocol]] is a both a nutter and a knife fanatic. A [[Incredibly Lame Pun|Knife Nutjob]], if you will. Michael himself uses a knife for stealth kills.

** ''OOTS'' also contains a subversion: in strip [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0393.html #393], Nale's knife is apparently no match for Elan's rapier and Elan mocks him for it.

* A battle of the [[Badass|bad asses]] occurs in ''[[Rice Boy]]'', when T-O-E and Angel Eye fight, both using knives.

* [[Achewood|Oooh]], [[Memetic Mutation|these]] [http://achewood.com/index.php?date=12072001 knives]!

* The Jakeskin cultists in ''[[Templar, Arizona]]'' are armed with giant razor sharp knives from an early age.

* Jack Noir/Spades Slick of ''[[Homestuck]]''.

* The hero has his trusty knives in ''[[Problem Sleuth]]''.

* [[The Voiceless|Finland]] of ''[[Scandinavia and The World]]'' is always seen with a knife in his hand.

* "[http://rustyandco.com/comic/level-4-1/ Stabs]" Doogan from ''[[Rusty and Co.|Rusty and Co]]'', notable for having more knives on her [http://rustyandco.com/comic/level-5-6/ at any time] than most monsters have [[Hit Points]].

* From ''[[String Theory (webcomic)|String Theory]]'', We have [[The Hannibal Lecter|Professor Phineas Armastus]], the resident [[Serial Killer|psychopathic murderer]] of [[Hellhole Prison|Nevada State Penientiary]], can clear a room of guards armed with automatic rifles [[Badass|in a matter of seconds]], with nothing but a pair of prison shanks. [[Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking|And then take their gummy bears.]]

* Vekken va Kapo from [[Ley Lines]] is definitely a knife nut. It's plain to see and confirmed by [[Word of God]]. He carries at least 4 knives, hidden in his shirt.

 

== Web Original ==

* [[Darwin's Soldiers|Dr. Kerzach's]] [[Weapon of Choice]] is his amorphous metal switchblade. He is quite proficient with its use as a weapon too.

* [http://www.youtube.com/user/cutlerylover Cutlerylover] has a channel (as you can tell from the title) primarily focused on blades, knives in particular.

* Evan of ''[[Everyman HYBRID]]'' is an absolute fiend for knives, switchblades, cleavers, daggers, and knife gloves a la [[Nightmare On Elm Street|Freddy Krueger]]. He's rarely seen without some kind of cutlery in his hand, which is getting increasingly worrisome, as he seems to be on a [[Sanity Slippage|greased slide to]] [[Ax Crazy|Ax Craziness]].

** EMERGENCY. MACHETE.

* On the Greek isle of Crete, knives are a big part of the local culture.

* Highlanders in the British army were restricted to carrying a maximum of 11 knives. And then there's the dirk and sgian dubh, two knives that go with traditional dress.

* Multiple murderer Donald Gonzalez actually was nicknamed "the Knife Nut" by the media.

* Gabe Newell of [[Valve]] has an impressive knife collection in his office that has been shown off in a couple of video tours. No word on him actually using them on anyone, though.

* Cassius Marcellus Clay was a Kentucky statesman and abolitionist. The American ambassador to the court of Russia during the 1860's, he was known to always carry a pearl handled Bowie knife, even to formal events. He's credited with writing a treatise on the history and use of the Bowie knife. He used his knife both in duels and to defend himself from the occasional would-be assassin.

 

* Dark Hunter Lariska in ''[[Bionicle]]'' uses poison tipped throwing knives.

* A Philippine [[Urban Legend]] exists that warns people of Batangueños,<ref>residents of Batangas province</ref> for every one of them carries a ''[[Butterfly Knife|balisong]]'' and will use it to settle matters of honor.

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Sword Tropes]]

[[Category:Weapons and Wielding Tropes]]

[[Category:Sniper Index]]

[[Category:Alliterative Trope Titles]]