Sinister Scimitar: Difference between revisions

[[File:676934xiahou20dun20art0 6781.jpg|link=Dynasty Warriors|frame|Yup, That can't be good...]]

 

 

Whenever an army of evil creatures like Orcs and such is introduced, be sure that most of the time they will be armed with scimitars, falchions, sabers and other curved weapons. Alternatively, a particular evil character or warrior is armed with such a weapon to underline his bad guy status. Seen more often if the "good guys" or the "good army" wields straight swords.

 

Of course, this trope has one primary exception, if the hero comes from a place where scimitars and sabers are used as a "default", though in these case it's more like because everyone use them. See also [[Weapon of Choice]] and [[Good Weapon, Evil Weapon]]. Expect to see it often in [[Qurac]]-like settings.

Compare and Contrast [[Katanas Are Just Better]], which is the Eastern equivalent to this trope.

 

{{examples}}

* Many high-level enemies in ''[[Yaiba]]'' are armed with large scimitars, namely the [[Elite Mook|Mushroom Soldier]], [[Attack of the 50-Foot Whatever|Gold]] and [[Noble Demon|Gozuma]].

* [[Knight of Cerebus|Tao Pai Pai]] and [[Demon Lords and Archdevils|Darbula]] from ''[[Dragon Ball]]''. Also [http://images.wikia.com/dragonball/images/e/e3/YamchaVsGoku.png Yamcha during his bandit career]. This was [http://images.wikia.com/dragonball/images/f/fc/Westwoodsword.jpg carried over in the] live action adaptation ''Dragon Ball: The Magic Begins''.

 

 

 

* The Orcs in ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]''

** Played with in the [[The Lord of the Rings (film)|movies]] where elves too use curved Japanese-like weapons, but also Haradrim and Easterlings are shown wielding scimitars along with countless orcs.

* Mallorean soldiers in the ''[[Belgariad]]'' are described as using large and clumsy curved broadswords.

* Many evil guys in ''[[Conan the Barbarian]]'' are equipped with curved blades, expecially [[The Empire|King Yezdigerd]]. Of course, [[Combat Pragmatist|Conan used them too, as well as anything else he could lay his hands on]].

* In the fantasy novel ''[[Shadow Keep|Shadowkeep]]'' [[The Dragon]] pulls a large scimitar from his throne in order to take on the main characters.

 

* Orcs and Goblins in ''[[Warhammer Fantasy]]'' indulge in scimitars. Also the [[The Undead|Tomb Kings armies]], which at least have a egyptian-like setting.

* [[Averted Trope|Averted]] in the [[Pathfinder]] RPG's main setting, in which the [[Saintly Church|Goddess of Healing, Redemption, and the Sun]] uses the scimitar, along with her clergy. Played straight with [[Demon Lords and Archdevils|the Mother of Monsters Lamashtu]], whose worshippers use both curve-bladed falchions and [[Kukris Are Kool|kukris]].

 

* Orcs in ''[[Battle for Wesnoth]]'', and the Elves too ([[Your Mileage May Vary|depending on the occasion]]). Also the Naga.

* Marcellus in ''[[Onimusha]]''. Also Nobunaga's [[One-Winged Angel]] form from the third game.

* In ''[[The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim]]'', the Alik'r all wield scimitars, though they aren't evil, just somewhat suspicious in the eyes of the more close-minded Nords of Skyrim. Nazir, who's a member of the [[Murder, Inc.|Dark Brotherhood]] fits this to a tee however.

 

* In ''[[The Order of the Stick|Order of the Stick]]'' we have [[Overused Copycat Character|Zz'dtri]] who, being a clone of Drizzt, wields two scimitars and the Death Knight assaulting Azure City wields one and also the Beetle-men bandits. [[The Ditz|Crystal]]'s sword/dagger may count too.

* In ''[[Looking for Group]]'' the enemy soldiers attacking Kethenecia in the past are armed with scimitars.

 

* In ''[[Aladdin (Disney film)|Aladdin]]'' the guards chasing the titular hero wield scimitars.

* [[Looney Tunes|Hassan]], the huge arab guard who appears in some shorts and wields a massive scimitar.

* The wicked Jack-In-the-Box in ''Fantasia2000'' wields a scimitar against the Tin Soldier. Ironically, because of the curved blade itself he ends up slipping and [[Disney Villain Death|falling into]] [[Kill It with Fire|a hot stove head-first]].

 

* ''[[Bleach]]'' has [[Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass|Shunsui Kyoraku]]'s Shikai, which takes the form of two large scimitars.

** Also in the filler episode 287, which has a [[Arabian Nights Days]] setting features scimitar-looking Zanpakuto for everyone.

* In ''[[Naruto]]'', [[Those Two Guys|Izumo and Kotetsu]] both used curved blades.

* One of the other forms of [[Rave Master|Ten Commandments]] is [[Holy Hand Grenade|MillionSun]] which is definetively positive.

 

 

 

* ''[[Conan the Barbarian]]'' has also used several curved swords himself, including scimitars, sabers and tulwars ([[Knife Nut|which are wrongly described as long knives]]). He however often stated that he was at his best with a western longsword.

* Averted and played straight in ''[[The Dark Elf Trilogy]]'' and the rest of ''[[The Legend of Drizzt]]''. Drizzt Do'Urden (a dark elf but one of the most morally upright characters in whole series) wields [[Dual-Wielding|twin scimitars]], but so do some of the [[Exclusively Evil|other drow.]] Note however that in contrast to the typical drow, [[Defector From Decadence|Zaknafein]] used straight blades.

{{quote|'''Victor''': I thought swords had to be straight.

'''[[Dirty Old Woman|Mrs Cosmopolite]]''': Perhaps they start out straight and get bendy with use. A lot of things do. }}

 

 

* Kaleh, Kalenz and Li'Sarr from ''[[Battle for Wesnoth]]'', along with the good-aligned elves and orcs.

* Both Altaïr and Ezio from ''[[Assassin's Creed]]'' have used curved blades. Also justified in the first game, which is taking place in the Holy Land after all.

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Obviously Evil]]

[[Category:Sword Tropes]]

[[Category:Weapons and Wielding Tropes]]