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A sword, or any other type of weapon, that unleashes some form of "hidden" (or not so hidden) power when certain conditions are met, such as the wielder nearing death, blood getting splashed on it, etc. This weapon tends to be most prominently used in a [[Desperation Attack]].
Situational Swords are similar in concept to the [[Empathic Weapon]], but generally tend to be non-Sentient. When an [[Empathic Weapon]] is a '''Situational Sword''', it is usually [[Loyal Phlebotinum]]. Compare [[Evolving Weapon]] for weapons that "level up" and [[Full Potential Upgrade]] for weapons (and tools) that have to be powered-up along with the character.
A common subtrope is [[Weapon of X-Slaying]].
{{examples|Examples: }}▼
See also [[Only the Chosen May Wield]].
* One story of the ''[[Crying Freeman]]'' anime [[OVA|OVAs]] involved several parties falling under the curse of the Muramasa blades (explained below), which made the user go berserk until the sword left their grip.▼
== [[Anime]] and [[Manga]] ==
▲* One story of the ''[[Crying Freeman]]'' anime [[OVA
* The Medicine Seller's sword in ''[[Mononoke]]'' can only be drawn when he learns more about the titular monsters. But once he gets the Shape, Truth, and Reason, [[Crowning Moment of Awesome|asskicking]] [[BFS|ensues]].
* ''[[Rave Master]]'' uses the Ten Commandments sword, which has a total of 10 separate situational swords. However, Runesave is the one that stands out the most, simply because it only cuts things that couldn't be cut, like the wind or magic.
* In ''[[Inuyasha]]'', the titular [[Half-Human Hybrid|half-demon]] was given a sword by his father that becomes much more powerful if he's trying to protect a human from a demon.
** An even better example would be his brother's sword, a [[Healing Shiv]] that's useless against living beings but happens to be [[Revive Kills Zombie|the only weapon that can cut spirits or other enemies that are]] [[Made of Air]].
* ''[[Ranma
* Kaito from ''[[Hunter X Hunter]]'' wields the... well, '''weapon''' [[Sentient Weapon|Crazy Slot]] which randomly takes the form of one of nine weapons when [[Hammerspace|materialized]]. These include a rifle, a [[Sinister Scythe]] and a club. He cannot dematerialize or switch it until used.
* In ''[[Katekyo Hitman Reborn]]'', Yamamoto has two weapons like this: A baseball bat that turns into a sword when swung at a certain (fast) speed, and a bamboo sword that turns into a real one when he uses his special techniques.
* ''[[Naruto]]'' presents us with the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist, each of which posses a sword with a special ability. Starting off, [[Everything's Even Worse
== [[Comic Books]] ==
* The titular heroine in ''[[
== [[Fan Works]] ==
* Practically every magical weapon that appears in the ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]'' [[Peggy Sue]] fanfic ''[[I Am What I Am (fanfic)|I Am What I Am]]'' has one or more powers that require certain conditions in order to manifest or use, even if those conditions are as simple as "touch the hilt" or "draw from scabbard/holster".
== [[Film]] ==
* In ''[[District 9]]'' Prawn guns and tech are created organically and do not work when used by humans. The prawns are either too passive, too wild, or too undesirable to be used in human armies. Thus, MNU has spent the considerable part of three decades trying to develop test subjects with combined working prawn/human DNA so that they can develop a [[Super Soldier]] program.
== [[Literature]] ==▼
* ''[[Tortall Universe
== Gamebooks ==▼
* In [[James Swallow]]'s ''[[Warhammer
* The [[Lone Wolf|Sommerswerd]]'s "supernatural powers increase the bearer's CS by 8 (prior to the application of weapon skill bonuses), and also increase the sensitivity of his Sixth Sense. It is [[For Massive Damage|doubly damaging]] to undead foes and [[Power Nullifier|absorbs hostile magic]]. Perhaps its greatest power is the ability to kill Darklords, and it's possible, as stated in ''The Curse of Naar'', that it might be able to kill [[Big Bad|Naar himself]]. Only members of the royal house of Sommerlund or a Kai Lord can wield it. If anyone else uses it in battle, it will slowly and irrevocably lose its powers." On the other hand, whip it out in the wrong spot, every Tom, Dick and Rubicante shows up to kick your ass.▼
** Fortunately, evil beings can't take advantage of this to depower the sword -- if you happen to be evil and try to hold the sword it will melt your fingers off.▼
▲== Literature ==
▲* [[Tortall Universe|Alanna's]] sword Lightning reveals its powers only after she has {{spoiler|given herself up to death.}}
▲* In [[James Swallow]]'s ''[[Warhammer 40000]]'' ''[[Blood Angels (Literature)|Deus Sanguinius]]'', Rafen learns that to wield the Spear of Telesto, he must {{spoiler|[[Forbidden Chekhov's Gun|let loose with the Red Thirst]]. Fortunately for him, the spear protects him from [[The Berserker|the Black Rage]], the insanity that ensues when the Red Thirst runs wild in a Blood Angel.}}
* Felix's sword in ''[[Gotrek and Felix]]'' is enchanted to kill dragons and will grant its wielder extra strength and other bonuses, but only when fighting a dragon (or to get him through a fight so he can go fight a dragon later).
* In P.C. Hodgell's ''[[Chronicles of the Kencyrath]]'' series, the hereditary sword of the house of Knorth, ''Kin-slayer'', can cut through opponents as if they were
* The sword Sting from ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]'' glows blue when orcs are near, and is an effective weapon against them. It's also effective against [[Giant Spider
** The dagger Merry attacks the Witch-King with was also specifically made to fight beings of his nature, and so does crippling damage despite the Witch-King being a Ringwraith. In other situations, it's merely a decent hobbit-sized sword.
** Parodied in Terry Pratchett's ''[[
* Some of the Swords of Power from Fred Saberhagen's
** Shieldbreaker makes the wielder nigh-unbeatable in battle, but only if he's fighting an armed opponent.
** Townsaver has similar powers, but only functions when defending an inhabited place
** Dragonslicer is the epitome, it only has magical powers when wielded against a dragon.
*** Stonecutter too. It's only "magical" property is the ability to cut through stone.
* The titular weapon in [[Lawrence Watt
** Also, no one else can use it, and you will die if and only if you have killed a hundred men with it (at which point it turns on you and finds a new owner - they will then remain alive until their 99th kill, and so on until some poor soul is slain on first drawing the blade). At first the character is unnerved by not knowing how close he was and that he could die at any time. Later, the character realizes it was [[Age Without Youth]] and desperately tries to find a way to kill the last men. {{spoiler|Nothing that a youth spell wouldn't handle, though.}}
* Among its many other properties, the sword named Need in [[Mercedes Lackey]]'s ''[[Heralds of Valdemar]]'' series provides a considerable amount of protection from magic if it's wielded by a trained fighter. If wielded by a [[Squishy Wizard]], on the other hand, it gives no magical protection but instead makes the mage an [[Instant Expert|expert swordswoman]]. In the hands of someone with no particular talents in either direction, it does ''both'' (and some other neat tricks besides). Regardless, it only functions for ''women''. {{spoiler|(At least, until the intelligence within it wakes up from its long hibernation.)}} What might have happened if Need were wielded by a genuine [[Magic Knight]] is never quite shown in the series, since by the time it's an option, Need {{spoiler|has regained full sentience and thus gets a say in how she's used}}.
* In ''[[The Neverending Story (
* The black sword Dyrnwyn from the ''[[Chronicles of Prydain]]'' series can only be drawn by one of "noble worth". [[Heroic Wannabe|Taran]] at first assumes this means one born of a noble bloodline, but Gwydion later states that it is referring to character, not blood. In the hands of a worthy person it is an [[Infinity+1 Sword]] capable of slaying just about any evil being. Those who are unworthy tend to get themselves killed trying to draw the sword. Taran has to go through four or five books' worth of [[Character Development]] before he can wield it.
* In ''Blue Moon Rising'' by Simon Green, the hero finds a sword which, if its wielder is in a desperate situation ''and his concern is less for himself than for others'', will call down a magical rainbow that disintegrates the supernatural evils caused by the Blue Moon. He nearly gets killed trying to invoke the rainbow in a tight spot where ''he's'' the only one he's really worried about.
* ''[[Percy Jackson]]'s'' sword ''Anaklusmos'' (Riptide) is made from celestial bronze, and is only effective against monsters or those with divine blood such as other demigods. It is completely harmless if used against regular humans.
== [[Music]] ==
* The titular blade from [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iqH5TKWrL3Q "The Arizona Sword"] by [[Leslie Fish]] appears to have been enchanted to turn on its wielder if he tries to use it for unjust reasons.
== [[Oral Tradition]], [[Folklore]], Myths and Legends ==
* Tyrfing from Norse mythology was under a similar [[Curse]] for a long while. If drawn, it must take a life before it can be put away.
** This included one occasion where its wielder, an [[Action Girl]], had to kill a guy who just took it out of the sheath to look at it. There was no punishment for this, probably because she'd explained the curse beforehand and thus everyone present wrote the guy off as [[Too Dumb to Live]].
▲*
▲** Fortunately, evil beings can't take advantage of this to depower the
=== Tabletop
* The rules for intelligent weapons in ''[[Dungeons
** You don't have to go quite that far, however. ''Un''intelligent weapons with situational bonuses and/or powers are likewise a long-standing and rather more common D&D staple. ''Sword + 1, + 3 vs. spellcasters'', anybody?
** ''Weapons of Legacy''. There's no plot device or game mechanic someone didn't try to stick in D&D, so they made an entire D&D 3.5 sourcebook dedicated to weapons with specific purpose that unlock abilities via "achievements"/quests.
== [[Video Games]] ==
▲== Video Games ==
* Link's sword in ''[[The Legend of Zelda]]'' shoots [[Sword Beam|energy beams]] when he's at full health in the 2D games, otherwise it's limited to melee.
** The Master Sword is also known as the Sword of Evil's Bane, and can reflect evil magics. It's also stated to be unweildable by anybody but the true hero, and untouchable by evil, but those never play much of a part in the actual games. It also serves as a lock at least twice. In Ocarina of Time it hides the Triforce from evil, and in Wind Waker {{spoiler|It binds itself to Ganondorf, turning him to stone for all eternity}}
** [[Joker Immunity|At least until his next incarnation.]]
* Seen a lot in ''[[Final Fantasy]]'' games, notably with weapons like Ultima Weapon (attack strength is tied to HP,) the ancient sword (chance of putting enemies to sleep,) and some weapons in Final Fantasy VI (which unleash spells when used on occasion.)
** ''[[
*** As did the original game - some weapons would randomly cast spells when hitting a monster, others could be used as items to cast a spell (like Heal or Lightning) even by non-spell-casting characters. Leading to wonderful benefits like being able to cast Lit2 on sea monsters as a White Wizard using Thor's Hammer.
** ''[[
** All the Ultimate Weapons in ''[[
** ''[[
* ''[[Castlevania]]: Symphony Of The Night'' has swords such as the badelaire, which powers up as the in-game clock counter increases, and the muramasa, which gets stronger if you strike enemies capable of bleeding.
** Most of the weapons in ''Order of Ecclesia'' are based around the idea of being used in conjunction with each other, i.e. if you use two wind glphys and throw them simultaneously, they will create a screen-high tornado.
* In ''[[
{{quote|
:to
[Name of weapon] lets out a howl. [Name of special effect/attack] }}
* ''[[
** [[Infinity+1 Sword|Carsomyr]] also has a bunch of abilities which while ''technically'' always active only really come into play when facing spellcasters.
* ''[[Dragon Age]]'' also has plenty of these. In fact, using runes the player can opt to make their weapon like this ie. +10 damage to darkspawn.
* The ''[[
* In ''[[
* ''[[
** The DS remake gives Lucca the Spellslinger, a similar weapon based off the last digit of her MP.
* Several weapons in ''[[
** And the Sniper's Bushwhacka which does critical damage whenever it would normally do a mini-crit, usually against a victim of Jarate.
* In the ''Sonny'' series of flash games, many of the techs for the Shadow Psychological build are situational to the point of being frustratingly inconvienient at times, causing many to prefer the Electric Psycho build. In the Cold Hydro build, there is one attack called Shatter that can only be used on opponents who have 3 Ice elemental debuffs (if one debuff expires before Shatter can be cast, then it won't work).
* Almost every named character that fights in ''[[Goblins]]'' has a weapon that works like this: Big Ears' axe {{spoiler|can't hurt paladins}}, Complains' magic shield that does a random (usually offensive) countermove every time it is struck, Dies-Horribly has a psychic artificial arm, Chief's spear does a [[Macross Missile Massacre]] if he throws it, etc.
* Tavor's swords in ''[[Looking for Group]]'' reveal a map to Kethenecia when coated in blood.
* ..[[Sluggy Freelance
{{quote|
''Later--''
'''Gwynn (cleaning):''' Did you have to say ''every'' room??
'''Zoe:''' I couldn't remember which room it was in! }}
* Since being reforged with starmetal, Roy's sword in ''[[
* In a parody of the ''[[The Lord of the Rings]]'' example, Lambert of ''[[Irregular Webcomic]]'' has a magic sword that sings "Don't Stand So Close to Me" when orcs are near
== [[Web Original]] ==
▲== Web Original ==
* In ''[[Red vs. Blue]]'', Tucker's energy sword can function as a key at times, but is otherwise still a powerful weapon.
{{quote|
'''Caboose''': Or... it's a key all the time... and when you stick it in people, it unlocks their death. }}
== [[Western Animation]] ==
* ''[[He
* ''[[Samurai Jack]]'''s sword will not cut anyone pure of heart, as evident both when Aku stole it and tried to stab Jack with it and when Jack tried to use it to cut up a deer for food.
* The sword Rubilax in ''[[
* Lion-O of ''[[
== [[Real Life]] ==
* Smart guns are prototype firearms that use a unique locking system to prevent anyone who doesn't have the matching magnetic key from firing them.
** There are a number of systems: RFID tags, grip patterns, fingerprints.
{{reflist}}
[[Category:Power At a Price]]
[[Category:Magic and Powers]]
[[Category:Weapons and Wielding Tropes]]
[[Category:
▲[[Category:Trope]]
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