Throwing Your Sword Always Works: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

[[File:conan_sword_throwing_1826.jpg|link=Conan|frame|"[[Star Wars|You are unwise to lower your defenses!]]"]]

 

{{quote|''We've all [[Seen It a Million Times|seen it a dozen times]] in the vids. Some hero's just about to lose the climactic battle. Out of [[Desperation Attack|desperation]], he throws his sword. It flies end-over-end (usually with the camera right behind it) and plunges through the villain, skewering him like a Morrocan shish kebab.''|''The Last Crusaders'' sourcebook for ''[[Deadlands]]: Hell on Earth''}}

 

Compare (or contrast) [[Throw-Away Guns]]. See also [[Throwing Your Shield Always Works]] too. This almost always results in [[The Blade Always Lands Pointy End In]], although that can also result from accidental falls as well as deliberate throws. When the thrown sword is used as a ladder, stepping stone, or perch, it will also be [[Stepping Stone Sword]]. Contrast [[Give Me a Sword]], where the character may throw the sword but is ''not'' intending to commit any damage, just trying to get it to someone who can use it.

{{examples}}

* ''[[Rurouni Kenshin]]''

** Used in a modified form in an early chapter: Kenshin, having lost the use of his right arm, launches his sword ''hilt-first'' at his opponent (a move called the Hi Ryuu Sen, or Flying Dragon Flash). It nails his opponent between the eyes for the win.

 

 

* [[Deadpool]] uses this as a brilliantly timed anticlimax in an issue of ''[[Cable and Deadpool]]''.

* The ''[[Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles]]'' do this all the time. Raphael throws a sai ([[Truth in Television|which works]]), Donatello throws his staff, and Michelangelo sometimes throws a nunchaku!

* It ''would've'' worked for Storm Shadow in his debut in the [[Marvel Comics|Marvel]] ''[[G.I. Joe]]'' series, to Scarlett's detriment, but Snake-Eyes [[Badass|catches it between his hands,]] ''[[Badass|from behind Scarlett, who was wearing a rocket-powered glider at the time.]]''

 

* In the ''[[World of Warcraft]]'' [[Fan Vid|Fan Movie]] ''[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fozx05qRb-A Tales of the Past]'', Alexandros Mograine is attacked by a giant voidwalker during the battle at Blackrock Mountain. While he's shielding himself with Light powers, he sees the orc warlock controlling the voidwalker, then hurls his sword at the orc. It goes ''right through the warlock's head''. The voidwalker, no longer bound to the warlock's will, dissipates.

* ''Ryan vs. Dorkman 2'' ends this way.

 

 

* An old classic, Disney's ''[[Sleeping Beauty]]'', features a sword-throw at the climax which may have inspired some of the others. This is how Prince Phillip kills Maleficent after she has transformed into a dragon. However, in this case the effectiveness of the attack is [[Justified Trope|justified]] by the magic Flora, one of the Fairy Godmothers, uses to enchant his sword so it would "Fly swift and sure, that Evil die and Good endure."

* In the [[Chuck Jones]] animated version of ''[[The Phantom Tollbooth]]'', Milo defeats the assembled demons by {{spoiler|throwing the Mathemagician's pencil like a javelin}}. This is even odder because the weapon in question didn't work by physical contact in the first place.

 

 

* The scene in ''[[Freddy vs. Jason]]'' where Jason throws his machete (which is on fire) through the fat guy's chest is a great example. It also doesn't seem too hard for Jason, a super-strong guy who seems to know how to properly use any form of weaponry.

* ''[[Star Wars]]''

 

 

* In the ''[[Lone Wolf]]'' series, the opportunity to throw your sword is very rarely given, since the hero has usually plenty better opportunities, like using a [[Bow and Sword In Accord|bow and arrow]] or even [[Magic Knight|offensive magic]] in the later books. There is however one noteworthy occurrence in Book 12, ''The Masters of Darkness''. If you draw the [[Infinity+1 Sword|Sommerswerd]] before [[Mid Boss|Darklord Kraagenskûl]] to fight his Crypt Spawns, Lone Wolf is forced to throw the Sun Sword at his back before he'd alert [[Big Bad|Darklord Gnaag]]. It never miss and Kraagenskûl is badly wounded either way, but on a low roll he's still able to warn his master, making "[[The Many Deaths of You|your life and your mission end here]]."

 

 

* In [[G. K. Chesterton]]'s epic poem ''The Ballad of the White Horse'' Colan of Caerleon kills the Danish Prince Harold with a thrown sword -- the problem of not having a sword is then fixed as [[Give Me a Sword|his fellow commanders compete to give him their own swords to replace it]].

** Apparently this is also part of the battle of philosophical allegories that make up the subtext of the piece and symbolizing GKCs rejection of the racial destiny theories that were popular around that time.

 

 

* ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]''. Buffy has done it on occasion. In Season 5, it was her "seriously don't interrupt me" move, while laying the verbal smackdown on the Watcher's Council.

** Also subverted; see below.

* In the Season 1 finale of ''[[Once Upon a Time (TV series)|Once Upon a Time]]'', Emma {{spoiler|throws the sword to slay Maleficent in dragon form, in order to retrieve the true love potion}}.

 

* The Norse hero Sigurd is stabbed in his sleep by Gutthorm. Before he dies, Sigurd flings his sword after the fleeing Guttorm, cutting him cleanly in half. This incident is told identically in ''Prose Edda'', ''Poetic Edda'' and ''[[The Saga of the Volsungs|Volsunga Saga]]''.

 

 

* ''[[Dungeons and Dragons]]''

** ''Basic D&D'' provides rules for rarely thrown weapons in the Master Set. Targets may get a saving throw to halve damage, making it a less-than-perfect tactic.

** The 3.5 source book ''Tome of Battle'' has the 8th level maneuver '''Lightning Throw'''. You throw your weapon to deal damage in a 30ft line (meaning that it theoretically over-penetrates), dealing normal weapon damage plus 12d6. The save is Reflex for half; the DC of which is the results of an attack roll, and the one class that can get it has full BAB progression. Your weapon even returns to your hand at the end of the round.

** And several magical melee weapons (such as the Dwarven Thrower) are specifically enchanted to be able to be thrown at an enemy.

* The Leaping Storm fu power "Loyal Steel" in ''[[Feng Shui]]'' allows a character to throw his sword at an opponent and deal full melee damage before having it return to him like a boomerang.

* Similarly, the Solar Exalted of White Wolf's ''[[Exalted]]'' can use the aptly named "Iron Raptor Technique" to throw any weapon (but mostly swords) at a target, after which the weapon will return. It acts as a normal melee attack.

 

 

* In ''[[Growlanser]]: Wayfarer of Time'', the character Vallery wields a throwing sword as his ring weapon of choice.

* ''[[Fire Emblem]]'':

 

 

* Played with in ''[http://www.flashring.com/content/stick/sstunts/stairjump.shtml Stairjump]''. Someone throws a sword at someone else, only for him to fall down the stairs and impale the first through the head.

 

 

* [[MAG-ISA]] -- [http://mag-isa.thecomicseries.com/comics/pl/119604 Claudita throws her sword to finish off a demon.]

* The Other in ''[[Girl Genius]]'' throws a sword to kill off an enemy holding up a delicate piece of machinery.

* ''[[Errant Story]]'' plays with this trope (with a little magical help) in [http://www.errantstory.com/2009-04-06/959 these] [http://www.errantstory.com/2009-04-08/960 two] strips.

* Happens all the time in ''[[Hitmen for Destiny]]'', but the sword in question is magical and is able to find its target.

 

* Taken to ridiculous extremes in the ''[[Kate Modern]]'' episode "The Wedding Video". [[Ninja]] Charlie fights off a bunch of monsters with a [[Katanas Are Just Better|katana]], which gets bent out of shape when one of the monsters blocks it. She then throws it like a [[Precision-Guided Boomerang|boomerang]], which slices through all the monsters in the room -- apart from Demon Rupert -- before embedding itself in the wall, right next to where Charlie is standing. Charlie pulls it out of the wall (bending it back into shape in the process) and throws it directly at Rupert, skewering him.

* In ''[[Zeon Quest]]'', then-rookie Zolomon Ringo kills not one, but two Federation jets by throwing his [[Humongous Mecha|Zaku's]] Tomahawk at them. He hasn't stopped being awesome since.

 

 

* ''[[Code Lyoko]]''

** Ulrich throws his katana a lot (especially once he got two in Season 4) and it generally ends up with a monster [[Attack Its Weak Point|struck in the Eye of XANA]].

 

 

* The most famous Japanese Swordsman of all times, [[Miyamoto Musashi]] was an expert at throwing his sword, making this [[Truth in Television]]. Of course, he also won over sixty duels in his life, and tended to win using things like [[Improbable Weapon User|wooden sticks and metal fans]], so he may have been a special case.

* Some African groups use a Hungamunga, an awesomely named and bizarre-looking sword that can be thrown effectively. Though it's really more of an axe than a sword.

 

 

* Subverted in the second episode of ''[[Weiss Kreuz]]'' when Aya throws his katana at an escaping helicopter: not only does it accomplish absolutely nothing, he doesn't even hit the chopper in the first place. The whole incident just illustrates the state of completely berserk rage he's in at the time.

* Subverted in the [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dk9AsdCUbmo opening] to ''World Destruction'' (though the weapon is a large blade rather then a sword) where Morte throws her weapon at Lia and misses. Lia then shoots her.

 

 

* Snotlout tries this is in ''[[How to Train Your Dragon]]''... and misses completely. Apparently the sun was in his eyes.

 

 

* Averted in the climactic duel scene from ''[[Rob Roy]]'': "You shall not throw your blades."

* ''[[Big Trouble in Little China]]''

 

 

* In the ''[[Fighting Fantasy]]'' book ''Sword of the Samurai'', at the climax, the reader is given the option of throwing the magic sword at the villain. If they choose this option, however, they miss, and the only effect is that they have to fight the [[Big Bad]] without a stat boost.

 

 

* Double-subverted in a battle during R.A. Salvatore's ''Road of the Patriarch'', when Artemis Entreri throws his sword at his fleeing opponents. It just embeds itself in a doorframe, but still [[Empathic Weapon|kills the guy who tries to pick it up. Artemis' sword]] ''[[Empathic Weapon|likes him]]''.

* ''[[Discworld]]''

 

 

* ''[[Spartacus: Blood and Sand]]''

** Spartacus tries this during gladiator training. Not only does his opponent easily deflect it, the stray weapon kills a fellow gladiator recruit by slicing open his throat. Spartacus immediately gets chewed out by the trainer for this stupidity.

 

 

* The post-apocalyptic setting of ''[[Deadlands]]: Hell on Earth'' outlines this as one maneuver that a desperate Templar ([[Knight Templar|no, not that one]]) might perform. Unless the player rolls well, though, the sword will most likely hit pommel-first... if it hits at all.

 

 

* In ''Bushido Blade 2'', any character that can wield two swords as their speciality can throw said sword. If the opponent is struck by said sword, they are immediately killed. However, it is very hard to pull this off as the sword has a pretty pathetic range and is easily avoided.

* The ''[[Fire Emblem]]'' games generally subvert this by having the sword being the only unthrowable member of the [[Tactical Rock-Paper-Scissors|weapon triangle]]; however, there is usually a sword capable of a non-physical ranged attack via magic.

 

 

* Subverted in ''[[Red vs. Blue]] Revelation''. Oh, sure, the knife lands pointy-end in, and it was a desperation attack, but all it did was break the invisibility unit.

 

 

* Epically subverted in the webcomic ''Bizarre Uprising'' [http://www.bizarreuprising.com/view/114/internal-typhoon-page-13 here.]

* At one point in ''[[Exterminatus Now]]'', Jamilla is taken hostage by a ninja/assassin raven to [[Human Shield|secure his escape]]. Rogue responds with a "[[Calling Your Attacks|BEAM SWORD HURL ATTACK!]]" which not only misses completely, but also leaves him without his [[Energy Weapon]]. Lothar immediately [[Lampshade Hanging|lampshades]] both tropes.

 

 

* Item #197 of the ''[[Evil Overlord List]]'' is a vow to explain to his [[Mooks]] the difference between ranged and unranged weapons. The sentence for any Mook found mixing them up is death.

* In ''[[Stupid Mario Brothers]]'', during Wario's battle with the Darkness in [[The Movie]], {{spoiler|after fooling the Darkness into thinking that he was dead, Wario hurls his [[Super Smash Bros.|Beam Saber]] through the Darkness' gut, which seemingly kills him.}} However, {{spoiler|as Waluigi failed to bestow a counter-curse upon Wario before his prolonged absence, which would ultimately turn the Darkness mortal and killable, the Darkness ends up getting back up later on.}}

 

 

* ''[[Avatar: The Last Airbender]]''.

** Jet {{spoiler|gets killed}} when he tries this.