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Heroes Prefer Swords: Difference between revisions
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It's very often [[BFS|implausibly large]]. Or just very, very [[Cool Sword|cool]]. Expect [[Implausible Fencing Powers]].
The main antagonist often uses a sword as well, at least before he [[One
Often this can be attributed to the knowledge that [[Katanas Are Just Better]].
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== First Person Shooter ==
* Inverted in ''[[Clive Barkers Jericho]]'', as the heroic protagonists carried rifles. The sword-wielder was an [[Anti
* In [[Team Fortress 2 (Video Game)|Team Fortress 2]], the nine main classes each had a melee weapon suited to them. Oddly, none had swords when the game launched, the closes being the Spy's knife, Sniper's Kukri, and Medic's Bonesaw. Later on, the Demoman and Soldier both got access to true swords, at first a pair of Claymores, and later on a [[Katanas Are Just Better|Katana]]
* The [[Jedi Knight]] series is nominally a first person shooter, with a wide array of weapons... not that it matters, since unless the game forces you to, you'll never use anything other than your lightsaber anyway.
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** ''[[Wild Arms 5 (Video Game)|Wild Arms 5]]'' manages to avert this completely by giving its main character a pair of handguns with tonfas on the handles for melee combat. The only one who uses a sword is the [[White Magician Girl]].
** ''[[Wild Arms 3 (Video Game)|Wild Arms 3]]'' would be the king of subverter as it gives the ENTIRE character roster guns. And the main character is a female.
** Played straight with [[Manipulative Bastard]] Janus Cascade. Starts out by having a gun/sword hybrid as long as he is tall, and is able to draw it as quickly as Virginia can with her tiny revolvers. Later, his [[One
* ''[[Final Fantasy]]'' has a lot of characters who [[Final Fantasy IV (Video Game)|are]] [[Final Fantasy VII (Video Game)|straight]] [[Final Fantasy X (Video Game)|examples]], but a lot of others who aren't:
** Zidane in ''[[Final Fantasy IX (Video Game)|Final Fantasy IX]]'' uses knives, although he also has the option of using [[Double Weapon|double-bladed lances]] -- including his ultimate weapon.
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* Yuri Hyuga of ''[[Shadow Hearts]]'', as befits his street-brawler personality, fights with his fists. The game's sword-wielder, Keith, doesn't appear until past the halfway point, and he uses a rapier as opposed to the standard flat blade.
** In ''Covenant'' Yuri continues to let his fists do the talk. This time, the sword-wielder is Karin who also uses a rapier, beffiting her [[Lady of War]] Status.
** In ''From The New World'' [[Kid Detective]] Johnny Garland wields an assortment of knives and daggers. It's [[Highly
* In ''[[Xenogears (Video Game)|Xenogears]]'', Fei uses his fists as weapons, as do Rico and Emeralda. Other characters use whips, firearms, and combat rods. The only playable character who gets a sword, Citan, gets it after the first disc, a good way through the storyline... instantly making a massive leap in combat power. Not that he was ''ever'' a slouch in that department, even barehanded.
* Similarly, Shion Uzuki in ''[[Xenosaga (Video Game)|Xenosaga]]'' uses the MWS, a combination mechanical hand/energy cannon strapped to her arm. The other arguably main character of the series, Jr., uses pistols. In fact, the one sword user in the series doesn't even show up until the second game.
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*** KOS-MOS can either change her arms into whatever weapon she desires (R-BLADE, R-DRILL, R-CANNON, a freaky cool sword thing...), but she can also pull them out of thin air whenever she wants (F-GSHOT, F-SCYTHE, that other thing she uses...). On top of that, in the third game she can shoot a ball of energy from some strange contraption on her chest.
* Serge of ''[[Chrono Cross (Video Game)|Chrono Cross]]'' uses [[Improbable Weapon User|oar]]-like bladed weapons called Swallows, which feature [[Double Weapon|two wide one-sided blades connected to the opposite ends of a single long pole]]. For one fight, he is forced to use his antagonist's scythe, but he never touches a conventional sword. In fact, very few of the [[Loads and Loads of Characters|50 or so characters]] use a conventional weapon, with characters armed with such devastating weaponry as [[Improbable Weapon User|carrots, wooden spoons, walking sticks]], and [[Frying Pan of Doom|frying pans]].
** Worth noting is that right before Serge obtains [[Infinity
* In ''[[Earthbound]]'', most weapons are items such as [[Improbable Weapon User|baseball bats, slingshots]], [[Killer Yoyo|yo-yos]], and lasers, for the [[Mad Scientist]] in the group. In fact, there's only one sword in the game, and it's the [[Infinity
** This applies to all three of the games in the MOTHER series -- the only exception that comes to mind is Teddy from the first game, who starts out with knives and can eventually acquire a Katana.
* In the original ''[[Breath of Fire]]'', Ryu could equip boomerangs, instead of swords. They were slightly weaker than his swords, but made up for that by hitting multiple enemies. In fact, his [[Infinity
* ''[[Seiken Densetsu 3]]'' has six different characters for you to select as your main character. While each could potentially be the hero of the story, many fans favor Duran simply because he's the only one who wields a sword as his weapon.
* Averted in ''Growlanser II'', in which the main character Wein Cruz uses a scythe instead of a sword because his ring (which turns into the scythe) decided a scythe was the perfect weapon for him. Also averted in ''Growlanser V'', where the lead uses dual [[Blade On a Stick|spears]].
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* The best weapons in the first ''[[Baldurs Gate]]'' game and its expansion are all swords. However, an enchanted war-hammer has them beat in the sequel; in ''Throne Of Bhaal'', a [[Item Crafting|constructable weapon]] called the Ravager halberd is, for sheer damage- and death-dealing capacity, probably the best weapon in the game. However, when you take it to be constructed Cespenar [[Lampshade Hanging|asks you if you're compensating for anything]], so the designers were presumably aware that carrying around a [[Blade On a Stick|great big pole]] has just as many phallic implications as a [[BFS]].
** It's actually straight when push comes to shove, though. Swords are still the best weapon for base damage output in the ''[[Baldurs Gate]]'' games when wielded by the appropriate class with the correct items, and the upgraded Carsoymr two-handed sword not only has the highest modifier (shared with the Ravager), but also quite possibly the best effects in the game. So really, what you do is: you get one tank that can wield the Ravager, and one that can wield Carsomyr, you kill ''everybody'', and you win the game.
** [[Dual
* The Protagonist in ''[[Persona 3]]'' is given a short sword before his first battle. However, he is able to equip other types of weapons, except Knives and Guns, which are exclusive to Koromaru and Aigis, respectively. The hero of [[Persona 4]] uses swords, though he starts off with a golf club.
** The PSP remake limits the male Protagonist to solely one handed swords now. The new exclusive female Protagonist however uses a more [[Lady of War]]-like naginata instead.
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* Averted in the first games of ''[[.hack GU Games|.hack//]]'', which gives protagonist Kite a pair of daggers. Who gets the honor to wield the absurdly large sword? Why it's the female (online and in real life) BlackRose, of course! Played straight in GU where one of Haseo's signature weapons is the huge [[Chainsaw Good|chainsaw-claymore hybrid]].
** Arguably though, he starts off with twin-blades, and spends the majority of time with with [[Chainsaw Good|chain-scythe]] in terms of cut-scenes.
** In fact his sword is the only weapon that isn't used as a primary weapon in cut-scenes. His first form can only use daggers, his second unlocks the sword however he still uses the daggers in cut-scenes. His third form unlocks the scythe, which is his main weapon from then on. Plus Haseo's [[Infinity
** And there's also his Dual Guns which he uses a good bit when he gets them.
* ''[[Live a Live]]'s'' many protagonists (one per chapter) include people who fight with their fists, robotic parts, and firearms. In fact, the only protagonist that uses a sword is Oersted, from the medieval chapter, and {{spoiler|he ends up being the [[Big Bad]].}}
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* About three-fourths into ''[[Sands of Destruction]]'', the protagonist Kyrie wields twin daggers. In fact, his entire party consists of unconventional weapon wielders including a bow-shaped blade, a whip, pistols, and a chakram of all things. After Kyrie goes through a ''[[Heroic Sacrifice]]'' though, he gets reborn into a broadsword-wielding nut, playing this trope straight.
* In "[[Sonny]]'', the protagonist's starting weapon is a length of broken pipe, since that's the only thing he can find nearby when he's found aboard a ship. In the second game, Sonny also starts with a length of broken pipe which is lampshaded in the weapon's flavor text that reads "Me and the pipe, we go way back."
* McDohl from ''[[Suikoden]]'' uses a bo-staff, and Ryou from ''[[Suikoden II]]'' uses tonfa. ''In [[Suikoden V]]'', the hero uses a three-section staff... ''[[Suikoden IV]]'' plays it straight, though, with the main hero wielding not one, but ''[[Dual
** ''[[Suikoden III]]'' plays it straight in the fact that all ''three'' main characters wield swords. Hugo's is closer to a dagger/main gauche, since he's younger than the others and requires a smaller weapon. But still, a sword it is.
*** To top it off, Thomas, star of an optional secondary scenario, wields a sword too.
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*** And one of the three main characters in Part IV uses his talons, because he's the king of [[Petting Zoo People|the hawk laguz]].
** Hector, of the lords in ''Blazing Sword'' (the main character if you choose his mode) uses axes. This is in contrast to the other two lords (each one being the main character at one point during the "normal" mode) who use swords. However, upon promotion, Hector also gains the ability to use swords.
** ''Blazing Sword'' also discusses and attempts to defy it briefly: [[Chivalrous Pervert|Sain]] insists early on that "the lance is more heroic. A knight should look heroic, don't you think?" and so refuses to [[Tactical Rock
* Most [[Nippon Ichi]] [[Turn Based Strategy]] games avert this simply by the fact that they allow your characters to arm themselves with any weapon they like, although promotional images and videos may associate them with a certain weapon, and/or they start with a certain weapon. That said, three of the four protagonists from ''[[Disgaea]]'' start with, and have proficiency in, swords, but Adell from ''[[Disgaea 2]]'' fights with his fists. Prier from ''[[La Pucelle Tactics]]'' is nominally shown wielding a baton, but she's just as likely to [[Groin Attack|kick evil in the junk]] as she is to bash it upside the head. Ash and Marona from ''[[Phantom Brave]]'' are often shown not using weapons at all, although Ash again often plays it straight like Laharl. Nippon Ichi's first heroine, Cornet from ''<nowiki>~Rhapsody: A Musical Adventure~</nowiki>'' uses her namesake (A trumpet-like musical instrument). Revya from ''[[Soul Nomad and The World Eaters]]'', who has no choice in weapon selection, wields a great sword that's also an [[Artifact of Doom]].
** Also, said games, specifically the [[Disgaea]] series, may tailor the characters specifically to wield a certain weapon even though the player still has a choice in the matter. [[Disgaea Hour of Darkness (Video Game)/Characters|Laharl]] usually has a much higher sword mastery, although he is fairly good with other melee-type weapons.
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** Most of the other characters just take this trope and avert the hell out of it. In fact, the only major character to actually use a normal sword at this point is the [[Big Bad]] {{spoiler|until he gets the power to basically blow planets up at will}}.
** {{spoiler|Vriska uses a sword in Ancestor Mode.}}
** Bro, being Dave's older brother, uses a sword. {{spoiler|As does his post-scratch self, Dirk.}} Of course, he's not the hero, but an [[The Obi
* Averted in ''[[Guilded Age]]''. Byron uses two axes {{spoiler|named after his adoptive fathers.}}
* Fighter in ''[[
** In fact, it's pretty much all he ever talks about.
* Parodied in ''[[College Saga]]''. [[The Hero]], college student Mark Leung, gets his sword from a dorm room.
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