Reverse Grip: Difference between revisions

* Alita/Falis from ''[[Murder Princess]]'' does the katana+wakizashi variety and switches from saber-grip to reverse-grip and back all the damn time with ease.

* In ''[[Gekiganger 3]]'' they used the Gekigan Sword this way against a ninja-like robot once.

* Kaku occasionally uses [[Reverse Grip]] [[Dual-Wielding]] on a pair of katana in ''[[One Piece]]''. Also "Bohemian Knight" Doma who reverse-grips a saber in each hand. His fighting style seems to center around defeating opponents from behind him.

* Caldina from ''[[Magic Knight Rayearth]]'' favors this style when she's not just [[Master of Illusion|manipulating her foes into offing themselves]].

* [[Ace Pilot|Kallen Kozuki and Li Xingke]] from ''[[Code Geass]]'' actually have their ''[[Humongous Mecha]]'' hold their blades this way.

* This is the usual grip for ''[[Lupin the Third]]'''s Ishikawa Goemon.

* Take a look at the standard cover for ''[[Princess Mononoke]]''. Either dude has the strongest wrists in the world, or things will become very unfortunate, very quickly.

* Rival player Yuujirou Kai in ''[[The Prince of Tennis]]'' plays normal-grip right-handed at first, but reveals he is actually Reverse Grip [[I Am Not Left-Handed|LEFT-handed]] during his match with Kikumaru.

* Kureha from ''[[Tokko]]'' usually wields her twin daggers with a reverse grip.

* Death the Kid from ''[[Soul Eater]]'' wields his dual pistols reversed. Yes, he pulls the trigger with his pinky.

* Akira of ''[[Togainu no Chi]]'' holds his knife like this whenever he's fighting.

 

** It was only ever one Katana at a time, though he does manage to use a scabbard to lethal effect in his off-hand in one of the final scenes.

* Bride vs Copperhead in ''[[Kill Bill]]'', where the Bride uses the reverse grip. And wins.

* Both hero and villain hold their knives this way in the climactic fight of the film ''[[Under Siege]]''.

* ''[[Conan the Barbarian]]'' does this sometimes, usually as part of a combination, but only for an attack or two before he switches back.

* In ''[[Dragonheart]]'', Bowen briefly uses [[Dual-Wielding]] two broadswords, holding one in a reverse grip.

* In ''[[The Chronicles of Riddick]]'', this is how the eponomous [[Anti-Hero]] holds his blades.

* Per the below example,. [[Reverse Grip]] [[Dual-Wielding]] ''[[Rule of Cool|of lightsabers]]'' is actually seen briefly in the background in ''[[Attack of the Clones]]''.

* In ''Faster'', [[Dwayne Johnson|The Rock]]'s character wields an icepick against a man with a larger knife. Ironically, it's The Rock who flips his weapon into reverse grip.

 

== Literature ==

 

** The style described in ''I, Jedi'' is a two-handed variant, with one hand on the grip and the other grasping the pommel, allowing the wielder to lever the blade around by its end using the grip hand as a fulcrum.

* In ''[[Wheel of Time]]'', the sword form Heron Wading in the Rushes has the sword held reversed over the head, while standing on one leg. According to the main character's teacher, it's good for practicing balance and [[Reality Ensues|getting yourself killed]].

* In [[H. Beam Piper]]'s ''[[Last Enemy]],'' Verkan Vall picks a knife duel and blinks in astonishment when he notices his opponent using this style. After killing the fellow -- "Only eight seconds from the time you closed with him" -- Vall, who learned knife-fighting from pirates, remarks that he feels like a murderer of children; evidently Piper didn't think much of the Reverse Grip.

* Abbie Hoffman, in a section of ''Steal This Book'' focusing on knives, advocates against using this grip:

== Live Action TV ==

 

* Richard does this quite often in ''[[Legend of the Seeker]]''. In the books, he's occasionally mentioned as doing this with his off-hand dagger.

* The [[Sixth Ranger]] in ''[[Samurai Sentai Shinkenger]]'' and ''[[Power Rangers Samurai]]'' combines this with ''[[Iaijutsu Practitioner|iaido]]'', the art of sheathing and unsheathing your sword for a fast strike. [[Awesome but Impractical]], you say? [[Lethal Joke Character|Don't bet on it.]]

* Masato Kusaka, Kamen Rider Kaixa of ''[[Kamen Rider Faiz]]'' does it mostly by necessity, since his sword blade extends from the butt of his gun. There are a few times he flips the weapon around and wields the sword in a normal grip ({{spoiler|such as an instance where Takumi was incapacitated and Kusaka was preparing to murder him}}).

* In ''[[Supernatural]]'', Sam and Dean often hold electric torches like this, for reasons described in the "Real Life" section of this page.

 

 

* Vader's apprentice does it in ''[[The Force Unleashed]]'' and ''[[Soul Calibur]] IV'' with a [[Laser Blade|lightsaber]]. While still not ''wholly'' practical, this is probably one of the best opportunities to use it since it's uni-directional blade.

** It's worth noting that when the apprentice actually attacks, he switches to a standard grip. Guess the lack of range just doesn't work for him.

** Vyse always holds his smaller, second sword this way, probably for parrying. His primary sword is held normally.

* [[Knife Nut]] Shiki in ''[[Tsukihime]]'' often does it when the situation gets dire.

** It is usually the first sign that {{spoiler|[[Super-Powered Evil Side|Nanaya]]}} is taking over.

* Ayame from ''[[Tenchu]]'' uses her daggers in this fashion. The prequel indicates that she started off using a reverse grip in one hand and a forward grip in the other before switching to a double-reverse grip later on.

* Used in ''[[Dragon Quest]]: [[Dai no Daibouken]]'', for the 'Avan Slash' attack and other based on it...Dai does this with knives, short swords and BFS alike.

* Grey Fox of ''[[Metal Gear Solid]]'' holds his katana this way.

* Baiken in ''[[Guilty Gear]]'' does this with her katana (which is her main weapon -- she doesn't have an offhand weapon because she only has one arm, but she stuffs a lot of weapons in her other sleeve [[Inspector Gadget]] style). In her case, however, it's partly out of practicality and partly out of habit - she lost her right arm, which was most likely her dominant arm. Considering the weapons crammed into her right sleeve, a sheath there might get in the way, and so she wears it on the left, usually drawing it in a reverse grip because that would be the easiest way to draw it when the arm and sheath are on the same side. Of course, some of her fancier [[Rule of Cool]] steps in.

** Can't bring up ''[[Guilty Gear]]'' without mentioning Sol's fighting style, too.

** [[Older Than They Think|People who didn't start the series with part 4]], however, may have noticed that Jill held her knife in a reverse grip in the original 1996 title.

* In ''[[Diablo II]]'', all dagger-class weapons are wielded in [[Reverse Grip]], thus distinguishing them from swords.

* Hawkeye from ''[[Seiken Densetsu]] 3'' holds his [[Dual-Wielding|two daggers]] this way.

** And Rei from ''[[Breath of Fire III]]''.

** And any Assassin-class unit in ''[[Fire Emblem]]''s 7 and 8.

* Fiora from ''[[Xenoblade]]''. She holds her knives this way, paired with [[Dual-Wielding]]. {{spoiler|Although she changes her [[Weapon of Choice]] after she is turned into a [[Robot Girl]]}}.

* Jyuji Kabane from ''[[Gungrave]]: Overdose'' deserves a special mention as he '''[[Dual-Wielding|dual-wields]] [[Cool Guns|gun]]-[[Katanas Are Just Better|katanas]] in [[Reverse Grip]]''', thereby making him an automatic [[Badass]]. He also happens to be an undead, blind swordsman with a penchant for fire, but [[Ninja Pirate Zombie Robot|that's....]]

* Knives in every ''[[Call of Duty]]'' game starting with ''[[Modern Warfare]]'' can only be used in this way - it may be interpreted that the reason for this is a quicker draw, since the knife may not be held out alone, unless paired with a pistol for the [http://callofduty.wikia.com/wiki/Tactical_Knife Tactical Knife] attachment in ''MW2''.

* In ''[[Super Smash Bros]] Brawl'', Pit can split his bow into two swords. He holds one normally, while the other is held like this in order to speed the reattaching process.

** His descendant Ezio Auditore follows in his footsteps with his own short blades. He actually draws and replaces them from his belt in a standard grip, then flips it over in the transition to his fighting stance.

* In ''[[Kingdom Hearts Birth By Sleep]]'' Ven wields his Keyblade like this, while his starting blade is designed with this in mind, with the grip on the side, all of his other blades are standard, straight Keyblades.

** To say nothing of Saïx, who reverse-grips a frickin' ''[[BFS|claymore]]!''

*** And in ''358/2 Days'''s Mission mode, secret character Sora flips to a reverse grip for the last hit of his ground combo when wielding the Dream Sword.

* Knife-wielders in the ''[[Fire Emblem]]'' games, or at least Sothe and Volke, appear to wield their knives this way in combat.

** Though in ''Path of Radiance'' it appears to be limited to the Thief class, as Volke switches to a much more relaxed forward grip.

* The Crowmaster enemies in ''[[Prince of Persia]]: Warrior Within'' are seen wielding scimitars in a reverse grip.

** The titular character in the ''[[Prince of Persia]]'' reboot shifts his scimitar into this position when in a defensive/blocking stance.

* [[Sonic Storybook Series|Lancelot (or Shadow)]] does this in ''Sonic and the Black Knight'', with a freaking sword that's as [[BFS|TALL AS HIMSELF]]. ''WITH ONE HAND.''

* Tatsumaru from ''[[Tenchu]] 2''.

* In ''[[Dynasty Warriors]] 6'', Gan Ning holds his two daggers with a reverse grip.

* The [[Super Soldier|SPARTANs]] from ''[[Halo]] Reach'' do this with their assassination knives. ALL the time. Even in midair.

* Fuuma from ''[[Sengoku Basara]]'' holds his ninja-to like this. The one time Sasuke is shown wielding a katana, he holds both the sword and its sheath this way, so he can effectively dual wield.

* In ''[[Dragon Age II]]'', "Reversed Grip" is an advanced [[Dual-Wielding]] technique (unlike in the first game, dual-wielding is only possible with daggers in part two).

* While Yosuke of ''Persona4'' uses a standard grip with his weapons, he switches to reverse when summoning his persona.

 

== Western Animation ==

 

** Wookieepedia calls this the "Reverse Shien grip", a variation on Form V lightsaber combat.