Stepping Stone Sword: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

 

As the name suggests, this is when a sword (or any weapon, improvised or not) is used as a stepping stone, ladder, or perch for a character. Whether it was thrown there (and [[The Blade Always Lands Pointy End In|naturally landed point first and penetrated]], [[Throwing Your Sword Always Works|whether or not the weapon is made for throwing]]), shot there, or the character used it to [[Blade Brake|slow his fall]], he can then [[Blade Run|run]], jump, spin, or climb off it and get right back into the fight.

 

 

See also [[The Blade Always Lands Pointy End In]], [[Blade Brake]], and [[Blade Run]], which are commonly coupled with this trope. Related to [[Throwing Your Sword Always Works]]. When a sword is deliberately plunged into the ground, it's [[Sword Plant]]. When one steps on it in midair, it's [[Projectile Platforms]].

{{examples}}

* During the Eclipse in ''[[Berserk]]'', Guts climbs a tower apparently made out of human heads with his knife in a bid to reach Griffith.

* ''[[Hellsing]]'' has vampire Nazis crossing a minefield this way.

* ''[[Rurouni Kenshin]]'' has the protagonist due this to Sanosuke Sagara while fighting him and his BFS, while lecturing him on how the sword he uses is so big and heavy that it can only be swung down or sideways, making it very easy to predict.

* [[Empathic Weapon|Zangetsu]] in ''[[Bleach]]'' is shown standing on his sword, while in Ichigo's [[Mental World|Inner World]].

 

== Comic Books ==

* In ''[[Asterix]] in Switzerland'' Asterix completes a mountain-climb by sticking a sword into the mountain as a handhold when there's not enough proper climbing gear to go around.

 

* ''[[Princess Mononoke]]'': San begins climbing the wall of Iron Town by planting a spear in it.

** The best example being during Cloud's fight with Sephiroth. After being thrown off a bulding, Cloud uses his Fusion Sword as a [[Blade Brake]], before standing on it, [[Bifurcated Weapon|splitting it in two]], then doing a back flip while retrieving both swords in order to [[Absurdly Sharp Blade|cut apart the huge chunks of concrete]] raining down on him from above.

* Flynn uses crossbow bolts to scale Rapunzel's tower in Disney's ''[[Tangled]]''.

* ''[[Kung Fu Panda]]'': Tai Lung is [[The Alcatraz|imprisoned]] on a pillar at the base of a cylindrical cavern, isolated from all doors and elevators, only accessible by a drawbridge. When he unlocks his restraints, the guards try shooting him with ''really'' big crossbow bolts, but he dodges them all, picks up the bolts, and kicks them into the cavern walls, creating a series of springboards to reach the elevator and upper walkways.

* One of the [[Adorable Evil Minions]] in ''[[Despicable Me]]'' uses a ''plunger'' during the credits to try to reach the screen across a chasm. Another minion jumps nearby, causing the plunger (and the minion on it) to fall.

* Giselle throws a sword into the side of a building for Robert to use this way in ''[[Enchanted]]''.

* In ''[[Mystery Men]]'', Blue Raja can [[Fork Fencing|throw]] ''[[Fork Fencing|forks]]''... but not very well, until [[Took a Level In Badass|special training by the Sphinx]] allows him to throw them effectively enough [[Chekhov's Skill|for Mr. Furious to climb on them.]]

* In ''[[Pirates of the Caribbean]]'', Captain Jack Sparrow teeters on a thrown sword to avoid being hanged.

* Kirk Douglas does it in ''[[The Vikings]]'', with Axes.

* [[Devon Aoki|Kasumi]] in ''[[Dead or Alive|DOA: Dead or Alive]]'' throws a katana to stick in a wall, runs on the backs of her clansmen, then jump to the sword, and uses it as a springboard to jump over the high walls of the palace.

 

== Literature ==

* A sword is used to cross a canyon in ''Lancelot, the Knight of the Cart'' (circa 1170).

* In ''Cue For Treason,'' Peter Brownrigg uses half a dozen daggers to climb the side of an Elizabethan wooden house, to enter it surreptitiously from the river side.

* In ''[[The Long Ships]]'', Toke uses spears to climb the palisade of an enemy stronghold.

 

* Inverted on one of the ''[[CSI]]'' programs, in which the victim turned out to have been kicked to death by someone who'd been wearing tree-climbing spurs strapped to both ankles.

* Done in an episode of ''[[Xena: Warrior Princess]]''. Xena is scaling the wall of an enemy stronghold and, when it looks like she is about to fall short, her allies fire arrows into the wall that she uses as rungs to scale the last few feet.

 

== Tabletop Games ==

** In 4e, rangers can get the power ''Archer's Stairway'' to shoot arrows at a wall and make it easier to climb.

 

* In [[Cirque Du Soleil]]'s ''Ka'', there's a scene in which arrows embedded in a wall {{spoiler|(actually props pushed out from the back of it)}} are used to climb it.

 

== Video Games ==

* [[Donald Duck]] in ''[[Quackshot]]'' uses a plunger gun to scale walls quickly.

* The fight against Pete in ''[[Mickey Mania]]'' involves jumping on his thrown sword to reach a lever.

* Throwing spears in the video game ''[[Prehistorik Man]]''.

* There was a [[Teamwork Puzzle Game]] called ''Bubba 'n' Stix'' whose gameplay frequently involved this trope. Stix is, as the name suggests, a wooden stick, who can be used both as a weapon and as this trope.

* In ''[[Brave Fencer Musashi]]'', climbing with swords is the ability granted by the first piece of Legendary Armor.

** As does ''[[Lemmings]] 2'' - and of course, it's almost always necessary to beat the level.

* in ''[[Tomb Raider|Lara Croft And The Guardian Of Light]]'' spears from your never-ending supply of throwing spears can be thrown at walls and jumped on to reach higher areas. You'll be doing this often.

* Dante does this several times with Rebellion in ''[[Devil May Cry]] 4'' including during one of the cutscenes of the Savior fight.

* Kratos climbs walls many times using his swords in the God of War series.

 

== Web Original ==

* Rachel uses her hammer as a standing stone on a wall while waiting for the fight to reach her in ''[[Dead Fantasy]].''

* [[Monty Oum]] must like this trope. The Meta uses his (bladed) gun as a climbing tool (after performing a [[Blade Brake]] maneuver with it) during the penultimate Oum-animated fight sequence in ''[[Red vs. Blue]]: Revelation''.

 

== Western Animation ==

* ''[[Code Lyoko]]'': Happens a few times with Ulrich's katanas; sometimes for himself, sometimes for other characters. Everyone also seems to use William's [[BFS]] for this whenever he gets it stuck in a wall.

* In the title sequence for [[Hanna-Barbera]]'s ''Lippy the [[King of Beasts|Lion]] and Hardy Har Har,'' Lippy, holding Hardy by the [[Ring Around the Collar|collar]], scales a tree up a ladder of spears that have been thrown at the pair by angry natives. Unfortunately, the last of them is being held by a giant gorilla.

 

== Real Life ==

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Improvised Index]]