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{{trope}}
[[File:180px-SwordBeam.jpg|link=Kirby:
{{quote|''You hold in your hand''
''A sword that shoots laser beams.''
|'''Brentalfloss''', [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v{{=}}Y_3hE8TOVxU Zelda with Lyrics]}}
The one flaw with all swords is, of course, the obvious lack of range. How do you solve this problem?
A character will make a slashing motion with their [[Cool Sword]], but at a distance. What springs forth is a beam of [[Pure Energy]], usually crescent-shaped. These can travel through the air or on the ground. Another version is stabbing or smashing the blade into the ground and creating a V-shaped stream of energy that may or may not actually tear through the earth as it crashes towards the enemy. If the "beam" is a shockwave of compressed air which cuts things, this is also a [[Razor Wind]]. If used with a [[Laser Blade]], it often looks more like the blade is extending to strike the target.
Sometimes a [[Ki Attacks|Ki Attack]]. When magical this is a type of [[Full
{{examples|Examples}}▼
== Anime & Manga ==
* [[Inuyasha|Inu-Yasha]]'s [[BFS]] has a number of ranged attacks, two of which (Wind Scar and Backlash Wave) clearly are instances of this trope. Sesshomaru can use the Ki of a sword like Tokijin to create a Sword Beam Attack, his reforged Tensaiga shoots a beam which is actually ''a portal to hell'' which sucks the enemy in.
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* From ''[[Lyrical Nanoha|Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha]]'', we have Fate's [http://nanoha.wikia.com/wiki/Plasma_Zanber_Breaker Plasma Zamber Breaker], a massive beam fired from the blade of [[BFS|Bardiche's Zamber Form]]. It's roughly the equivalent of Nanoha's [[Wave Motion Gun|Starlight Breaker]] in power.
** Before that, Fate had the "Arc Saber" attack, which basically threw the [[Laser Blade]] of her device's [[Sinister Scythe|Scythe Form]] at an enemy, then regenerated it.
** Signum, meanwhile, has the Fire Dragon Flash/Karyuu Issen, where she creates a shaft of flames and throws it at her target...such as an entire army of [[Mecha
* ''[[Mahou Sensei Negima]]'' has the Shinmei Ryū Hidden Technique, Zanmaken: Ni no Tachi {{spoiler|In Celebration of my [[First Kiss]] with Ojou-sama Special}} (spoilered part of name courtesy of Jack Rakan, natch). When Rakan demonstrated it, the crescent-shaped energy projectile it produced bypassed all of Negi's [[Deflector Shields]] and damaged the building behind him before finally slicing a giant floating rock some distance away behind that in half.
** The attack originally comes from ''[[Love Hina]]'', where it was used by Motoko and its development was the focus of an arc for her. The Shinmei Ryū school has a large number of ranged attack techniques, some of which have the ability to "skip" the first thing in its path and strike a target behind it.
** Negima also has a character who successfully adapted a [[Razor Wind]]
* In the fairly terrible ''[[Ninja Scroll]]'' TV series, Jubei seems to be capable of this and only this attack. Granted he uses something like this ''once'' in the movie, but...
* ''[[Kenichi:
* Shannon does this in ''[[Scrapped Princess]]'' when he's using Zefiris. An interesting variation, in that the beam extends from ''both'' ends of his sword.
* The ''[[Samurai Champloo]]'' episode "Lethal Lunacy" features an outlaw named Shoryū who has mastered the ability to attack using ki. One of the ways he does this is through a blast of wind unleashed from his sword. Unlike other sword beams, the damage done does not reflect how the wind blast struck the target; rather, it causes what appear to be completely unrelated injuries, like slashes across the palms or devastating internal damage without any exterior signs of harm.
* Inverted and defied in ''[[Busou Renkin]]'' where one of the alchemic weapons "Sword Samurai X" takes the form of a sword that has the ability to [[Anti
* Miaka throws out one of these in ''[[Fushigi Yuugi]]'' to fire Soi's lightning attack back at her. Justified because the sword she's using is a [[Cool Sword|holy sword]] given to Hotohori by Taiitsukun.
* [[Yaiba]] makes a frequent use of Sword Beam, be them [[Shock and Awe|Lightning]], [[Razor Wind|Air]] or [[Dark Is Edgy|Dark Powers]].
* Thymilph in ''[[Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann]]'' has a variation: his Alkaid Glaive fires the beam, and he calls it the Condemn Blaze. (Although it can kind of hard to tell what he's shouting.)
* In ''[[Samurai Pizza Cats]]'' Speedy Cerviche's Cat's Eye Slash is a [[Dual
* The [[Samurai]], who appear relatively late in ''[[Naruto]]'', are all capable of doing this, once they've channeled chakra through their swords like [[Laser Blade
* In ''[[Soul Eater]]'', Maka's Straight Hunter used against the Clown works like this. She achieved something similar by mistake when she used Witch Hunter against Sid, and tripped up. Ragnarok's Screech Alpha attack also creates a Sword Beam.
* Snimon of [[Digimon]] demonstrates this ability when it launches its Twin Sickles technique.
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* [[Sailor Moon|Sailor Uranus's]] second attack, Space Sword Blaster, sends blades of energy using her talisman weapon.
* In ''[[Tokko]]'' Ranmaru can fire powerful energy blasts from his sword. Sakura was also able to do this in the manga.
* The "Reppuzan" attack used by Mio {{spoiler|and Yoshika}} in ''[[Strike Witches]]'' is an example of this, being a beam of magical energy fired through the sky to attack ranged enemies. It's name ''roughly'' translates to "Great Gale Cut", meaning that it may be wind-based. Interestingly enough, it has several similarities to the Getsuga Tensho of ''[[Bleach]]'': It's a
* In ''[[Fairy Tail]]'' Erza's Morning Star Armor's special attack Photon Slicer.
* [[Kurogane no Linebarrel|Linebarrel's]] "Executor", who function as both [[BFS]] and [[BFG]].
* Kamika from ''[[Shikabane Hime]]'' can fire explosive blasts of energy from her [[Dual
* ''[[Kirby]]'', as seen in the page picture, as well as Meta Knight on more than one occasion.
* Ryuuji from [[Dragon Crisis]] uses these as his primary means of attack. Technically an example of 'Knife Beams'.
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== Live-Action TV ==
* Naturally, ''[[Super Sentai]]'' and ''[[Power Rangers]]'' have featured ''every'' version of this. The most common [[Finishing Move]], though, is an unusual version: the wielder, facing the screen, swings, and a diagonal line appears as it passes. Scene switches to the monster, slash effect appears over him, and [[Made of Explodium|KABOOM]] soon
* ''[[Kamen Rider Blade]]'' has the Royal Straight Flush in his King Form [[Super Mode]]. During the series it's depicted as a giant blast of energy after a sword swing, going through five cards, but ''[[Kamen Rider Decade]]'' depicts it as a wave of energy that goes through the ground.
** ''Decade'' gives Sword Waves to several past Riders, mostly because Decade's Complete Form performs its [[Finishing Move
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== Video Games ==
* ''Bayonetta'''s sword beam is really [[Awesome but Impractical]] as it takes like 10 seconds to shoot. Nobody ever waits around that long so it's pretty pointless anyway.
* The ''[[
** Because it has always been made clear that Future Trunks just has a normal sword. There is nothing special about it. It is not even really sharp.
* ''[[Mega Man X]]'''s [[My Hero Zero|Zero]] does this all this time, usually in a boss fight against him.
** The Zero in ''[[Mega Man Zero]]'' does this as well, in an EX skill for the second, third, and fourth(final) games.
*** As does Harupia in that game, [[Beam Spam|excessively]].
** Protoman's ''[[
** [[Mega Man ZX|Model HX]] can do this if you alternate between the two attack buttons.
* In some games in the ''Zelda'' series, Link can fire beams from his sword. Usually, [[Situational Sword|this can only be done at full health]], though ''[[The Legend of Zelda:
** The Skyward Strike from ''[[The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
** [[The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
* ''[[Fate/stay
** In addition, the attacks of the Fifth Holy Grail War's Berserker are so powerful that the wind following the moves of his gigantic sword cuts whatever is standing even a meter away.
** The Jewelled Sword of Zelretch is one of these in the hands of Tohsaka Rin.
* Sword [[Kirby]] has been able to do this in [[Kirby:
** And in the anime, Meta Knight (and later, other people such as Bun and Kirby) actually refers to it as "Sword Beam".
* The first ''[[
* Demon Fang in the ''[[Tales
** In addition to the old standard (''Majinken''), there's [[Tales of Destiny
** For the English speakers, they are "Double Demon Fang" {fires 2 [[D Fs]]}, "Demonic Chaos" {fires three [[D Fs]] in rapid succession}, and "Fierce Demon Fang" {which create a shockwave which hits multiple times at close range}. Variations, such as [[Tales of Legendia
*** Most of [[Tales of the Abyss
* ''[[
** The fighting games play it straight with both Youmu and Tenshi.
* In ''[[
** Removed as of ''Armored Core 4'', however.
** Done with the Human+ and the Moonlight blade in ''Armored Core 2'', you end up with a sort of [[Incredibly Lame Pun|Infinity Plus One Sword Beam]].
** In some games, like Armored Core: Nexus, it's possible to do a Sword Beam with every [[Laser Blade]]. You just have to boost mid-swing.
* Just about every [[A Mech
* Kratos in ''[[God of War (
* Vyse and Enrique use these if they attack an enemy at a distance in ''[[
* [[Samurai|Kamui]] of ''[[
* Ky and Sol from ''[[
* Ryoma from ''[[Power Stone]]'' has a couple variants of this after powering up.
* Several characters from ''[[Dynasty Warriors]]'' are capable of firing beams out of their weapon.
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* The ''[[Peter Pan]]'' game for Sega Genesis had a power up that allowed you to do this.
* PC game ''[[Sango Fighter]]'' did this for about half of the characters. Almost all of the characters got a fireball and half of them were armed, so in some ways, it kind of makes sense.
* Both [[Square Soft]]'s ''[[
* Shinobu's [[Signature Move]] in ''[[No More Heroes]]'' is a technique called "Sonic Sword". Travis Touchdown himself gets Blueberry Cheese Brownie, one of his "Dark Side" [[Super Mode]] attacks. His sword beams make people [[Ludicrous Gibs|explode]].
* ''[[Final Fantasy]]'' features this very often. Many characters have an extension attack that will often create a wave of energy to increase the sword range.
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*** Squall also has a ''delayed'' sword beam attack: Rough Divide involves slashing upwards, followed by a massive upwards explosion from directly below the enemy it hits.
** Cloud and Sephiroth both feature an attack literally named Blade Beam that makes them fire off a wave from their sword. Cloud being a Blow Smasher will do this in a single giant ground based blast while Sephiroth will do so in smaller waves but in more accurate and greater quantities.
*** Cloud's "Blade Beam" attack not only does four times as much damage as a regular attack, but also dissipates after hitting the intended target, hitting every other enemy for regular damage. In addition, he also has Meteorain (or Meteor Shots, whichever you prefer) that literally throws meteors from his sword.
*** Sephiroth evidently follows the "hardened air" attack pattern, slashing so quickly with his Octaslash that it hits ''after'' he's finished slashing.
*** In ''[[Crisis Core]]'', during the cutscene of Sephiroth's fight with Genesis, Sephiroth uses a flurry of Blade Beam attacks to neatly slice chunks off the Junon Cannon.
*** Zack Fair apparently taught Cloud the Meteorain/Meteor Shots skill, as he uses it in ''[[Crisis Core]]''.
**** Though he himself only learns it AFTER meeting Cloud. Kinda weird when you think about it, and the other DMW Limits are actually taught TO Zack by someone else. So maybe Cloud taught Zack Meteor Shot?
** ''[[
*** ''[[Final Fantasy Tactics
** In ''[[
** In ''[[
*** [http://www.nuklearpower.com/2001/08/17/interlude-01-the-fighter-does-not-liek-the-robot/ He shoots laser beams powered with swords which are also laser powered.]
* Ragnell and Alondite, the twin [[BFS]]'s from ''[[Fire Emblem]]'' 9 and 10, can do this.
** There's also, the Wind Edge, Storm Sword, and Tempest Blade as well. And [[White Magician Girl|Mist]] has a unique weapon that shoots Sword Beams.
** And in the earlier games there's swords that cast magic as a form of a sword
** FE 6 has the "King's Lance"
*** And who can forget the Sword Of Seals, a [[Game Breaker]] that launches [[Kill It
* Dante has this in the form of his "Drive" attack in ''[[Devil May Cry]] 3'' and ''4'', which causes a shockwave to jet across the ground and damage all enemies in its path. In ''4'', Nero has Maximum Bet, a [[Super Mode|Devil Trigger]]-exclusive move where he uses his sword(s) to fire off a wide X-shaped energy wave that also pierces through targets, but the crescent beam he uses is only seen during cutscenes. Vergil in ''3'' (and Dante in ''4'') has the Yamato, which can slash enemies far outside its normal range with a delayed effect. It does this for all of its moves, but Judgement Cut is the only one that's actually a projectile.
* In NES side-scroller ''[[The Battle of Olympus]]'', you can do this while wielding the Divine Sword. Each beam costs HP, though, unless you have the Bracelet of Power.
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* There's this nice little semi-hidden treat on Shining Force for the Genesis: if you happen to finish off the final boss (bear in mind that it has three heads to be attacked separately) with a physical blow from main hero while having the legendary sword equipped, his usual attack animation is changed for a neat special animation involving a sword beam. This is the only moment in the game where the main character attacks this way. Also, hidden character Musashi's attack animation is a sword beam.
* In ''[[Rocket Knight Adventures]]'', Sparkster can fling energy beams from his sword. This was taken out in the Genesis/Mega Drive version ''Sparkster'', but made a return in the 2010 ''Rocket Knight'' revival.
* In ''[[Kingdom Hearts
** Wave Motion Sword example in the same game: {{spoiler|In the second phase of his story mode's final boss fight, Ventus gains the ability to fire powerful energy beams from his Keyblade. His opponent, a souped-up Vanitas, can do the same, resulting in a [[Beam
* ''[[Severance
* The Dimension Slash attack (Which has the user focus energy into their weapon before unleashing a gigantic, battlefield-rending sword beam) is a staple of [[Nippon Ichi]] games, especially in the ''[[Disgaea]]'' series where it's first appearance was in the first game.
* In the PC game "Little Fighter", Deep does this, while Woody does it ''with his ARMS''
* In ''[[Lufia|Lufia: Curse of the Sinistrals]]'', the [[True Final Boss]] fight against {{spoiler|Erim}} in a [[New Game
* Sonic Boom/Wave/Blast in the Saturn classic ''[[Dragon Force (
* In ''[[Too Human]]'' this effect is used when using a fierce attack with either a two handed sword, one handed sword, or dual wield sword, it manifests as a blue burst of energy flying in a straight line accompanied by the howl of a wolf.
* The [[Magic Knight|Asura]] subclass in [[Dungeon Fighter Online]] specializes in these.
* The [[Exactly What It Says
** Consequently, ''Bleach fanboy noobs'' is often used as a blanket description of Swordsmen, who are ''vehemently'' hated by much of the community.
* In ''[[Illusion of Gaia]]'', Will's two alternate forms possess variations of this. The first is used by Freedan, and is called the "Dark Friar". By attacking once and holding down on the attack button, Freedan can charge his sword to fire off what amounts to a cross between a
* [[Disgaea]]'s strongest sword, the Yoshitsuna, has the range of a gun.
* In ''[[Turok]] 2'', the Juggernauts' [[BFS]]'s can do this.
* [[
* Augus's blade, Wailing Dark from ''[[
* The Moonlight Greatsword in ''[[Dark Souls]]'' unleashes this as its strong attack.
* Egg Emperor in ''[[
* Kai Leng in ''[[
* Shulk's Monado Purge art in ''[[Xenoblade Chronicles]]''. It's more useful for its secondary effect of disabling the target's auras then it is for its damage, though.
* The ''[[
== Web Original ==
* ''[[Fate Nuovo Guerra]]'' features Clarent as an [[Evil Counterpart]] to Excalibur from ''[[Fate/stay
* A common attack in ''[[Chaos Fighters]]'', which is called slash waves. In close range, it is possible to slash enemies while launching them simultaneously.
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== Western Animation ==
* In ''[[Code Lyoko]]'', William gains the power to launch a crescent-shaped energy blast with his [[BFS]] once possessed by XANA. Ulrich also uses Sword Beams in episodes "Franz Hopper" and "Nobody in Particular", each time with XANA's help.
* In ''[[The Legend of Zelda (
* In ''[[Thundercats
{{reflist}}
[[Category:Videogame Effects and Spells]]
[[Category:Ranged Energy Attack Tropes]]
[[Category:
[[Category:Sword Beam]]
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