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{{trope}}
{{quote|''"He had thrown those thoughts as far to the side of his mind as he could manage, because '''holy shit sword-cane'''. '''[[Large Ham|Swooooooooooooooord-caaaaaaaaaaaaane!]]"'''''
|About Jeremy Franco, '''[http://s10.zetaboards.com/SOTF_V2/topic/7286544/1/?x{{=}}10 The Only Way Is Up]''', ''[[Survival of the Fittest]]''}}
A '''Sword Cane''' is a short sword or other bladed weapon that is concealed inside of a [[Cane Fu|cane]]. The cane is opened by twisting the top or pressing a release button, then pulling on the handle to reveal a blade, [[Audible Sharpness|often with a "Tzing" sound]]. This weapon is typically used by [[Cultured Badass]] characters or as a weapon of advantage by a character who walks with a limp. Also popular amongst blind swordsmen. Occasionally, this will be altered by the character having a gun or stun baton disguised as a cane, which are also real weapons (and arguably [[Sword Cane/Analysis|more practical]]), but relatively rare in fiction.
Connected to, and sometimes overlaps with, [[Parasol of Pain]]. Compare [[Combat Haircomb]].
{{examples|Examples:}}▼
==
* ''[[Bleach]]'': Kisuke Urahara's Zanpaku-to, Benihime.
** Ryūjin Jakka, Captain Commander Yamamoto's Zanpaku-to/wooden staff, which literally dissolves to reveal a normal katana rather than being a fancy blade.
* From ''[[Lupin III]]'':
** Lupin's associate Ishikawa Goemon's sword might look like one, but it's not.<ref>It's a katana with [
** The TV special ''Angel Tactics'' has two examples. At the very beginning, when Goemon is disguised as a scientist, he hides his sword like this. Later, his opponent also disguises her katana as a cane. This is how Goemon realizes she's hostile: someone who genuinely needed a cane couldn't possibly have climbed that mountain.
* Brook of ''[[One Piece]]''.
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* ''[[Sailor Moon]]'' has Tuxedo Mask's cane, which can function as both a sword or a staff depending on the type of ass-kicking he's in the mood for.
▲== Comic Books ==
* In one of the older [[Mickey Mouse]] comic books, among the items Mickey inherits from a deceased uncle is a cane that supposedly "will help you in your time of need." The context makes it sound like it's in case he hurts himself, but in a critical moment he figures out that it can be bent and reconfigured into a long-barrelled rifle. (He uses it to shoot a coconut and knock it out of a tree so it lands on the villain's head. This is Disney, after all.)
* ''[[The Sandman]]'': Fiddler's Green has one which he carries with him when wandering around in human form. He uses it during ''The Doll's House'' arc.
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* [[Daredevil|Matt Murdock's]] cane conceals a variety of weapons and tools, including a billy club, grappling hook and (originally) a small-caliber rifle.
▲== Film ==
* R'as Al-Ghul has one in ''[[Batman Begins]]''.
* Watson carries one in ''[[Sherlock Holmes (
* In the Direct-To-Video movie ''Sherlock'', [[Sherlock Holmes]] and Professor Moriarity both have them. Since Moriarity is a much better swordsman, Holmes trades this in for a Single Shot .45 caliber Gun Cane. And [[Crazy Prepared|Moriarity turns out to be wearing body armor under his clothes.]]
* [[Zatoichi]], who needs a cane due to his blindness.
* Alex's cane in ''[[A Clockwork Orange (
* The [[Big Bad]] of ''[[The Game Of Death]]'' is a textbook example. [[Bruce Lee|Unsurprisingly,]] [[Never Bring a Knife
* ''[[The Avengers (1998
* ''[[The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes' Smarter Brother
* The wizard version appears in the movies of ''[[Harry Potter]]''. Lucius Malfoy has a [[Memetic Mutation|"pimp cane"]] that he unscrews his magic wand from.
* ''[[The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen]]''. Dorian Gray has one.
* Judge Doom in ''[[Who Framed Roger Rabbit?]]''.
* [[Big Bad|Gideon]] in ''[[Scott Pilgrim vs. the World]]''.
* [[Psycho for Hire|Thin Man]] from ''[[
* In ''[[Tron
* The main bad guy in the 1978 ''[[The 39 Steps|Thirty-nine Steps]]'' carries one.
* Piotr in ''[[The Tiger Brigades]]'', a film (from a TV series) about an elite squad of detectives in 1910's France.
* Ivan Ivanovitch Sakharine has one in [[
* [[The Dragon|Killer #2]] in [[
* Zhukovsky has the gun variant in ''[[
* In ''The First Great Train Robbery'', Edward Pierce uses one to defend himself when two thugs try to mug him in a part of Victorian London's seedy underbelly.
* One of the first scenes in ''The Assassination Bureau'' is of a man pretending to be blind—and then he uses his white cane to shoot a dignitary who's standing on a balcony, watching the fireworks that drown out the sound of the gunshot. The victim falling off the balcony is reflected in the "blind man's" dark glasses.
▲== Literature ==
* In a flashback in ''[[The Count of Monte Cristo]]'', it was mentioned that [[Badass Grandpa]] Monsieur Noirtier carried one and was even able to defeat a seasoned military officer armed with a full-sized rapier with it.
* More or less subverted in the book ''[[
* 'Ham' Brooks' preferred weapon in the ''[[Doc Savage]]'' novels. The blade is fairly short and slides out of the cane's tip when he twists the handle, rather than being unsheathed as in the trope description above. It's also coated with a drug that [[Instant Sedation|rapidly produces unconsciousness]] when he scratches someone with it.
* Koudelka in the ''[[Vorkosigan Saga]]'' has a swordstick. It gains special historical notability when it is used (by {{spoiler|Sergeant Bothari}}) to {{spoiler|behead a pretender to the throne}}. It has an ejector mechanism that is so powerful that it turns the sheath into a projectile weapon, which is the subject of some comedy as Koudelka slowly masters its workings.
* In Barthe DeClements's ''Double Trouble'', villainous teacher Mr. Gessert has a gun version.
* ''[[Discworld]]'':
** [[Secret Police]] leader Captain Swing in ''[[
** In both ''[[
* [[Star Wars Expanded Universe]]: An older Lando Calrissian, as of the ''[[Legacy of the Force]]'' series, carries a cane with a small blaster and a voice-activated stunner. (Which stuns anyone ''touching'' the cane - in case it's taken from him. Lando's [[Crazy Prepared|like that]].)
* In one of [[
* In ''[[The Dresden Files]]'', Harry Dresden has ''two'' of these. One is an authentic 19th-century sword cane that's been prepared to be a focus for magic, useful for moving around without drawing attention and as a backup magic-focusing tool. The other is {{spoiler|one of the Swords (capital "S" there) wielded by the [[Knight in Shining Armor|Knights of the Cross]];}} the latter is actually a ''shirasaya'', a type of Japanese sword that, when sheathed, looks just like a long, somewhat curved walking stick.
* In ''The Wrecking Crew'', [[Matt Helm]] fights a man wielding a
* Syme, the protagonist of ''[[The Man Who Was Thursday]]'' carries one, mostly because it fits with his sense of living a life of whimsy and adventure, although he actually does know how to fence. The author, [[
* In one of the [[Father Brown]] stories, {{spoiler|the solution hinges upon the murderer using a sword cane.}}
* Doctor Talos in ''[[Gene Wolfe|The Book of the New Sun]]'' turns out to be armed with one of these.
* The [[The Nth Doctor|Eighth]] [[Doctor Who
* [[Peter S. Beagle]]'s
* Granny Carry of the ''[[Liavek]]'' anthologies has a swordcane, although she never actually has to use it.
* The victim in the [[
* In the [[Matthew Hawkwood]] novel ''Resurrectionist'', [[Mad Doctor]] Colonel Titus Hyde carries a sword cane and very nearly does the hero in with it.
* In the kid's horror novel ''The Nightmarys'', the main character is afraid that the old man he and his friend are going to talk to has one.
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* Steerpike of ''[[Gormenghast]]'' uses a swordcane.
* [[Names to Run Away From Really Fast|Rehvenge]] in the ''[[Black Dagger Brotherhood]]'' series has a sword ''pimp-cane'' with a ''blood-red'' blade.
* ''[[Artemis Fowl
* Simon Templar, BKA [[The Saint]], uses a sword cane in his early adventures, notably "The Man Who Was Clever."
* The narrator in [[Umberto Eco]]'s ''The Prague Cemetery'' carries one so nobody will notice he's armed. The first person he meets immediately congratulates him on carrying such a fine [[Cane Sword]].
* [[Manly Wade Wellman]]'s [[Occult Detective]] Judge Pursuivant has a silver version of one of these, with the words "Sic pereant omnes inimici tui" (thus perish all your enemies) engraved on it. When he becomes too old to wield it, the Judge passes it on to his colleague John Thunstone.
* One apparent adversary in a ''[[The Three Investigators]]'' book carried a sword cane. He revealed this as part of an attempt to intimidate them, unsheathing it and then frowning, remarking he hadn't cleaned it properly, and adding that blood was bad for fine steel. [[Exact Words|He never actually said]] that the red, sticky substance he then wiped from the blade '''was''' blood....
* In ''[[The Avengers (TV series)|The Avengers]]'' TV series, Steed had a sword concealed within his umbrella.▼
▲== Live Action TV ==
▲* In ''[[The Avengers (TV)|The Avengers]]'' TV series, Steed had a sword concealed within his umbrella.
* The private rail car in ''[[The Wild Wild West (TV series)|The Wild Wild West]]'' included (during the first season) a sword concealed in a pool cue.▼
▲* Adam's trademark weapon in ''[[Adam Adamant Lives (TV)|Adam Adamant Lives]]''.
* [[House (TV series)|House]] carried not a sword, but an axe and a shotgun within his cane during a dream sequence.▼
▲* The private rail car in ''[[Wild Wild West]]'' included a sword concealed in a pool cue.
▲* [[House (TV)|House]] carried not a sword, but an axe and a shotgun within his cane during a dream sequence.
▲{{quote| '''House:''' *Slice* Good thing I brought my Ax Cane.}}
** In one episode, House has a cane confiscated by airport security- it was an antique cane made for a vintner that had a corkscrew concealed in the handle.
▲== Music ==
* Bob Dylan's ''On The Road Again'' from ''Bringing it all Back Home'':
{{quote|
Your grandma prays to pictures that are pasted on a board
Everything inside my pockets your uncle steals
And you ask me why I don't live here - honey, I can't believe that you're for real! }}
* Ronald Isley has one that he threatens to use on [[R. Kelly]] in the video for "Contagious"
* The [[Vigilante Man]] in [[Abney Park]]'s "Victorian Vigilante" [[Vigilante Execution|comes after someone]] who has one of these.
* The titular character in [[Lou Reed]]'s "My Friend George" carries one.
* Sword canes show up in ''[[
▲== Tabletop Games ==
* ''[[
▲* Sword canes show up in ''[[GURPS (Tabletop Game)|GURPS]]: High-Tech''. They're expensive, low quality and bad for parrying. On the up side beating people with the cane is still a viable option. There's also a ''rifle'' cane.
▲* ''[[Seventh Sea (Tabletop Game)|Seventh Sea]]'' includes a swordsman's school based around the use of a sword cane.
* ''[[Dark Heresy]]'' has a [[Laser Blade|power sword cane]].
* The ''[[
* ''[[Dungeons
* ''[[Pathfinder]]'' has stats for them in ''Ultimate Equipment''. It's pretty useless since it's worse in almost every way compared to a club (which can be an actual, non-bladed, cane). Its only advantage is that it can be used with weapon finesse and benefits from light blade specialization.
* In ''[[
▲== Theatre ==
▲* In ''[[The Threepenny Opera (Theatre)|The Threepenny Opera]]'', [[Villain Protagonist]] Macheath carries a sword cane.
* Rupert in ''[[Rope]]'' has one and uses it to defend himself against the killers while they wait for the police.
* Edward Hyde uses {{spoiler|and is killed by}} one in ''[[Jekyll and Hyde (
==
* Master Rishu from ''[[Super Robot Wars Original Generation]]'' is a proud owner of one of these.
* Not quite this trope, but clearly influenced by it: [[Melty Blood|Kohaku]] conceals a sword in her [[Flying Broomstick]].
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* Setsuka of the ''[[Soul Series]]'' conceals a sword in her parasol.
* ''[[Saints Row]]'' offers you a Shotgun Cane. A Shotgun ''Pimp'' Cane no less. Your character's idle animation while holding it is to rest on it like a regular cane.
* Special maces in ''[[Romancing
* {{spoiler|Adrian Raven}} in ''[[
* [[Badass Grandpa|Thaco]] from ''[[
* [[Handicapped Badass|Blind]] Terezi Pyrope from ''[[
* In ''[[Impure Blood]]'', [https://web.archive.org/web/20130624095659/http://www.impurebloodwebcomic.com/Pages/Issue3/ib059.html Caspian has one, but doesn't always have to draw the blade].▼
* ''[[Bug
==
▲* {{spoiler|Adrian Raven}} in ''[[El Goonish Shive (Webcomic)|El Goonish Shive]]'' has this, but carries it only when expecting serious trouble.
▲* [[Badass Grandpa|Thaco]] from ''[[Goblins (Webcomic)|Goblins]]'' has a variant. There's no element of concealment; his [[Dual Wielding|two swords]] lock together so he can ''[[Mundane Utility|use ]]''[[Mundane Utility|them as a cane]].
▲* [[Handicapped Badass|Blind]] Terezi Pyrope from ''[[Homestuck (Webcomic)|Homestuck]]'' turned her walking cane into one at some point during her session.
▲* In ''[[Impure Blood]]'', [http://www.impurebloodwebcomic.com/Pages/Issue3/ib059.html Caspian has one, but doesn't always have to draw the blade].
▲* ''[[Bug (Webcomic)|Bug]]'' [http://www.bugcomic.com/comics/the-handicapable-swordfighter/ wanted one, but sees a few problems on the way].
* Jeremy Franco of ''[[Survival of the Fittest]]'' was given this as his assigned weapon. As seen by the page quote, he enjoyed it.
* Roman Torchwick of ''[[RWBY]]'' carries a cane that doubles as a gun, complete with a crosshairs sight on the end that flips up for aiming.
** His partner/minion Neo has a more traditional sword blade built into her [[Parasol of Pain]].
* Elderly Jedi Master Tera Sinube has a Lightsaber built into his cane in ''[[Star Wars:
▲== Western Animation ==
* Sherlock Holmes carries one in ''[[Batman:
▲* Elderly Jedi Master Tera Sinube has a Lightsaber built into his cane in ''[[Star Wars the Clone Wars]]''.
▲* Sherlock Holmes carries one in ''[[Batman the Brave And The Bold (Animation)|Batman the Brave And The Bold]]''.
* In one episode of ''[[The Adventures of Tintin]]'', the [[Big Bad]] has one of these, but at the time he unsheathes it, Tin-Tin is wearing a suit of medival armor (It [[Makes Sense in Context]])and in a [[Crowning Moment of Funny]], hefts his MASSIVE claymore, causing the villian to drop his weapon and flee.
* ''[[The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest]]'' in the episode "Eclipse".
* In the opening of one episode of ''[[The Simpsons (
** In the episode where Bart becomes a Junior Camper, [[Beware the Nice Ones|Hans Moleman]] pulls out a [[BFS|very large knife]] from his cane saying "[[Crocodile Dundee|You call that a knife? This is a knife]]". Unfortunately for [[The Chew Toy|him]], its too big and falls to the ground.
* ''[[Regular Show]]'': In "A Bunch of Baby Ducks", a poacher threatens Mordecai and Rigby with one.
* Martin has one in ''[[The Secret of NIMH]]'' 2.
== [[Real Life]] ==
* The: [
▲== [[Real Life]] ==
▲* The: [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swordstick Swordstick], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cane_gun Cane gun], [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_sword_mountings#Shikomizue Shikomizue].
* In Israel, pre-1948, many of the elderly Jews of Jerusalem were armed with one-shot canes.
** Additionally, it's important to note that the Jews had [
* It might be a good idea to mention that [[Don't Try This At Home|these are illegal in most places]].
{{reflist}}
[[Category:Index On a Stick]]
[[Category:Weapons and Wielding Tropes]]
▲[[Category:Sword Cane]]
▲[[Category:Trope]]
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