Sword Drag: Difference between revisions

A character who carries a sword will, at some point, drag the tip of the blade across a floor or wall. This is usually done to intimidate or to catch the attention of another character, or simply [[Rule of Cool|to invoke the coolness factor]], but rarely does it have any [[Justified Trope|practical application]]. It can also be associated with an [[Ax Crazy]] character or a [[Villainous Breakdown]], because if someone holding a sword goes into a [[Primal Stance]] or becomes [[Limp and Livid]], they tend to forget they're holding it and just let it drag. Or it might just be that they can't actually lift the sword for any length of time, either because they're tired or the sword is too big.

 

 

Naturally, this would be a terrible maneuver to use in real life as it would wear down any good sword, slow down the wielder, and telegraph the coming attack obviously. Thankfully in fiction, we have the [[Rule of Cool]] to make up for that.

 

* [[Justified Trope|Justified]] with Shishio in ''[[Rurouni Kenshin]]'' who does it to ignite the oil covering his sword and set the sword on fire. His sword also sharpens when worn down instead of dulling.

* Variation: Combusken's Sky Uppercut in the ''[[Pokémon (anime)|Pokémon]]'' anime, starts with him dragging the tips of his claws along the floor, making some sparks and then doing the Uppercut. That only happened during a couple of instances in the Kanto Grand Festival. The attack isn't normally executed like that.

** Another variant: when Ash was battling to capture the Taillow that has been menacing the group, the Taillow drops to the river and dips its wings against the water while charging towards Pikachu.

* Found aplenty in ''[[Bleach]]'', often with character's swords ripping clean through walls without breaking stride.

* Mugen of ''[[Samurai Champloo]]'' does this once or twice. However, like much of the chambara expressed the series, it is portrayed more realistically, with Mugen sliding the side of his sword rather than carving into the floor with the tip.

* Acrobat Cabaji of ''[[One Piece]]'' deliberately does this to kick up a blinding dust cloud. He [[Calling Your Attacks|calls it]] Circus Trick: Murder at the Steam Bath.

* In the ''[[Hellsing]]'' anime series, during his duel with Alucard, Father Anderson drags his bayonets along the floor ''and'' ceiling (one in each hand) of the subway car he is in. When he brings them together to strike Alucard, ''it causes the car to split in half''.

* Sasuke uses a variant with his Chidori in prior to the [[Time Skip]] in ''[[Naruto]]''. Whether he had any practical reason to do so, such as concerns over slicing off his limbs, is unknown, but what ''is'' known is that the owner of the hotel whose wall he gouged in half probably wasn't happy.

 

 

== Films -- Live-Action ==

* [[A Nightmare on Elm Street|Freddy Krueger]] does this with his claws against walls, but then, literally, his whole schtick is being as frightening as he can...

* The Hutu extremists also do this in ''[[Sometimes In April]]'', another movie about the Rwandan Genocide.

* Used realistically in ''[[Rob Roy]]'' to indicate that the character is so exhausted from less than five minutes' fighting that he can barely lift his sword.

== Literature ==

* Quite a few people do this with lightsabers in the [[Star Wars Expanded Universe]], starting in ''[[The Thrawn Trilogy]]''. When you need to get to the next room, or the floor beneath this one, and you don't have time to find a door or a stairwell, it's just expedient to drag a lightsaber through it, either carving a hole or just weakening it enough to break.

 

== Live-Action TV ==

* Used in the series ''[[Highlander (TV series)|Highlander]]''.

* Terui Ryuu does this with the Engine Blade during episode 18 of ''[[Kamen Rider Double]]'' prior to his transformation into Kamen Rider Accel. This may count as a subversion though, since it's not to look intimidating, but rather because the blade is to heavy to carry normally while untransformed.

 

 

== Video Games ==

* In ''[[Final Fantasy VIII]]'', the Seifer vs. Squall fight in cutscene makes use of this extensively.

* Pyramid Head in ''[[Silent Hill]].'' The [[Sinister Scraping Sound|loud scraping/whining noise of his giant blade]] becomes [[Oh Crap|a signal of his approach]]. Justified in that Pyramid Head's weapon, the Great Knife, is a meat-cleaver blade roughly the size of a Buick.

* ''[[Tomb Raider]]: The Last Revelation'' has undead warriors who do this.

* ''[[Metal Gear Solid]]: The Twin Snakes'' has the Cyborg Ninja sweep his sword along the ground while fighting Snake for the first time. Possibly justified, since his sword was impossibly strong and sharp, and Snake was lying on the ground at the time.

* One of ([[Dual-Wielding]]) [[Yagyu Jubei]]'s special attacks in ''[[Samurai Shodown]]'' (the "''Nikakurato''") has him charging towards the opponent with a shoulder smash while dragging his wakizashi along the ground- leaving sparks behind. After a solid hit or few with the shoulder smash, he then lunges upward with his katana into a soaring slash capable of a [[Clean Cut]] if it finishes off the opponent.

* One of the cutscenes in ''[[Halo|Halo Wars]]'' has the [[Ax Crazy]] Arbiter do this, [[Laser Blade|with obvious justification]].

* Slayers in ''[[The Suffering]]'' will often drag one hand-blade along the ground as they charge. [[Hell Is That Noise|The sound]] is often the first sign that they're coming. It also often kicks up sparks which are sometimes the first thing you see if they're coming out of the darkness.

* Although it's not in the actual game, the main character Hawke drags his [[Blade on a Stick]] while charging a [[Dual-Wielding]] qunari in a cinematic trailer for ''[[Dragon Age II]]''.

* This happens in ''[[Fable]]'' if you try to wield a heavy weapon without sufficient strength.

* Occurs twice in ''[[Prototype (video game)|Prototype]]'', both with Alex Mercer and Captain Cross. Mercer's example comes when he finally defeats the parasite that's been restricting his powers; in a fairly awesome scene, he develops both the Armor and the Blade powers, dragging the tip of the blade in a circle around him. Cross's example is dragging his shock staff across the ground in anticipation of fighting Infected. Both examples are justified, somewhat: Alex's blade is a shapeshifter weapon, so he can easily repair any potential damage, and Cross's staff doesn't have an edge to ruin.

* The [[League of Legends]] champion [[The Berserker|Tryndamere]] runs around dragging his sword behind him with one hand. But then again, [[BFS|with a sword like that]], you have to wonder if he kills stuff by cutting with the blade's edge or just smashing with the weight of it.

* The Black Knights from [[Dark Souls]] tend to do this a bit. Semi-justified, since it's usually the prelude to a big, air-launching upwards sweep attack. A player armed with a Black Knight weapon can do this as well.

 

== Web Original ==

 

== Western Animation ==

** William tends to do that; not surprising given the [[BFS|size and weight of his sword]]. He even draws a full Eye of XANA on the floor the one time he was translated, but there he was just being a show-off.

** Ulrich is also guilty of this while riding his Overbike. Of course, being in a virtual world their swords won't dull.

* Snake Eyes does this occasionally in ''[[G.I. Joe: Renegades]]''.

 

== Real Life ==

[[Category:Sword Fight]]

[[Category:Combat Tropes]]