The Blacksmith: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

 

 

Someone who shapes things out of iron and steel, so called because iron is a "black" metal. This craft has been around since humans first learned to shape iron and iron alloys. Metalworkers specializing in bronze or copper are sometimes referred to as "redsmiths", and those that work with tin or pewter are known as "whitesmiths."

While blacksmiths made many different useful items, in fiction you will generally see them specializing in weapons (especially swords), armor, fetters and chains (usually these smiths are depicted less favorably than other metalworkers) and horseshoes (a specialist in the last is often called a "farrier.") Swordsmithing is actually a very specialized field, but in much fantasy, an "ordinary" blacksmith may be able to produce weapons of quality well above what he would realistically be capable of.

 

 

He will generally be the star of a [[Forging Scene]].

 

== [[Anime]] and [[Manga]] ==

* Ashul Edwaru is the master blacksmith from ''[[Tower of God]]''. Not only did he create the Thirteen Months, he was also the first to realize that the weapons that came from outside the tower would eventually become utterly useless in the higher levels (especially swords and axes). He promptly redesigned them and became a legend.

** {{spoiler|Rickert}} is becoming one as well, of the smaller variety.

* [[Vinland Saga]]: After giving up his [[Blood Knight]] lifestyle, Thors becomes a laughably bad blacksmith working in an Icelandic village.

* In [[The Sacred Blacksmith]], Luke (who isn't the main character) can magically forge [[Katanas Are Just Better|katanas]]. These break after a few uses though.

* In [[Inuyasha]], Totosai is the old [[Youkai]] swordsmith who forged both the Tessaiga and Tensaiga.

** In the anime series, {{spoiler|Presea's [[Angsty Surviving Twin|Angsty]] [[Backup Twin]] Sierra cannot make weapons, but she can repair them following a similar process.}}

* Aries Mu from [[Saint Seiya]], the only person able to fix heavily damaged Saint Clothes... at very high prices. Not because he's evil ([[Big Brother Mentor|he is]] '''not'''), but because {{spoiler|the main requirement is to give out lots of ''your own blood''. Shiryu does it once and almost dies.}}

* After the concluding of the ''[[Fullmetal Alchemist]]'' manga, Arakawa made a side-story chapter where this trope applies. {{spoiler|After Al receives his old suit of armor in a package, he decides to turn the material of the armor into automail. In response, Winry takes him and Edward to the blacksmith, where Winry is acquainted with the men there. Who knew that the producing of automail steel actually had a back story? Huh.}}

 

== [[Comic Books]] ==

* An older British comic entitled ''The Hammer Man'' featured a spectacularly strong medieval blacksmith called Chel Puddock who, over the course of the series, defeated knights, was himself knighted, led rebellions against corrupt [[The Baron|barons]] and eventually rose to be a lord.

 

 

 

== [[Film]] ==

* Will Turner in ''[[Pirates of the Caribbean]]'' was a (surprisingly stringy) swordsmith, though he dumped the profession once an opportunity arose.

* Balian (like Will, played by Orlando Bloom) was a blacksmith in ''[[Kingdom of Heaven]]''. He dumped the profession after murdering his brother.

* Dr. Brown in ''[[Back to The Future]]'' 3: "I'm a scient... I mean, a blacksmith"

* Hattori Hanzo in ''[[Kill Bill]]'' was the greatest swordsmith in the world until he promised God he'd stop; his breaking of that vow resulted in [[Cool Sword|the finest weapon he ever crafted]].

* John [[Rambo]] seems to have picked up some metal working skill during his 20 years of residence in Thailand, as he is shown making the blade for a boat rotor and later on smashing a leaf spring into a large knife in the latest movie.

** A deleted scene for Rambo III demonstrated this as well, and it is obvious why it was cut. The knife Rambo forges here (using soft, delicate lovetaps with a mallet) is practically a sword and features craftsmanship more suitable for someone who's dedicated their life to the trade, rather than a Vietnam vet living in a monastery. In a way, the two scenes contrast the differences between the commercial, glossy, and pompous Rambo III and the grittier, darker and simpler Rambo.

 

== [[Literature]] ==

* Theros Ironfeld in the ''[[Dragonlance]]'' novels. Blacksmith of the town of Solace, gets his smithing arm cut off by a sadistic hobgoblin. When next he shows up, Theros has a magic arm made of silver to replace it, and forges dragonlances for a living. Cool, huh?

* Blacksmiths are specifically mentioned in ''[[The Tough Guide to Fantasyland]]'' as a good source of allies - their daughters tend to be beautiful and any orphans they raise automatically become heroes with mysterious lost pasts.

** This is specifically cited as [[Fetish Fuel]] by {{spoiler|Rizu, who says that part of the reason she's attracted to Daja is that she's so strong and makes beautiful things}}.

** Daja's teacher Frostpine is also a metalsmith, and one of the Great Mages in their world.

* In ''[[The Silmarillion]]'', pretty much any given Elf will have forged some weapon at some point or another in their career. Most notable is Fëanor, who created the Silmarils, forged the first weapons in Valinor, and was even trained by the God of Smithcraft Aulë. Of the Elves, the Noldor in particular are noted for their ability at smithing. The Dwarven race also fits this trope, almost even moreso than the Elves.

** Sauron, being a Maia, was also trained by Aulë and had his fair share of metalworking.

* Smithmaster Agella from the [[Shadowleague]] books.

* [[Meaningful Name|Hammersmith]] in [[Neil Gaiman]]'s ''[[Neverwhere]]''.

* In ''Tiger Eye'', heroine Dela is a rare and peculiar modern smith. She sculpts in metal as well as making commission weapons, and the plot kicks off when one of her weapons is discovered to have been used in a murder.

* Cavallo takes this role in the Conn Iggulden's ''[[Literature/Emperor|Emperor]]'' books; the Romans do have blacksmiths, but Cavallo is the one who shows them how to make steel.

* Two major characters, and several minor ones, in L.E. Modessit's ''[[Saga of Recluce]]'' practice blacksmithing as their profession. Not just weapons, but tools and various other odds and ends. One of the most [[Shown Their Work|realistic depictions of the craft]] in fiction.

* ''[[The Dwarves]]'' by Marcus Heistz features a blacksmith as the protagonist.

* Karis in the ''[[Elemental Logic]]'' series is an accomplished blacksmith. She's also an earth witch, and she's aware of what happens to every tool she makes(which is why she makes weapons only for her [[True Companions]]).

 

* [[Burt Reynolds]] played blacksmith Quint Asper for three years on ''[[Gunsmoke]]''.

* In ''[[Hercules: The Legendary Journeys]]'', Princess Atalanta is a blacksmith instead of a huntress for some reason.

** Probably because she's played by former [[Amazonian Beauty|Ms. Olympia]] Corey Everson.

 

 

== [[Tabletop Games]] ==

** This has practical applications to their role as defenders of humanity as well; they are the only chapter able (and [[The Paladin|willing]]) to help rebuild essential infrastructure when the fighting is over.

* Anyone with high Craft (Fire) in ''[[Exalted]]'' would qualify. This subset of the Craft skill is used for everything from horseshoes to [[BFS|daiklaves]]. The setting also contains other, weirder smiths, such as the notoriously unreliable and sex-crazed demon-dwarves known as heranhal, or Alveula, Keeper of the Forge of Night, a powerful demon who smelts humans into equipment and carries a hammer about the same size as herself.

 

== [[Video Games]] ==

* There are at least a couple of blacksmiths in the ''[[Final Fantasy]]'' series, starting with the dwarf who forges Excalibur in the first game.

* Watts from ''[[Secret of Mana]]''.

* Recruiting at least one blacksmith happens in every ''[[Suikoden]]'' game, and is vital to getting your weapons to their highest potential.

* Griswold in the first [[Diablo]] game.

** Suceeded in the second game by: Charsi (Rogue Encampment), Fara (Lut Gholein), Hratli (Kurast), Halbu (Pandemonium Fortress) and Lazurk (Harrogath). The first two are females of the [[Wrench Wench]] variety.

* Every ''[[Harvest Moon]]'' game is guaranteed to have an old guy ([[Cool Old Guy|cool]] or [[Crusty Caretaker|crusty]]) who will upgrade your farming tools for the right price. In ''[[Rune Factory]]'', you can become one yourself after you purchase an extension for your house.

* Every fort in ''[[Dwarf Fortress]]'' values its skilled smiths. There are Blacksmiths, who make large objects and furniture from metal, Metalcrafters, who make smaller trade goods, and most importantly, Weaponsmiths and Armorsmiths. Players tend to cultivate these, letting no other dwarves do any smithing work and producing obscene amounts of weapons from crappy metals in order to train a smith up to Legendary skill, at which point the smith cranks out high-quality items (which do more damage or provide more protection) at an impressive rate. Because it takes so long to train a smith to Legendary, these dwarves are highly valued and protected. Of course, once they're legendary and have made masterwork equipment for all your troops, there's not much more for them to do but make replacement equipment for when [[Artificial Stupidity|your dwarves inevitably dodge an attack and fall off of a bridge into the fortress's lava moat]].

** Also, the "strange moods" of DF cause a dwarf to produce a legendary artifact in some craft that they have skill in, even dabbling skill, and become legendary in that skill. A lot of players exploit this and assign all peasants to make a few weapons or armor so that they'll have dabbling armor- or weaponsmith skill. Then they go back to farming or hauling crap around, skills which do not tap into strange moods, and if they get a mood they'll be guaranteed to make an artifact weapon or armor and become legendary.

** As of the Burning Crusade expansion, the Weaponsmith and Armorsmith specializations can only be used to create specialty weapons and armor ''for yourself.'' The specialty items a weaponsmith or armorsmith makes cannot be given to any other character. Ironic, considering that the dwarf in Ironforge who offers the Weaponsmith quest tells you about how lucrative it is to sell your weaponsmithing products.

* [[Quest for Glory II]] has [[Jerk Jock|Isun]], [[Quest for Glory V]] had [[Surprisingly Similar Subsitute|Pholus]].

* Every ''[[Rune Factory]]'' game has a blacksmith, all but one of which is talked about as though they're a master craftsman. The one who isn't praised is more into building golems, and does smith work on the side. Only one of the smiths who is praised can actually make decent weapons. He's also the only dwarf smith. [[Our Dwarves Are All the Same|It's his only]] [[Subverted Trope|dwarven trait]].

* The Black Hammer of Darksiders is an immortal who forges weaponry for anyone if he feels up to it. Usually the forces of Heaven or the Horsemen.

 

== [[Web Comics]] ==

* Pella from ''[[Looking for Group]]'' left blacksmithing behind when she came through time to join the heroes. When she later decided that she had no choice but to assault a heavily fortified prison she chose to go with a set of custom made weapons from a smith of ancient times, namely herself. Working at the forge also made time for some [[Backstory]].

* In ''[[Next Town Over]]'', the town of Sun Prairie has one. Vane Black [http://squidbunnies.com/nto/?p=426 takes] the smithy from him after shooting off his fingers.

 

== [[Web Animation]] ==

 

== [[Western Animation]] ==

 

== [[Real Life]] ==

* Masamune Goro, the Japanese blacksmith who was famed for the "spiritual quality" of his work. He supposedly spent 100 days meditating under a waterfall to purify his spirit before forging a katana.

* Muramasa is said to have infused every sword he made with his violent rage. Although Muramasa is often portrayed as Goro's pupil, the two lived about two centuries apart.

* Andrew Ferrara may have been a sword-maker in Scotland in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. Whether he actually existed is debatable, but it is known that extremely well-made Scottish broadswords have his name inscribed on their blades.

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Western Characters]]

[[Category:Occupation Tropes]]

[[Category:Older Than Feudalism]]