History Main / AudibleSharpness

* The various weapon powersets in ''CityOfHeroes'' almost always make a sound when drawn (from [[HammerSpace nowhere]]). With the weapon customization system implemented, audible sharpness even applies to femurs and baseball bats, if you want it to.

** PlayedStraight with quite a few swords and spears in the second half of the season.

*** In ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedBrotherhood'', the Hidden Blade is noticeably quieter than what it was in the first game in ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedII''.

* In the 1984 Icelandic movie ''WhenTheRavenFlies'', the protagonist kills a whole lot of people using his extremely audibly sharp throwing knives. They are in fact so sharp that they even produce the distinctive "sssschhiiing" when being pulled from the flesh of a dead body!

* This works visibly, too. A knife juggler on the stage will use 'very'' shiny knives or weapons when juggling on stage but the blades, in reality are dulled as much as possible - because the audience will assume shiny means sharp, the same way Audible Sharpness means sharp. So the audience will be amazed by the shiny "sharp" knives being juggled, and the performer has less of an chance of a career-ending injury.

* Inverted in ''BadMachinery'', where Claire's knife makes a [[UnsoundEffect Blunt]] noise when she brandishes it.

* ''VisualNovel/FateStayNight's'' 2006 anime gratuitously abused this, especially with Saber & Archer's swords, where simply ''gripping'' them caused a metallic "tink" or "shing" sound. ''LightNovel/FateZero'' was a little better about this. A little. The 2014 FS/N adaptation downplays the trope further: the sound effects are still there, but they're quieter than most examples.

* The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_4JHCF4ClmE theme song]] for Samurai Goroh in ''FZero FX­/GX'' incoporates this sound.

** And in the movie ''Film/VanHelsing'', with the titular character played by HughJackman who of course also played Wolverine in the recent movies, [[spoiler:after Van Helsing is transformed into a werewolf, he extends his claws '''[[ActorAllusion with exactly the same sound]]''']].

* Lampshaded in an episode of ''WesternAnimation/SpongebobSquarepants'', where Plankton "unsheathes" a golden spatula. The spatula doesn't make the "shiiiing!", Plankton does.

* In ''Franchise/PiratesOfTheCaribbean'', when Will says his father was not a pirate, then draws his sword on Jack, his sword makes the metallic scraping sound. Problem is, the sword was simply tucked into his belt, without any kind of sheath.

* ''VisualNovel/FateStayNight'' gratuitously abused this, especially with Saber & Archer's swords, where simply ''gripping'' them caused a metallic "tink" or "shing" sound. ''LightNovel/FateZero'' was a little better about this. A little.

* A blade will make a ringing sound for a few seconds if drawn against metal. If this happens when it's pulled from a sheath, it's because it's scraping against the metal scabbard collar. Stage scabbards are sometimes designed specifically to produce this effect. In real life this would be undesirable because it dulls the blade.

* {{Deconstructed}} in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yzbfuI0PMdA this video]], in which a swordmaster demonstrates exactly what sounds his swords make when drawn from their sheaths. He takes a very dim view of the idea that they go "tzhing."
** Countered by [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0xAjpdkO-6o this video]] where a HEMA (historical European martial arts) practitioner does the same thing, except the last scabbard he tests is made of brass and it [[TruthInTelevision does make a sound surprisingly similar]] to the stock SFX. As noted above, he also acknowledges a scabbard made out of steel or iron would dull the blade, which is why most metal scabbards are made of brass since it's a metal softer than those two. However, he notes that metal scabbards became prominent in the 19th century, but because they are stilled used in ceremonial roles in today's militaries, they will be what people will have been exposed to in real life, and [[TheCoconutEffect therefore expecting]], even though it is anachronistic in most of the commonly portrayed sword-fighting eras and places.

* In WesternAnimation/KungFuPanda, the [[AbsurdlySharpBlade Sword of Heroes]], so sharp that you can cut yourself by looking at it, did this when Po looked at it and cut his finger. Tigress and Tai Lung also do this whenever they unsheathe their claws.
** In ''WesternAnimation/KungFuPanda2'', this applies to all of Lord Shen's bladed weapons.

* The second ''[[Film/TheMatrix Matrix]]'' movie takes this UpToEleven in the fight scene in the Merovingian's chateau. Any time one of them so much as ''nudged'' a bladed weapon, you could hear it.

* In ''Film/HarryPotter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2,'' when Neville looks into the Sorting Hat, we hear a distinct "tzing". It's a sound cue to tell the audience what Neville has seen in the hat.

* ''PhoenixWrightAceAttorney'' likes to do this metaphorically from time to time, especially before cross-examinations, with the two lawyers' eyes lowered at one another, SpeedStripes in the background, as AudibleSharpness indicates the "battle of wits".
** Played straight in Apollo Justice, when Wocky Kitaki's Mother pulls a sword out of her broom.

* Done interestingly in ''Series/GameOfThrones''. During Arya's first swordfighting lesson, Ned starts imagining his daughter in actual combat, and the sounds of the wooden practice swords are gradually replaced by battle sounds, with Audible Sharpness in full effect.

** Countered by [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0xAjpdkO-6o this video]] where a HEMA (historical European martial arts) practitioner does the same thing, except the last scabbard he tests is made of brass and it [[TruthInTelevision does make a sound surprisingly similar]] to the stock SFX. As noted above, he also acknowledges a scabbard made out of steel or iron would dull the blade, which is why most metal scabbards are made of brass since it's a metal softer than those two. However, he notes that metal scabbards became prominent in the 19th century, but because they are stilled used in ceremonial roles in today's militaries, they will be what people will have been exposed to in real life, and [[TheCoconutEffect therefore expecting]], even though it is anarchistic in most of the commonly portrayed sword-fighting eras and places.

** Military sabres, being more for edge-force crushing than cutting, sometimes used metal scabbards since the blade wasn't sharpened along their whole length, or at all in some cases; a sharp blade swung at an opponent might stick in and pull you off your horse.

* Taken UpToEleven in the fight scene in the Merovingian's chateau in the second ''[[Film/TheMatrix Matrix]]'' movie. Any time one of them so much as ''nudged'' a bladed weapon, you could hear it.

** Countered by [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0xAjpdkO-6o this video]] where a HEMA (historical European martial arts) practitioner does the same thing, except the last scabbard he tests is made of brass and it [[TruthInTelevision does make a sound surprisingly similar]] to the stock SFX. As noted above, he also acknowledges a scabbard made out of steel or iron would dull the blade, which is why most metal scabbards are made of brass since it's a metal softer than those two.

* ''Comicbook/{{X-Men}}'' character {{Wolverine}}'s claws make a "SNIKT" sound when extended that has become almost iconic at this point.

** And, in the comics, when Wolverine has the adamantium removed from his body, the claws make a distinctively different "SHLIKT" sound.
*** Of course, in Logan's case, it's Justified, as it's not the claws themselves making the noise, but [[BodyHorror them ripping through his skin]].
* In the comic book ''Comicbook/{{Fables}}'', when Boy Blue gets the Vorpal Sword (as a reference to ''Literature/AliceInWonderland'' , whenever he swings it the drawn in sound effect for it is "Snicker-Snack"