History Main / KatanasareJustBetter

* In ''Manga/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime'', Impa gets a chance to show off her skills with the ''kodachi'' she carried in the original game. She agrees to tutor Link in swordsmanship and is the only opponent he's unable to beat.

* Played straight and subverted in ''LightNovel/ChromeShelledRegios''. Almost every single character used a weapon other than a katana, and they aren't really being shown as inferior to those that do use katanas. However, the protagonist, Layfon Alseif, who has been using a standard sword the entirety of the series, gets a better one by [[spoiler:fusing two different kinds of {{Infinity Plus One Sword}}s together]]. Partially justified in that all of his training focused on katana-using, and it was just a [[spoiler:personal vow of [[TheAtoner repentance]]]] that kept him from using it the whole time.

* Played straight in the fifth ''LightNovel/TheGardenOfSinners'' novel. When Shiki gets her hands on a katana, she becomes exponentially more proficient and deadly.

* Teddy of ''VideoGame/{{MOTHER 1}}'' is the only one able to equip the Katana, the game's most powerful weapon. The Japanese version of the game even goes to the lengths to call it "KATANA" in English, all-caps, in a sort of roundabout GratuitousEnglish.

* ''Series/TokusouSentaiDekaranger'': Dekaranger's'' [=DekaMaster=] is a particularly prominent example compared with the others listed above, as while all the others are [[GratuitousNinja ninja]]/[[EverythingsBetterWithSamurai samurai]], [[DaChief DekaMaster]], the head of his branch, is a MasterSwordsman in a department of laser-pistol-wielding space cops, that fully subscribes to AuthorityEqualsAsskicking.

* ''[[Fanfic/MLPNextGenerationKnowFear MLP Next Generation: Know Fear!]]'': Starburst creates a katana [[GreenLanternRing light construct]] during [[spoiler: her duel with Valiant]] after hitting her RageBreakingPoint. Afterwards, it becomes her primary [[WeaponSpecialization weapon of choice]].

* ''{{Naruto}}'':

* ''Anime/SpyXFamily'': The katana wielding assassin was by far the most dangerous of the assassins from the cruise arc, knocking out the Director and getting pretty close to killing Yor.

* Invoked and subverted in ''WebVideo/TheLegendOfZeldaTheSageOfDarkness'', where Davik presents Link with the White Sword, a katana that he claims is the strongest blade he's ever seen. Not only does the much more powerful Master Sword exist in the setting, [[spoiler: but Davik is TheMole for Ganondorf's spirit and the White Sword corrupts the souls of its wielders, including Link]].

* ''LightNovel/RebuildWorld'': The NinjaMaid Shiori uses a Katana made of LostTechnology that is extremely good at penetrating armor and designed to be responsive enough to use with compressed time (a more grounded equivalent to BulletTime she can use thanks to stimulants). It can be set to GoingCritical mode to turn into a LaserBlade for a few seconds, which lets it cut pretty much anything no matter how big or strong but destroys the blade. Her blades are considered consumables. Akira eventually trades in a favor for one of Shiori’s swords and he uses it to cut several hunters into HalfTheManHeUsedToBe but ends up overloading it to cut down an assault aircraft.

* ''Anime/WeissKreuz'':
** Aya, the primary protagonist, uses a katana as his weapon of choice even against enemies wielding guns and pulls off a couple of {{Diagonal Cut}}s throughout the original series. On the other hand, the trope is also subverted several times throughout the series:
** In the RadioDrama ''Endless Rain'', several characters discuss the idea that Katanas Are Just Better, with one of them remarking that the katana is just a weapon like any other and, all things being equal, he'd just as soon have a gun. In another scene, Aya, wielding a katana, is defeated effortlessly by another character who wields only a paper fan.
** After a katana vs. katana battle by at the conclusion of another RadioDrama, ''Dramatic Precious'', Aya finally defeats his former swordmaster by [[CombatPragmatist shooting him with the gun he carries as a backup weapon]].
** And in the manga sequel ''Weiss Side B,'' Aya is provided with his pick from another character's collection of katanas before going into battle, and takes all of them, correctly expecting all of them to break before the fight is over. One of them is broken by [[SomethingAboutARose Chloe's rose]].

* ''LightNovel/TheSacredBlacksmith'' runs wild with this trope. Luke Ainsworth uses a katana to cleave cleanly through a [[{{BFS}} giant claymore]], with the novel's heroine fawning over the exotic super-blade that chops through everything other swords can't. Then said katana breaks when blocking ice. So... yeah. It is worth mentioning that part of the plot revolves around how ''magically-forged'' katanas will never be as durable as an actual forged blade. [[spoiler:When Luke actually forges a katana by traditional methods, [[AbsurdlySharpBlade the end result slices any sword in half that strikes at it while it is resting still on a tabletop.]]]]

* Invoked in the ''Series/CriminalMinds'' episode "True Night," where a delusional man on a vendetta imagines himself in a BadassLongcoat and DualWielding katana, while in the real world he's wearing a hoodie and wielding hardware store machetes.

* The ''Series/{{CSINY}}'' episode "Corporate Warriors" features a businessman beheaded by a katana-wielding rival from his firm. The cut is so clean, the head stays in place and, during autopsy, appears almost cauterized. Also inserted are obligatory scenes of Mac Taylor looking sexy while testing a katana.
* In the ''Series/DoctorWho'' episode "The Girl Who Waited", Amy wields a katana and a staff against the Handbots [[spoiler:after the Doctor abandoned her for 36 years]].

* In ''Series/TheOuterLimits1995'' episode "Mindreacher", a woman is attacked by a monster in a dream. After she realizes she's in a dream, she wills a katana into her hand and kills the monster.

* ''Series/TheWalkingDead'': Michonne is the most effective survivor at killing walkers at close range. She uses a katana to effortlessly decapitate zombies, often two at a time.

* Zig-zagged throughout the ''Franchise/{{Castlevania}}'' games. For example, in ''[[VideoGame/CastlevaniaCurseOfDarkness Curse of Darkness]]'', the nodachi (A larger cousin of the katana) is both slightly more powerful and much faster than the comparable Western sword, the Zweihänder, while in ''[[VideoGame/CastlevaniaChroniclesOfSorrow Dawn of Sorrow]]'', the katanas are actually among the weaker weapons, with what advantage they have being entirely in attack speed and angle. They are actually overall slower than longswords even in ''Dawn'' due to the gaping lag time following each swing. Katanas only hit sooner because Soma uses them in a quick-draw style. You ''can'' cancel out of the lag with a backstep, though. This is also because the Katana is a weapon ''type''. It is one of the weaker weapons of that type, but with souls, can be upgraded. Even at the highest stage, the katana-esque weapon is one of the less useful ones compared with the highest stages of, say, the great sword (Claimh Solais), normal sword (the intense multi-hit wind attacking Valmanway) or the spear (Gunger).

* ''Film/TheCrow'': Eric Draven briefly acquires one from Top Dollar's collection and gets more kills with it than any other weapon. Interestingly, the weapon of choice for Top Dollar himself is a rapier.

* ''Fanfic/CyberpunkAnotherDaybreak'': During a shootout in a Mexican megabuilding, V apparently managed to find ''Honjo Masamune'', a priceless national treasure-class sword forged by [[UsefulNotes/MuramasaAndMasamune Masamune himself]] to cut through "a little more than half" of the eighty-nine gang-bangers he admits to killing with Jackie Welles. Despite the sword being nearly eight centuries old, it cut through meat and chrome like a knife through butter and makes him the talk of Arasaka's Counter-Intel office.

* Parodied by [[http://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/scp-572 SCP-572]] of the ''Wiki/SCPFoundation'': it's a poor-quality katana intended exclusively for display, but anybody who holds it becomes convinced of its amazing balance and cutting power, [[ImplausibleFencingPowers as well as their own invincibility]]. They then attempt the feats commonly seen of this trope (such as cutting a car in half) with [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome predictable results]].

* ''LightNovel/TheAsteriskWar'': [[TheHero Ayato Amagiri]] wields the Ser-Veresta, a [[EmpathicWeapon sentient]] LaserBlade previously used by his sister. Its base form is a broadsword but takes the shape of a katana when it unleashes its full power. Curiously, this happens when Ayato and Julis Riessfeld [[ShipperOnDeck touch it at the same time]].

** Subverted in ''Film/GIJoeTheRiseOfCobra''. Snake Eyes is very good with his katana, until [[spoiler:Storm Shadow breaks it. Then Snake Eyes pulls out the [[DualTonfas Bladed Dual Tonfas]] and wins]].

* ''WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles2003'' makes it pretty clear that the skill of the wielder is more important than the blade itself, and a MartialArtsStaff or a [[SaiGuy pair of sai]] are just as good. However, that doesn't stop Leonardo's swords from cutting through robots and metal garage doors like a chainsaw through butter. With katanas ''he made himself''.

* Michonne's main combat attribute in ''ComicBook/TheWalkingDead'' is slicing zombies' heads off with her [[WeaponOfChoice katana]]. She's one of the most efficient zombie killers in the series.

* In the ''Fanfic/JWITCHSeries'', Caleb picks up a katana while the heroes are in Japan researching the Oni Masks, which quickly becomes his WeaponOfChoice from then on.

* In [[http://www.fimfiction.net/story/59434/loyaltys-vengeance Loyalty's Vengeance,]] Rainbow Dash eventually gets a katana as her primary WeaponOfChoice. When asked why by a fan, the author basically said it was because of this trope.
* ''[[Fanfic/MLPNextGenerationKnowFear MLP Next Generation: Know Fear!]]'': Starburst creates a katana [[GreenLanternRing light construct]] during [[spoiler: her duel with Valiant]] after hitting her RageBreakingPoint. Afterwards, it becomes her primary WeaponOfChoice.

* [[http://bp0.blogger.com/_3Ih4IXFGzXo/SEZplD5wPMI/AAAAAAAAAPA/Nx5pzu-alzY/s1600-h/rawr3.jpeg Ryou Asakura]] from ''Fanfic/SuzumiyaHaruhiNoSeitenkan'' has this as his WeaponOfChoice when he attacks [[SugarAndIcePersonality Kyonko]].

* In ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'', Azurites and the Sapphire Guard paladins fight with katanas (justified by Azure City being the Stick-verse's {{Wutai}} setting). Subverted by Belkar and Nale, who've both fought with katanas they stole from Azurites, but who switch to their [[WeaponOfChoice Weapons of choice]] at the first opportunity.

* ''ComicBook/UsagiYojimbo'': Downplayed. The katana is Usagi's favorite weapon, and both he and his personal sword are acknowledged as being exceptionally good, but it is ultimately no more than a personal preference. He flounders against spear-wielders (who have better reach), and readily uses spears, bows and even firearms and explosives in situations when they are a better choice.

* ''Anime/CowboyBebop'''s Vicious, in a world where most characters are gunmen or martial artists, uses a katana as his weapon of choice. And he is damn good with it, good enough to match his rival, TheGunslinger Spike Spiegel, in no fewer than two one-on-one duels. It helps that he was probably hopped up on [[FantasticDrug Red]] [[CaffeineBulletTime Eye]].

* ''VideoGame/FossilFighters'' has Mihu, a vivosaur based on a Japanese ceratopsian. It resembles a small Triceratops with '''''katanas for horns.''''' And it's considered part of a special "Japanese vivosaur" set that can use one of the most powerful (and expensive) team skills in the game.

* ''VideoGame/FossilFighters'' has Mihu, a vivosaur based on a Japanese [[StockDinosaurs ceratopsian.]] It resembles a small Triceratops with '''''katanas for horns.''''' And it's considered part of a special "Japanese vivosaur" set that can use one of the most powerful (and expensive) team skills in the game.

RuleOfCool says [[HeroesPreferSwords swords are cooler]] [[GunsAreWorthless than guns]], and tends to also hold the Japanese katana to be the coolest of all swords. Japanese media often lionize the katana, and Westerners with a ForeignCultureFetish or belief in ExoticWeaponSupremacy take this reputation even further. Because of this widespread cult of katana supremacy, putting one in the hands of a character is often a statement that they are cooler and more powerful than the ones who don't have one.

The katana is usually characterized as an AbsurdlySharpBlade that can make a CleanCut straight through just about anything, maybe even ''so'' clean that the object doesn't fall apart until a [[DiagonalCut few seconds afterwards]]. A character with a katana is usually a MasterSwordsman with ImplausibleFencingPowers. Even more so than other [[HeroesPreferSwords heroes wielding swords]], shooting at this guy is [[NeverBringAGunToAKnifeFight usually pointless]] unless you want your [[ParryingBullets bullets parried]]. Basic laws of physics [[ArtisticLicensePhysics need not apply]].

* The titular charter of ''Anime/AfroSamurai'' is a MasterSwordsman who can pull off a number of improbable feats with his ''tachi'', like slicing a musket ball in such a way that it fragments into pieces and takes out a number of enemies behind him.

* Used interestingly in ''Manga/BusoRenkin''. The Sword Samurai X Buso Renkin is noted to be abnormally fast and accurate (along with the ability to absorb energy attacks), but is otherwise played as the equal counterpart to the main character's [[BladeOnAStick European-super-lancey-thing Buso Renkin]], itself excelling in overpowering the opposition. It doesn't necessarily help matters that the character holding the sword had previously been training in kendo, and a bokken is ''very'' different in weight to a katana. It's also totally useless against European Victor's axe-type Buso Renkin, Fatal Attraction.

** Turning it up a few notches, Kyoshiro Tohdoh, CG's Manly Japanese Guy has a Chainsaw Katana with ''rockets'' on it. To make it hit harder, of course. And change directions, letting him hit you, even if you dodge. And a rocket powered spiked pommel modification on the bottom of the handle, just in case you can dodge that, too.

* Sort of subverted in ''Manga/{{Gamaran}}'': true, most of the greatest warriors in this setting (including the protagonist, his school and the main villains) are all katana-wielding swordsmen, but certain weapons (like polearms or chains) are shown to best swords. Plus, they tend to break against very powerful attacks, and generally speaking is not a matter of weapon, but rather technique: A good example is when Gama, using a katana and his strongest attack, is beaten silly by Iori who uses an empty scabbard and the very same technique against him.

* In ''Manga/{{Genzo}}'', the WarriorMonk Kyokai boasts about the quality of katanas, though he doesn't talk about their effectiveness in battle, but rather to their value as masterworks and artistic objects. In the same story is also explained that, because of the constant wars, katana of low-quality were mass-produced, while the most precious ones are harder to find.

** ''Anime/MobileSuitGundamIronBloodedOrphans'': Mikazuki and the Gundam Barbatos get a mecha-sized katana after the suit is upgraded by Teiwaz. Unusually, Mika's not exactly good with it: he's used to [[CarryABigStick really heavy clubs]] as his main weapons, and doesn't quite know how to use a precision cutting tool like a katana. He gets a new club later, but keeps the katana as a backup weapon [[spoiler:which serves him very well against the Graze Ein in the first season finale]].

* This is Colin's weapon of choice in ''Anime/HighlanderTheSearchForVengeance''. It is actually one of the BigBad's swords and Colin only keeps it around because all his other swords broke. So in this universe it seems that Katanas really are just better.

* ''LightNovel/RebuildWorld'': The NinjaMaid Shiori uses a Katana made of LostTechnology that is extremely good at penetrating armor and designed to be responsive enough to use with compressed time (a more grounded equivalent to BulletTime she can use thanks to stimulants). It can be set to GoingCritical mode to turn into a LaserBlade for a few seconds, which lets it cut pretty much anything no matter how big or strong but destroys the blade. Her blades are considered consumables. Akira eventually trades in a favor for one of Shiori’s swords and he uses it to cut several hunters into HalfTheManHeUsedToBe, but ends up overloading it to cut down an assault aircraft.

* In ''Saiyuki Gaiden'', Tenpou Gensui is a soldier who fights with a katana, interesting because as a god and an agent of Heaven, he's not permitted to take a life (even the gunslingers in his group of soldiers only have stunguns), although when he throws all rules out the window, he's shown to be pretty damn good with it. Also interestingly, katanas are rare in the ''Manga/{{Saiyuki}}'' universe (other than the cannon fodder opponents at the end of ''Gaiden'', Tenpou is the only character shown using one), possibly because it's set in China rather than Japan. His reincarnation, Cho Hakkai, uses no weapon and is, instead, a gifted martial artist and manipulator of chi.

** Aya, the primary protagonist, uses a katana as his weapon of choice even against enemies wielding guns, and pulls off a couple of {{Diagonal Cut}}s throughout the original series. On the other hand, the trope is also subverted several times throughout the series:

* ComicBook/{{Deadpool}} kills loads of people using katana-style ninja swords, frequently DualWielding them; he alternates between the swords and a pair of Desert Eagle pistols wielded GunsAkimbo. It's totally in character for him to choose the most stereotypical RuleOfCool weapon combo for the fun of it, and turn it into a viable fighting style because he's just that good. In ''VideoGame/MarvelVsCapcom3'', Deadpool can fight his equivalent, [[VideoGame/DevilMayCry Dante]]. In other words Dante, a character made in Japan, will use his broadsword against Deadpool, a character made in America, who uses two katanas.

* Elizabeth Braddock a.k.a. ComicBook/{{Psylocke}} can manifest a telekinetic blade composed of raw psi-energy at will, which at its lowest intensity, functions to disrupt neural pathways and at its highest level, her blades can slice an armored opponent and cut through the armor, but leave the attacker physically unharmed. After she took the Psylocke name, the blade definitively looked like a katana.

* Michonne's main combat attribute in ''ComicBook/TheWalkingDead'' is slicing zombies' heads off with her [[WeaponOfChoice katana]]. She's one of the most efficient zombie-killers in the series.

** The UsefulNotes/{{Muramasa|AndMasamune}} Blade is a katana occasionally used by Wolverine (and others in related stories), and is one of the few weapons that is stated to be capable of killing him on its own, without otherwise negating his healing abilities. This weapon was used to [[spoiler:kill Sabretooth]]. Thus, while not necessarily stronger than adamantium (itself {{Unobtainium}}), it is still better. Of course, this being the Franchise/MarvelUniverse, there are many Western-style weapons that are superior to it, including [[ComicBook/TheMightyThor Thor]]'s {{Mjolnir}}, [[ComicBook/SubMariner Namor]]'s Trident, and of course [[ComicBook/TheIncredibleHulk Hulk]]'s fist.
* Toyota, the female ninja mercenary in ''ComicBook/YTheLastMan'', uses a katana in combat in spite of the presence of firearms. However she prudently vanishes when her sword is shot in half by one revolver-wielding opponent.

* Invoked and subverted in ''WebVideo/TheLegendOfZeldaTheSageOfDarkness'', where Davik presents Link with the White Sword, a katana that he claims is the strongest blade he's ever seen. Not only does the much more powerful Master Sword exist in the setting, [[spoiler: but Davik is TheMole for Ganondorf's spirit and the White Sword corrupts the souls of it's wielders, including Link]].

* In ''Film/BigTitsZombie'', Ginko grabs a katana from the yakuza bathhouse and uses it as her primary weapon for fighting zombies. It can parry almost anything, and can cut zombies in half lengthways.

* The original ''Film/{{Highlander}}'' finds an unlikely way to arm its eponymous highlander, [=MacLeod=], with a katana, receiving it from his world-traveling master. The sword is actually a proto-katana, having been created about five hundred years before katanas as we knew them were even invented. The swordsmith is spoken of as if he's the greatest swordsmith in history. Various spin-offs generally carry on the custom of giving their hero a katana to set them apart as special. Funnily enough the sequel's villain is named General Katana, but does ''not'' wield a katana.

** ''Film/XMenOriginsWolverine'': Wade Wilson jokes with his mutant comrades that his katana are far more "memorable" than guns. He is shown to be [[ParryingBullets capable of parrying fully automatic fire]] from multiple opponents with them, occasionally [[SpinToDeflectStuff deflecting bullets]] at enemies. The blades, of course, are completely undamaged. Although not out-right stated, it's apparently an aspect of whatever mutant power he had that led to him being recruited into Team X.

* ''Film/YakuzaApocalypse'': At the start of the film, the Boss goes all OneManArmy on a rival group with nought but a katana.

* ''LightNovel/TheAsteriskWar'': [[TheHero Ayato Amagiri]] wields the Ser-Veresta, a [[EmpathicWeapon sentient]] LaserBlade previously used by his sister. Its base form is a broadsword, but takes the shape of a katana when it unleashes its full power. Curiously, this happens when Ayato and Julis Riessfeld [[ShipperOnDeck touch it at the same time]].

* A meta-example in ''Literature/DoraWilkSeries'': the cover of the last book features Dora wielding a katana with LetsGetDangerous look on her face, even though in-story, her angelic sword has an European-styled blade. Presumably, the publisher decided to go with a katana to create a "cool" look.

* ''Literature/TheLostRedeemer'': Despite the setting being more European inspired than Japanese, katanas are the primary weapon of choice for Aeons. Many katana-wielding Aeons are able to hold their own against their gun-wielding opponents.

* ''Literature/TheRiftwarCycle'': In ''Talon of the Silver Hawk'', Tal goes up against an assassin armed with a katana in a fencing tournament. His footman comments that badly made katana are useless against armor, and well made ones so expensive very few people can afford one, but they're wicked when it comes to cutting flesh. It's a sign that his opponent is out to actually kill him and Tal only manages to win thanks to DualWielding a dirk with his sword.
* ''LightNovel/TheSacredBlacksmith'' runs wild with this trope. Luke Ainsworth uses a katana to cleave clean through a [[{{BFS}} giant claymore]], with the novel's heroine fawning over the exotic super-blade that chops through everything other swords can't. Then said katana breaks when blocking ice. So... yeah. It is worth mentioning that part of the plot revolves around how ''magically-forged'' katanas will never be as durable as an actual forged blade. [[spoiler:When Luke actually forges a katana by traditional methods, [[AbsurdlySharpBlade the end result slices any sword in half that strikes at it while it is resting still on a table top.]]]]

* In Creator/{{Chaosium}}'s ''Basic Role Playing'' system, a multi-genre game based on the rules used in ''TabletopGame/CallOfCthulhu'' and ''TabletopGame/RuneQuest'' among others, the Katana does the same amount of damage as a bastard sword but it has a higher "base" value, meaning that people who train in the use of a Katana start out with a higher chance to hit -- and it can be used one handed by weaker and less dexterous fighters, as well!

** ''TabletopGame/{{Pathfinder}}'''s katanas and wakizashi are essentially longswords and shortswords that can land critical hits more easily and have a property that makes it easier to execute helpless opponents. Wakizashi also have the minor but sometimes useful bonus of being able to do slashing and piercing damage. This makes both weapons more powerful than their western equivalents. For game balance purposes, they are rated as "exotic" weapons, meaning that characters need special training to use them effectively. They are about on-par with the other, mostly fantastical, exotic weapons.

* In ''GURPS Fantasy Tech'', the Legendary Katana is included in the list of Awesome Cultural Weapons, along with the Welsh Longbow, the Gurkha Kukri and so on. However its cinematic abilities can ''only'' be used by someone with the wildcard skill Katana!; in the hands of an ordinary swordsman, it's just a katana.

* Zig-zagged in ''TabletopGame/MutantChronicles''. Mishiman katana are better than all other readily available swords. However, there are several varieties of swords, such as Brotherhood Violator-swords and claymores made by Imperial's clan Gallagher, which are significantly better, but are extremely rare, custom-made and not available to the public. One Mishiman house make katana which have properties similar to Gallagher claymores as well, but they are explicitly stated to be made using stolen and imperfectly understood Gallagher smithing techniques, and are both more rare and significantly worse than Gallagher swords (even though they beat nearly everything else). The Mortis-patterns swords used by Brotherhood Mortificators are also better than standard Mishiman swords, but only superficially resemble katana (Mortis-swords have a prominent false edge, among other differences) and are closely guarded.

* In ''TabletopGame/PsionicsTheNextStageInHumanEvolution'' katanas give you improved attack rolls and do damage based on Speed, not Strength. They're also the strongest bladed weapon in the game.
* ''TabletopGame/TheRiddleOfSteel'', a highly intricate game with a largely accurate depiction of historical European martial arts, added Eastern swords and Kenjutsu to its repertoire in one of its supplemental books. Katanas are quite weak against plate armor and require some work to set up their best moves due to a poor reach, but their proficiency contains several excellent maneuvers with which to accomplish this and if you DO land its draw cut on an unarmored or poorly armored part of your opponent? [[OffWithHisHead He's probably a goner.]]

** As of the 5e ''Run & Gun'' supplement, the katana remains a top tier weapon, but is relatively more balanced with some of the new offerings. While less accurate, the combat axe and claymore beat it in terms of reach, damage, and armor penetration, but reach can actually be a drawback in tight quarters, and it's also significantly less restricted and expensive than those weapons. The rapier matches it in terms of accuracy, reach, and armor penetration, but doesn't do quite as much damage, and while just as restricted, is only half the price. The monosword is matches it in reach, damage, and armor penetration, but is less accurate, and also (slightly) less restricted and pricey.

* ''VideoGame/NinetyNineSpirits'' zig-zags this a bit. The main character, Hanabusa, starts out wielding a Katana - but it's entirely worthless, since her enemies are all immaterial spirits and thus [[ImmuneToBullets Immune To Swords]]. When you get the mystical [[InfinityPlusOneSword Gokon Sword]], which CAN defeat the evil spirits, it turns out to be a double-edged bronze-age sword. However, when you later on gain the ability to [[{{Mon}} capture Tsukumogami]] for your own use, you'll find that the Katana-spirit is one of the most useful, if not THE most powerful offensive spirit around, due to the way its 'Yin' skill enables you to use its potent 'Yang' skill more frequently.

* In the first ''VideoGame/{{Bayonetta}}'' game is the 修羅刃 Shuraba, a demonic katana said to beat with the heart of an Ashura. It's one of the earlier weapons gained in the game, and also one of the best balanced melee weapons, making it very popular for combos. It was so popular it's one of two of the original game weapons that are brought back in the sequel, ''VideoGame/Bayonetta2''.

* Balanced by ''VideoGame/BraveFencerMusashi'''s title hero, who wield both a katana and a large, double-sided sword. Technically the double-sided sword was more powerful, to the point of being the only weapon that could damage certain bosses. The double-edged sword was also ''statistically'' superior. In fact, the only drawback of the huge weapon was that it was ''huge'', and therefore took a lot longer to swing than the katana. Comparatively, the katana didn't do much damage, but could it could be swung three times in the time it took to swing the huge sword. Once the player learns combos that combine the power of both swords, mooks just don't match up. Ultimately, it is the katana that proves crucial to [[spoiler:defeating the tricky Final Boss]].

* In ''VideoGame/BloodstainedRitualOfTheNight'', Katanas have the highest number of learnable techniques out of any weapon class by far, though their normal attack is a bit slow and has a weird hitbox. By the end of the game this probably won't matter since you'll probably have enough MP and MP regen to spam techniques as much as you want.

* Zig-zagged throughout the ''Franchise/{{Castlevania}}'' games. For example, in ''[[VideoGame/CastlevaniaCurseOfDarkness Curse of Darkness]]'', the nodachi (A larger cousin of the katana) is both slightly more powerful and much faster than the comparable Western sword, the Zweihänder, while in ''[[VideoGame/CastlevaniaChroniclesOfSorrow Dawn of Sorrow]]'', the katanas are actually among the weaker weapons, with what advantage they have being entirely in attack speed and angle. They are actually overall slower than longswords even in ''Dawn'' due to the gaping lag time following each swing. Katanas only hit sooner because Soma uses them in a quickdraw style. You ''can'' cancel out of the lag with a backstep, though. This is also because the Katana is a weapon ''type''. It is one of the weaker weapons of that type, but with souls, can be upgraded. Even at the highest stage, the katana-esque weapon is one of the less useful ones compared with the highest stages of, say, the great sword (Claimh Solais), normal sword (the intense multi-hit wind attacking Valmanway) or the spear (Gunger).

* ''VideoGame/ChronoTrigger'': Crono, the main character, wields a katana as his weapon, and his ultimate weapon, the Rainbow Sword, is the most powerful PC weapon in the game. (However, the random damage multipliers of Lucca's Wondershot can sometimes best it.) Note that Chrono lives in a European-esque ye olde medieval kingdom. That said, in-verse it's the European styled [[PublicDomainArtifact Masamune]] that serves the series [[LegendaryWeapon Legendary]] SwordOfPlotAdvancement, because it can literally [[AntiMagic cut through magic.]]

** In ''Civilization IV'', the samurai remains as a unique unit for the Japanese but it replaces macemen. It has the ability to deal damage before the enemy gets to attack, in a similar way to archers. This is arguably logical, though, since historically samurai ''were'' archers in the battlefield, the sword being a sidearm. The order of favored arms for a battlefield-era samurai would have gone from bow, then to spear/polearm, then to sword.

** In ''VideoGame/HardCorpsUprising'', Sayuri eschews the massive death-dealing rifles of her comrades in favour of a samurai's sword. Considering that, properly-upgraded, can slice through bosses like straw and can allow for [[SwordBeam Sword Beams]], it's not entirely unjustified. [[BigBad Tiberius]] also wields one.
* ''VideoGame/{{Daikatana}}''. Not only a powerful melee weapon in its own right, but it has random powers of time-travel. The trope is hilariously (and frustratingly) inverted when grates that can be knocked open with a mere pistol cannot be opened with the most powerful sword in history.

* ''VideoGame/DeadIsland'' has these as a rare weapon, with one being obtained for killing The Butcher of Banoi. High damage, fast strikes, long range, and effective at slicing apart anyone in the game, only offset by low durability and high repair and upgrade costs. In the hands of Xian it's a GameBreaker, with even more damage, high stamina, a OneHitKill skill and buffs including more experience for slicing off limbs.

* In the ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry'' series, Dante, the main character, wields as his primary weapons a broadsword and twin pistols. He amasses numerous other weapons, both melee and firearms, in each game. His brother and WorthyOpponent, Vergil, uses a katana and has eschewed firearms as being beneath him. When Dante does get his hands on a katana, incidentally his brother's old "Yamato", he is less competent with it than with any of the other weapons, demonstrated as a tiny moveset. Nero's [[SuperMode Devil Trigger spirit]] uses a version of Vergil's with considerable reach and grants moves superior to those Nero can do without it. Heck, Yamato itself is a plot device in the fourth and fifth game. It's just that awesome. Not to mention a whole lot of people are 'handed' the sword throughout the course of the series and get a taste of its awesomeness.

* In ''VideoGame/DOTA2'', Juggernaut uses a katana and is very effective with it, able to spin around, do critical damage, and even enter an invulnerable state. He is one of the best "[[MagikarpPower carries]]" at getting kills in the early game. However, other sword-wielding carries, such as Phantom Assassin and Chaos Knight, deal higher critical damage and can potentially hit much harder than Juggernaut with the same amount of late game farm.

* In ''VideoGame/DungeonCrawl'' the Katana was a decent weapon, but not the best even in its class (double swords being a better 1-handed long blade, demon whips/scourges and demon tridents/trishulas best 1-handers, ...). However, due to this very trope katanas were removed as ordinary item, leaving just a mediocre fixed artefact.

** It's sister series, ''VideoGame/SamuraiWarriors'' downplays this. While a few characters do use Katanas, they're only a small fraction of the game's playable cast.

** In the ''VideoGame/Fallout3'' add-on "Mothership Zeta," you can find a katana that belongs to a samurai that was kidnapped by the aliens. If you give it back to him, he'll [[RockBeatsLaser slaughter the advanced aliens]]. If you keep it, it is easily in the top-tier of melee weapons in terms of damage, only falling behind for lack of perks boosting its power.

* The only justifiable reason that the spirit of [[TheDragon Lord]] [[AxCrazy Himuro]] from ''VideoGame/FatalFrameI'' was able to attack you with a ghost katana.
* Subverted trope in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyTactics''; the samurai class and katana become available fairly late compared with basic western equivalents, but are nothing special in gameplay or narrative terms. The top of the heap are the Knight Swords (higher attack and powerful passive benefits) and the special character Knight classes that use them. Either that, or a Monk using their bare fists.
* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyTacticsA2'' doesn't have Katanas as a stronger weapon type in general (although the Hyakushiki-masamune is tied with the Tournesol for the best Attack, not counting the [[EvolvingWeapon Sequencer]]), but the skills learned from them, most notably Dual Wield, are much more powerful. And by extension, the katana-wielding Paravir is easily the most physically powerful close range class. Ninjas less so, but they have the best speed growths of any hume class (they are both GlassCannon classes, though). Although the Samurai and Ninja are very powerful classes, that can overpower the rest when properly utilized, katanas and ninja swords are atrociously weak. The game's InfinityPlusOneSword (the Javelin II) is a polearm, and Knight Swords and Fell Swords are stronger and more versatile than even the highest-level katana.

** There's a recurring weapon known as the Wo Dao which is slightly weaker or equal in Might to a Killing Edge, with slightly higher crit rate.

** In ''VideoGame/FireEmblemPathOfRadiance'' and ''VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn'', there's [[InfinityPlusOneSword the Vague Katti]]. In ''Path of Radiance'' it essentially takes the place of the Wo Dao. In ''Radiant Dawn'' it's the strongest sword in terms of raw power, but gives a lower stat bonus and lacks extra bonuses like Ragnell and Alondite's ranged attacks or Amiti's extra attacks.
** In ''VideoGame/FireEmblemFates'', katanas became their own weapon subtype. Compared to regular swords, they provide a small boost to user's speed at the cost of lowering their defense, making this trope either played straight or averted depending on the individual characters, rather than as a whole. Ryoma's legendary sword Raijinto and the S-ranked sword Hagakure Blade are both katanas, and while the Avatar's Yato doesn't look the part, it is classified in game as one.

** Inverted in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaSkywardSword''. The only character who has a katana is [[FormerlyFit Peater,]] who has undergone severe BadassDecay and does't use it for anything except cutting bamboo. [[TheHero Link]] carries the knightly longsword known as the Goddess Sword throughout the game and derives several magical abilities from it. It becomes the Master Sword later on.

* In ''VideoGame/LordsOfXulima'' katanas are hands down the best weapon type in the swords category, with good speed, ''massive'' bleed damage and solid hitting power.

* In ''VideoGame/MarvelVsCapcom3'' both Vergil and Dante are in the game. Vergil is a far more powerful character compared with Dante. His katana slashes do far more damage than Dante's guns, and it requires far more combos by Dante to dominate a character compared with Vergil who uses all kinds of Katana based special attacks. In the hands of a good player, Vergil can be just as powerful as Phoenix, especially using X Factor, hence most pro-gamers using Vergil as part of their main team when competing.

* In ''VideoGame/MitsurugiKamuiHikae'', Misa fights demons and monsters with a katana. The katana however runs on a Katana Meter which is not only used for basic blade strikes (upgrades reduces its consumption rate), but also special attacks such as [[IaijutsuPractitioner Iai Strike]] and [[RazorWind Divine Wind]] techniques. Suzuka, Misa's friend and former classmate, however, is possessed by an evil artifact known as the Demon Blade, a katana that steals the blood and life-force of its wielder.

* In ''VideoGame/NetHack'', while the Katana is certainly the strongest vanilla longsword, the Artifact katana Snickersnee is outclassed by more impressive traditional longswords like Fire and Ice Brand, as well as the special longsword Excalibur, as it only offers bonuses to hit and minor damage, as opposed to automatic improved searching and level drain resistance like Excalibur, or the double damage against non-resistant enemies like Fire and Ice Brand. However, the Samurai quest Artifact, the Tsurugi of Muramasa, is indeed a fearsome weapon that can bisect non-gigantic creatures, it's only drawback being that it is a two-handed weapon (specifically, a broadsword-type).

* The aptly named Dragon Sword in the ''VideoGame/NinjaGaiden'' series is Ryu's default weapon. This unassuming (though still legendary) Katana is the JackOfAllStats, which [[NintendoHard in the context of the series]] makes it an incredibly reliable weapon in every situation. There are plenty of weapons that hit harder or faster, but the Dragon Sword will never be rendered obsolete due to its versatility. It helps that the sword gets a plot driven boost in most of the games.

** In-story, Regius of the Council of Six wields the Genesis Weapon Yonohate. Despite being a decidedly ordinary-looking Japanese katana in stark contrast to all of the futuristic sci-fi weaponry in the game, it's rumored to have enough power to destroy a planet, and is kept sealed at all times. [[spoiler:He uses it to [[SingleStrokeBattle one-shot]] [[EldritchAbomination Dark Falz Loser]].]]

* Sorta subverted in the MMO ''VideoGame/RagnarokOnline'' where the basic Katana has the lowest base attack and weapon level of it's weapon class (unless you use the card system to power it up a certain way then it becomes formable) however some other swords of Japanese origin are quite powerful weapons.

* Played straight in ''VideoGame/RoboPit". The slashing class of weapons includes axes, scythes, and swords, but the 'Blade' is the best of them all. While it has a lower Power rating than the rest, it has insanely high speed, and allows for four heavy slashes before an enemy is knocked away (whereas the other slashing weapons only allow two heavy attacks before knocking your opponent back). This makes for -much- faster K.O.'s, not only out of the slashing weapons, but probably ALL of the melee weapons in the game. In case there was any doubt the 'Blade' was modeled off of a katana, the only enemy bot you can obtain it from is the Special Robot named Samurai.

* ''VideoGame/{{Shadowverse}}'': Interestingly enough, Erika's sword resembles a katana, even though the kingdom she serves is European centric.

* ''VideoGame/TeamFortress2'' has a katana that can be used by the Soldier and Demoman. Killing an enemy with it heals you fully, but when you pull it out in combat, you can't switch weapons until you've killed an enemy with it, leaving you vulnerable to your enemies' guns. It can also [[SingleStrokeBattle kill other katana users in one hit]]. It is a bit of an aversion. Barring the one hit kill potential against other katana users (and being the only sword weapon the Demoman can use that still gets random crits) it does the same damage as most of the other melee weapons in the game, and the other Demoman swords also have the same extra melee range, plus other abilities that can be more useful for the "Demoknight" playstyle.\\\
In the end, it's playstyle dependant. One has to keep in mind that by equipping the aforementioned katana as a Demoman armed with one of the shields and a pair of boots, you effectively get a weapon that has no drawbacks. It provides health on kill and benefits from random critical hits (which other swords trade for additional range). The only drawback is the lack of extra range. The katana is the weapon of choice for when you want to berserk; thanks to the random crits and health on kill, killing sprees become quite common!
* Yoshimitsu out of the ''VideoGame/{{Tekken}}'' games is for some reason allowed to bring a katana to a fistfight. Naturally, he's got a lot of manoeuvres that you can't block with your bare arms. Realistic in a way -- a katana really would be better in most situations to a bare hand, that's why people like weapons.
* Subverted in ''VideoGame/TotalWarShogun2: The Fall of the Samurai'' trailer. It shows all the work and training that goes into making and mastering a katana. The charging line of katana wielding samurai then get mowed down by an American Gatling gun which is made in factories and takes a few days of training to use.
** Even in the normal ''Shogun 2'', the Katana samurai is only a JackOfAllTrades. They have good attack, armor, and moral, but other more specialized units beat the Katana Samurai in one or multiple regards. Just about every unit has a Katana on their model, but many just have it there for a backup weapon, and sword does not make, say, a [[{{Mooks}} ashigaru]] archer any good in melee. On the other hand, the Portuguese Terços, whose primary weapon are matchlock guns, aren't all that bad in melee with their sabers.

* In ''VideoGame/VampireTheMasqueradeBloodlines'', the katana, while faster, is not as good as the bush hook, a modified gardening tool used like a polearm. The PC's own claws are also superior if your Protean is high enough. However, the Special Katana owned by a certain sect of psychotic vampires has the rare ability to pierce the defensive ability of Vampires and other Supernatural Enemies, making it possibly the most effective weapon for almost everyone thanks to it's combination of range, speed, damage, and armor piercing properties.

* In early ''VideoGame/{{Wizardry}}'' games, the "[[UsefulNotes/{{Muramasa}} Muramasa Blade]]" (exclusive to [[PrestigeClass the unlockable Samurai class]]) serves as an InfinityPlusOneSword three times more powerful than the next-strongest weapon in the game. Given the ''Wizardry'' series's [[BigInJapan massive popularity in Japan]] and laying the foundations of the EasternRPG, Japanese fans often consider it the TropeMaker for this concept as it appears in videogames.

* Jin Uzuki of ''VideoGame/{{Xenosaga}} II'' and III wields a katana forty-seven thousand years in the future, when everyone else is using massively tech-y weapons. And he's effective.

* Some of the translations of the ''VideoGame/{{Ys}}'' games have a katana as a weapon. When it does, it's either the best or second best weapon that money can buy. Of course, there are also much better swords out there that money ''can't'' buy, which are generally needed in order to beat the final boss.
* ''VideoGame/ZombievilleUSA'' has the katana as the final upgrade in the melee line, and it is one of the more useful weapons, since you can never run out of ammo and it will knock back the zombies, assuming it doesn't kill them first.

* In ''VisualNovel/SpiritHunterNG'', the Killer Peach's weapon of choice, that she uses to decapitate her victims, is a katana. [[spoiler:It belonged to one of her victims, and she took it up to emulate a hero from one of her child's fairytales.]]

** Dave's katana breaks during a fight with Bro. His stronger swords are based off of European ones.

* Hatz from ''Webcomic/TowerOfGod'' dual-wields Katana, though it is not a simple as you think. One is a FlyingWeapon, the other shoots {{Sword Beam}}s. So these Katana actually ''are'' better. To contrast that, Hong Chunhwa's Narumada is a European longsword that also can fire {{Sword Beam}}s. Both Narumada and The Sword That Flies Lower Than Any are known as ignition weapons.

* In ''Roleplay/TheGamersAlliance'', Dokubaraken is a special katana which has been used by [[AntiVillain Kagetsu I]], various [[SorcerousOverlord Distreyd Thanadars]] and most recently [[EvilPrince Geraden Aurelac]]. [[TheRemnant Yamatians]] and the [[LaResistance Akai Tora]] also prefer katanas as their main weapons.
* The [[https://1d4chan.org/wiki/Katanas_are_Underpowered_in_d20 Katanas are Underpowered in d20]] meme is based off mocking this. There was a post from a guy (who [[PoesLaw may or may not]] have been {{troll}}ing) who argued that katanas were underpowered in the [=d20=] system, accompanied with some staggeringly bad research on katanas, metalworking, and military history. Among the claims are that katanas are thrice as sharp and hard as European swords (they aren't, because really hard and sharp swords are also really brittle swords), that katanas could bisect a fully armored knight in one slash (it's physically impossible for a human being to swing a sword with enough force to do that), and that the medieval Europeans never tried to conquer Japan because they were scared of the katanas (Europeans had no idea Japan existed until Marco Polo's expeditions).

* Both parodied and played straight in ''[[Website/GaiaOnline zOMG]]''. In the introductory comic, the guard's weapons all shatter on the hides of the [[EverythingTryingToKillYou Animated]]. When a heroic looking guard steps in to save the day with his katana, the other guards express awe at the sheer awesomeness of his weapon... only for them to scream in horror as his Katana is shattered and he gets attacked by Animated Buzzsaws. Despite this, the Mantis Ring generates a G'hi Katana that actually can harm the Animated. Even then, the Katana isn't the ultimate weapon, as the Hack and Slash rings (which summon cutlasses) deal more damage in exchange for speed and energy consumption.

* Ulrich Stern from ''WesternAnimation/CodeLyoko'' is certainly a victim of this trope. The Lyoko forms are hypothesized to be created from the subconscious of the virtualized persons... and seeing himself as TheHero, his avatar is quite naturally a {{samurai}} with a katana. Since this is a virtual world, he can get away with things like ReflectingLaser, ThrowingYourSwordAlwaysWorks or {{Sword Drag}}ging. But in "A Bad Turn", he uses an authentic katana in the real world with just as much skill.

** In ''WesternAnimation/TransformersPrime,'' Wheeljack has two katanas which have kicked liberal ass of enemies wielding what should be much more powerful weapons whenever he shows.