History YMMV / ForgedInFire

** Longswords (such as the Scottish Claymore and the Landsknecht's Two-Handed Sword) are frowned upon by the contestants, as most of the home forges don't have the required equipment to properly make them, forcing the bladesmiths to take shortcuts and other approaches. Even the judges had a hard time testing them, with the first two Claymores ''not'' passing the KEAL test.

* GatewaySeries: Needless to say, this show introduced a lot of people to the art of bladesmithing. Several of the contestants even got into bladesmithing ''because'' of ''Forged in Fire''.

* SugarWiki/FunnyMoments: Some of the judges' reactions when they notice a bladesmith doing something particularly strange or risky.
** During the Scottish Claymore episode, one contestant's blade failed to pierce the pig carcass used for the kill test, instead bending around it. The contestant was able to get it straightened out, and it was able to cut a steel sheet pretty well, resulting in the contestant commenting that maybe they should have made the pig out of steel. Also, the reason he ''got'' that chance to straighten it? His opponent's blade ''shattered'' on its first swing against the carcass!
** During the Fan Favorites episode, Will asks Dave what he would like the final weapon to be. His response? "[[Franchise/StarWars Lightsaber]]." Everyone present cracks up.
** One contestant was a former Army Ranger who served in 2nd Battalion, which Wil mentioned. Wil then told him he wouldn't be allowed to proceed unless he said that 3rd Battalion (where Wil served) was the best battalion. The man shrugs and turns away as if he's leaving, causing the panel to lose it.
** J.'s obvious pain when other members of the panel start punning is hilarious, the more so when they're deliberately doing it to troll him.
** During the The Landsknecht Sword episode, Ben Abbott calculates the speed of the grinder. Dave Baker says, "You're getting math on me. Stop it."
** "Bladesmiths, you have one hour to finish... [[ItMakesSenseInContext your bananas!]]"
** The first part of ''Armed Forces Tournament'' special had the contestants choosing weapons to craft while seeing only their handles. For second challenge they choose 5, stating it looks like a machete. [[TrollingCreator It was a small axe with disproportionally large handle instead]].
** One of the episodes had one of the contestants proclaiming that he had [[AccidentalInnuendo a long and hard blade]], prompting Wil to say "said no wife ever".

* SugarWiki/HeartwarmingMoments: Frequently the contestants will help each other when issues pop up and congratulate each other when their blade does well in a test. Particularly evident in one finale when one finalist's handle cracks and the other finalist looks equally dismayed and asks if there isn't anything they can do to fix it.

** The reason why the term "KEAL" was eventually adopted to replace "KILL". KEAL means [[FunWithAcronyms Keep Everyone ALive]], and, according to Doug, the KEAL test is less about killing a person and more about protecting the user of the weapon as well as their loved ones.

* MemeticMutation: And more importantly, IT WILL KEAL[[note]]Doug Marcaida's CatchPhrase, which he uses whenever he considers a weapon deadly and lethal enough to protect the user and their loved ones, helped by Doug's expressions during the announcement.[[/note]].

** During the The Landsknecht Sword episode, Ben Abbot calculates the speed of the grinder. Dave Baker says, "You're getting math on me. Stop it."

** The sheer joy that so many contestants show when Doug tells them that their blade "will keal."
* ThatOneBoss: For ''Knife or Death'' contestants it's Lifeline. For some it's the chicken, especially if they aim too high. For most, it's the ''fish'', as they don't cut the whole way through, often underestimating it.
** Ben Abbot, the former-contestant-turned-judge, became this in challenges, even gaining his own sub-series of episodes where beating him is the ''only'' goal for the winner of the preliminary. Dave lost in the Super Champion episode (current record: 3-1, 1 WO), J lost in a the Beat the Judges episode (current record: 1-1), but Ben has never been defeated so far. He is ''9-0'' in actual competition, two victories as a contestant, winning his two Beat the Judges bouts, and winning all ''five'' of the Beat the Unbeatable challenge episodes levied against him. A combination of physical stamina (he's the youngest judge by far), familiarity with the filming studio-slash-forge (you can see his home forge is also closely modelled after the studio), and a behind-the-scenes job of ''constantly'' making example weapons for the show do give him a sizeable advantage against the competition, however. In short, ''Forged in Fire'' '''is''' his CripplingOverspecialization.

** The Strength Test in the final round is always feared by the smiths. As the entire purpose of the test is to beat the hell out of their creation in an attempt to find absolutely any weak points, even something like a tiny crack or loose pommel can sink them. Even contestants who are perfectly confident on other tests admit to anxiety when it's time to see how solid their construction is. In particular, the Ice Block chop and the Wheel of Pain bending tool are dreaded above the others.

** During the Scottish Claymore episode, one contestant's blade failed to pierce the pig carcass used for the kill test, instead bending around it. The contestant was able to get it straightened out, and it was able to cut a steel sheet pretty well, resulting in the contestant commenting that maybe they should have made the pig out of steel.

** Ben Abbot, the former-contestant-turned-judge, became this in challenges, even gaining his own sub-series of episodes where beating him is the ''only'' goal for the winner of the preliminary. Dave lost in the Super Champion episode, J lost in a the Beat the Judges episode, but Ben has never been defeated so far. He is 7-0 in actual competition, two victories as a contestant, winning his two Beat the Judges bouts, and winning all three of the Beat the Unbeatable challenge episodes levied against him.

** The Strength Test in the final round is always feared by the smiths. As the entire purpose of the test is to beat the hell out of their creation in an attempt to find absolutely any weak points, even something like a tiny crack or loose pommel can sink them. Even contestants who are perfectly confident on other tests admit to anxiety when it's time to see how solid their construction is.
*** In particular, the Ice Block chop and the Wheel of Pain bending tool are dreaded above the others.

** The Strength Test in the final round is always feared by the smiths. As the entire purpose of the test is to beat the hell out of their creation in an attempt to find absolutely any weak points, even something like a tiny crack or loose pommel can sink them. Even contestants who are perfectly confident on other tests admit to anxiety when it's time to see how solid their construction is.

** Ben Abbot, the former-contestant-turned-judge, became this in challenges, even gaining his own sub-series of episodes where beating him is the ''only'' goal for the winner of the preliminary. He is 7-0 in actual competition.

** The Strength Test in the final round is always feared by the smiths. As the entire purpose of the test is to beat the hell out of their creation in an attempt to find absolutely any weak points, even something like a tiny crack or loose pummel can sink them. Even contestants who are perfectly confident on other tests admit to anxiety when it's time to see how solid their construction is.