[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/sword-of-doom-poster_214.jpg]]

->''"The sword is the soul. Study the soul to know the sword. Evil mind, evil sword."''
-->-- '''[[Creator/ToshiroMifune Toranosuke Shimada]]'''

''The Sword of Doom'' (''Dai-bosatsu Tōge'', "Great Bodhisattva Pass") is a 1966 JidaiGeki film directed by KihachiOkamoto and starring Creator/TatsuyaNakadai as Ryunosuke Tsukue. An adaptation of parts of the serial novel of the same name as the Japanese title, one of the longest novels ever published, sequels were planned but never made.

Set during the Bakumatsu period, Ryunosuke Tsukue is a highly skilled but completely amoral swordsman. After a fencing match results in him killing his opponent, Bunnojo Utsugi(Ichiro Nakatani), in self-defense--due to Ryunosuke having coerced his wife, Hama (Michiyo Aratama), into sleeping with him so he'd throw the match--the film follows Ryunosuke as he makes his living through the sword, killing without mercy.

----
!!Tropes found in this film include:

* AloneWithThePsycho: Omatsu and Ryunosuke.
* BadassCreed: Shimada, when attacked:
--> "If this is a duel, issue your challenge and state the time. If this is a grudge, state your reason. If this is a mistake, apologize and leave."
* BattleAmongstTheFlames: The final battle.
* BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor: The elderly pilgrim at the beginning prays to Buddha to take him from this world to end his suffering and so he won't be a burden to Omatsu anymore. Ryunosuke obliges.
* BolivianArmyEnding: [[spoiler: The film ends with Ryunosuke alone against a seemingly endless number of swordsman in a burning building, bloody and battered. The film even freezes mid-swing.]]
* CombatBreakdown:
** As the final fight goes on, Ryunosuke receives more and more injuries and his fighting becomes noticeably affected.
** At one point during the fight, the other combatants start throwing pillows at Ryunosuke.
* CounterAttack: The basis behind Ryunosuke's fighting style, most evident in the fight against Bunnojo.
* EvilSoundsDeep: Ryunosuke combines this with CreepyMonotone for a very intimidating effect.
* EstablishingCharacterMoment: Ryunosuke shows up behind an elderly pilgrim praying to Buddha for death, and kills him with a single blow and not a trace of emotion.
* FreakOut: Near the end of the film, while staying in an allegedly haunted room, [[spoiler: Ryunosuke learns the oiran serving him was the granddaughter of the pilgrim he killed. He then flips out and start slashing at the walls, screaming, and keeps it up when he starts slaughtering the other Shinsengumi.]]
* TheIngenue: Omatsu.
* ImaginaryEnemy: You could say half of the flailing and screaming that takes place in the final scene is [[spoiler: Ryunosuke [[VisualPun literally fighting his own demons.]]]]
* JidaiGeki: The film is set during the late Edo period, specifically the Bakumatsu era. In one scene, Ryunosuke even joins the Shinsengumi, the police force of the Tokugawa shogunate.
* KilledMidSentence: [[spoiler: Hama is murdered in mid-plea for her husband to kill her.]]
* LastSecondWordSwap: Hama does this while pretending to be Bunnojo's sister. It doesn't work.
* LackOfEmpathy: Ryunosuke displays little concern for the death and misery he causes, and seems to consciously underestimate and underplay just how much he causes.
* MasterSwordsman: Ryunosuke & Toranosuke
* OffscreenInertia: The film ends [[spoiler: on a freeze-frame of Ryunosuke fighting dozens of assassins, essentially locking him into an eternal struggle against ''everything''.]] It was intended as a SequelHook, but said sequel never emerged, so it became this trope by pure accident.
* OhCrap: The conspirators' reaction when they find the palanquin they have attacked contains not a bureaucrat but a swordsmaster.
* OminousWalk: Ryunosuke never moves faster than this.
* OneManArmy: Both Ryunosuke and Shimada are capable of cutting down dozens of men at once.
* ParentalSubstitute: Shichibei serves as this for Omatsu.
* PsychoForHire: Ryunosuke only seems to enjoy fighting and killing people with his sword. Fortunately for him, the Bakumatsu provides plenty of opportunities to get paid to do just that.
* ScarpiaUltimatum: Ryunosuke will only throw the match with Bunnojo (and thus, spare him and his family from financial ruin) if his wife Hama sleeps with him. Unfortunately for all involved, this really ticks off Bunnojo, who tries to kill Ryunosuke during the match which gets him killed.
* SheatheYourSword: Toranosuke does this when he finds Ryunosuke [[CruelMercy unworthy of a true fight]], [[BreakThemByTalking invoking the quote at the top of the page]]. This dismissal becomes the catalyst behind Ryunosuke's downward spiral.
* SingleStrokeBattle: The duel against Bunnojo gets extra points, as at first no one realizes a blow ''has'' been struck.
* SnowMeansDeath: Both Shimada cutting through the Shinsengumi and the death of [[spoiler: Hama]] take place on snowy evenings.
* SlasherSmile: On the rare occasions Ryunosuke breaks his glassy stare.
* SexyDiscretionShot: During Ryunosuke's rape of Hama, the camera cuts from them thrashing in the straw to the millwheel's piston [[VisualInnuendo thumping rhythmically up and down into a hole.]]
* TheSociopath: Ryunosuke creeps out his own team leader when he boldly tells the man (who is roughing up the eavesdropping Omatsu) to stop enjoying himself and kill her....or leave her to him.
* TheStoic: Ryunosuke. Until the end of the film, he almost never changes his expression from a blank, intense stare for matters that don't involve (sufficiently interesting) fighting.
* ThousandYardStare: Ryunosuke for the entire movie.
* VillainProtagonist: Ryunosuke.
* WorthyOpponent: Toranosuke Shimada is the only person who actually intimidates Ryunosuke, and killing Shimada is about the only thing he expresses an active interest in.
* YouMonster: Everyone who knows Ryunosuke considers him an irredeemable monster after he kills Bunnojo and just keeps adding to his crimes. Even his own father wants him dead.
----