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[[caption-width-right:310:Wait, [[FridgeBrilliance she hit a cleavage point]]! That's cheating!]]

->''I can tell you with no ego this is my finest sword. If on your journey, you should encounter God, [[BlasphemousBoast God will be cut]].''
-->-- '''Hattori Hanzo''', ''Film/KillBill''

An absurdly sharp blade is a bladed weapon with AbsurdCuttingPower because it's just ''that damn sharp''. No magic, technology, superpowers, or other type of AppliedPhlebotinum required to slice and dice to your heart's content. Such things may have been involved in the production of the blade, but when in use, its cutting power comes from its pure physical sharpness alone.

Blades like these almost always result in a CleanCut -- in fact, about the only thing they can't cut is [[LikeCannotCutLike a similarly sharp weapon]]. Expect to hear some AudibleSharpness (AudibleGleam optional) whenever one of these blades is in use. Frequently used in {{Single Stroke Battle}}s. Be very afraid if an Absurdly Sharp Blade is in the hands of a swordsman with ImplausibleFencingPowers; luckily, the InverseLawOfSharpnessAndAccuracy usually ensures that it isn't.

SharpenedToASingleAtom is a subtrope popular in SciFi settings, where the blade is so sharp that the width of the cutting edge can be measured in atoms or molecules. See AbsurdlySharpClaws when the ASB is a NaturalWeapon.

----
!!Examples:

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder:Advertising]]
* The SoBadItsGood ads for [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4q7GCuWFsSs&feature=related Ginsu knives]] try to sell the Ginsu 2000 as an Absurdly Sharp Blade that NeverNeedsSharpening. Though it's a DeceptivelySimpleDemonstration, as cutting through an aluminum can (or whatever absurdly hard object they demonstrate the knife slicing through) is a lot easier than many everyday cooking tasks, such as slicing through a winter squash, clearing beef gristle, or boning a fish fillet.
** [[{{Series/Seinfeld}} "If you really need a knife that can cut through a shoe, maybe you're not buying the best quality meat."]]
** Banco do Brasil parodied this by [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ckcyGSLvwkI&feature=plcp advertising their credit card]], "which can split anything" (as in, split payments).
* Chef Tony once advertised the Perfection Series knives as so sharp they can cut a pineapple in half in midair.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Anime And Manga]]
* In ''{{Anime/Grenadier}} - The Smiling Senshi'', the hero, a swordsman, has a(n impractically) long katana, sharp enough to slice an incoming artillery shell in half (without triggering the fuse), and cut a giant boulder clean in half, albeit with assistance from the heroine's pistol (four rounds to the back of the blade at the moment of contact, to propel it into the rock).
* Goemon, from ''Manga/LupinIII'', regularly slices through things like airplanes and buildings with his katana, the ''Zantetsuken'' ("Iron-Cutting Sword") -- or in the manga, Nagareboshi ("Falling Star"). ''Episode Zero: First Contact'' and ''Dragon of Doom'' both explain that the Zantetsuken is made out of a mysterious alloy (in the manga, it's said to be made of a rare steel alloy produced from [[ThunderboltIron meteoric iron]]) that is almost indestructible, though apparently the metal can cut itself. ''Episode Zero'' finds Goemon wanting to destroy the formula for the alloy since he doesn't want to risk another Zantetsuken being made, rendering his own vulnerable.
* AxCrazy Sword Guy from the first episode of ''New Manga/GetterRobo'' has this going on with his katana. Including slicing down the better part of a Shinto Shrine. It works for Ryoma when he disarms him too; he [[BareHandedBladeBlock grabs]] it, redirects into the face of one of his attackers, slashes the sword's owner with it, and then hurls it through the arm of the KnifeNut. There's a pause of about two seconds before his arm goes off and blood starts spewing everywhere. This fight was taken almost frame-for-frame from Ken Ishikawa's original ''Getter Robo'' manga, with the major exception that instead of Adult Ryoma, it was the classic version who did it.
* ''Anime/DragonBallZ'' has Yajirobe's katana. Weapons are mostly useless against even weak enemies, but Yajirobe is able to accomplish feats like slicing off Oozaru Vegeta's gigantic tail in a single swing, despite his unimpressive strength (by DBZ standards).
** Also Krillin's Ki-Enzan (energy disc), an absurdly sharp [[KiAttacks ki attack]]. Though Krillin himself is quickly OvershadowedByAwesome, his signature technique remains deadly, and at one point he is able to cut off Frieza's tail. His relative lack of power is an advantage with this technique: the disc is slow enough that most enemies see it coming and could dodge easily, but instead try to NoSell it, getting themselves cut.
* Played with in ''LightNovel/{{Slayers}}'' with the Blast Sword. It was so sharp you couldn't put it in a sheath without cutting it in half. It was so sharp it was useless so they had to find someone to cast some magic on it to dull the blade. But even the dulled blade still fits this trope.
* Parodied in ''Manga/MahouSenseiNegima'', during a {{Yonkoma}}-style {{Omake}} (seen in the 2nd anime ending: Setsuna sharpens a kitchen knife for Miu, which ends up cutting through the radish, cutting board, and about three feet of counter/cabinet.
* ''Anime/DarkerThanBlack'': If Hei's knives aren't these, then crappy concrete is probably more of a threat to Japan than Hell's Gate and everything that came out of it put together.
* In ''UntilDeathDoUsPart'', the protagonist's sword is camouflaged inside his white cane. Said sword is able to cut through a gun... And the cut is so clean they actually manage to stick the parts of the gun back together.
* While ''SamuraiChamploo'' contains more typical examples with swords, the blade on Umanosuke's [[SinisterScythe kusarigama]] really takes the cake, being able to cut clear through rocks and thick wooden support beams without even slowing down. It also makes such an [[AudibleSharpness insanely loud noise]] when swung through the air that you'd think it's regularly breaking the sound barrier. Ultimately, this ends up completely biting him in the ass, as Mugen is able to [[HoistByHisOwnPetard swing the blade back at him]] and even without a huge amount of force behind it [[OffWithHisHead the thing manages to cut his head off]].
* ''RurouniKenshin'' is guilty of this. Sagara Sanosuke may have a {{BFS}} but Kenshin's original sword cut through it. He's also used the sharp side of his reverse-blade sword to slice through cannonballs and a huge lamp-post.
** When his original reverse blade sword broke, he went to visit a swordmaker. That man's cutting knives (as in for cooking) were able to slice a turnip in half with a cut so fine that Kenshin was able to fit the two halves back together without showing a seam.
* Mai in ''VisualNovel/{{Kanon}}'' has a sword that's strong enough to slice clean through several metal objects around her and ''crush a brick wall''.
* The Blade of Masane Amaha's ''{{Witchblade}}'' in the anime, as demonstrated multiple times as it takes machines a while to realize that they have been cut and explode.
* Every katana forged by Luke in ''TheSacredBlacksmith'' seems to be capable of cutting through most things, such as a two handed sword or another katana that was swung at it, meaning it can cut through other swords with no force behind it at all. His magically forged katanas are offset by their fragility, but they still cut through the insanely overpowered demon swords.
* In his first episode on ''VideoGame/{{F-Zero}}: GP Legend'', Samurai Goroh uses his sword to cut through prison bars, a missile flying towards him (while on the back of a moving vehicle), an armored vehicle, and at the end, an ''entire spaceship''. Truly Goroh's blade is the mightiest force in the universe.
* In ''{{Toriko}}'', kitchen knives made by the master sharpener Melk can't be bought without a license, to prevent unskilled users from accidentally injuring themselves. This culminates in what could possibly be the best example of this trope, when Melk the 2nd completes Komatsu's new knife. A light swing of it proceeds to make a gigantic gash in the mountain. ''It didn't come in contact with anything''.
* In ''Manga/{{Berserk}}'', Guts receives a sword from the master blacksmith Godo shortly after the Eclipse which proves itself capable of cleanly cutting through the blade of another sword and the tip of an anvil in a single stroke. However, an absurdly sharp sword of merely ordinary size doesn't suit Guts' style, and it [[WreckedWeapon doesn't last a single fight]].
* ''MacrossFrontier'''s Brera Sterne has a BladeBelowTheShoulder no larger than a small combat knife that ''cuts a Hydra in half''. While the setting ''could'' have AppliedPhlebotinum, such as the Pin Point Barrier knives on the TransformingMecha, but no explanation or even visual/audio cue is ever given for Brera's knife other than it cuts tiger-sized creatures in half.
* In ''{{Zoids}}'', blades built into powerful zoids (particularly the Liger series) can cut through damn near anything, including blades used by MechaMooks.
* The swords given to the warriors in the unnamed organization in ''Manga/{{Claymore}}''. This is lampshaded at one point when Miria says something along the lines of "Have you ever wondered why our swords never chip or dull, no matter how hard we swing or how hard the surface we hit? What exactly are they made of? The material can't be from this continent and I've looked everywhere."
* The sword Melan wields in ''BrigadoonMarinAndMelan'' can cut through almost anything on earth, including bullets and gun barrels. However, it's not always successful against weapons made on Brigadoon.
* If a monster in ''Anime/YuGiOh'' uses a sword, said monster has probably used it like this at least once, creating a CleanCut in the opponent.
* [[ManOfWealthAndTaste Solomon Goldsmith's]] from ''BloodPlus'' has a BladeBelowTheShoulder capable of cutting through cliffs and the limbs of [[NighInvulnerable Chevaliers]]. This includes the arm of [[spoiler:James]] who sports extremely powerful InstantArmor.
* Micaiah's katana in ''Manga/MagicalGirlLyricalNanohaVivid'', which is mentioned to be a normal physical sword. After she sharpened it for the tournament, she tests its edge by slicing a falling bus into fours.
* The Gerbera Straight used by [[GundamSEEDAstray Lowe Guele's Gundam Astray Red Frame]]. He had it built because he needed a weapon to defend himself with, beam sabers drained precious energy and a [=GINN=]'s Heavy Sword used inertia, thus precious energy, to cut.
* {{Gundam 00}} has the GN swords. They are all quite bulky, but they are absurdly sharp despite not looking like it. Justified in-universe as GN Particles can (apparently) be used to increase a solid blade's sharpness... [[MakesJustAsMuchSenseInContext whatever that means]].
* In ''Manga/{{Gintama}}'', Sakata Gintoki's sword is so sharp it can be used to cut through several feet of metal. It's also made of wood.
* Creed Diskenth's ''ki'' blade in ''Manga/BlackCat'' will slice cleanly through everything short of the [[{{Unobtainium}} orichalcum]] used in Chronos assassins' weapons. When he cuts off Train's hand during their first encounter in the manga, the doctor who reattaches said hand notes that it's as if the cells were simply pulled apart.
* The mid-90s anime Manga/ChuukaIchiban (Cooking Master Boy) has Leon, one of the main characters, in possession of a legendary set of seven cooking knives called the Seven Star Knives. The smallest is the size of a fruit knife while the largest is borderline {{BFS}} to prepare a cow or a bull. They're ''all'' so sharp that one of it was once used to cut open a fish's ovary, extract all the eggs, and then without any surgery, close the wound again due to the extremely clean cut it was made, and the fish is released back to water without so much of a scratch. This is consistent with the wielder's ActualPacifist outlook, despite his FaceOfAThug.
* In ''Manga/KnightsOfSidonia'', the Kabizashi blades used by the show's HumongousMecha are the only weapons that can truly kill the Gauna.
* In ''Manga/ShingekiNoKyojin'', the soldiers' specialized blades can slice into the giants' [[AttackItsWeakPoint weak spots]] that even cannons have trouble destroying. The [[CripplingOverspecialization trade-off]] is they are so easy to dull and break, each soldier carries twelve of them and can still run out.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Comic Books]]
* {{Wolverine}} from the ''ComicBook/{{X-Men}}'' has adamantium claws in his hands. There are very few things that they can't cut.
* The Libra killer in ''TopTen'' did this. In reality, she was an alien in a volatile life stage, with atom-slicing filaments coming from her body.
* In ''ComicBook/{{Camelot 3000}}'', KingArthur [[YouFailNuclearPhysicsForever causes a nuclear explosion by cutting an atom]] on the point of Excalibur. Earlier in the story, Arthur notes that Excalibur's powers are not confined to destruction, and shoving the sword into fuel cells is enough to bring them to full power.
* In ''ComicBook/{{Legion Of Super-Heroes}}'', the Persuader's Atomic Axe can cut through anything, [[BeyondTheImpossible including the force of gravity]].
* The Vorpal Blade wielded by Boy Blue in ''Comicbook/{{Fables}}''. It's so sharp that the only time it didn't cut right through a target is because the target was the BigBad, who has placed countless millions of protection spells on himself over the years.
* In DCComics, a sharpened blade coated with "lubrilon" is so slick it can cut through anything with almost no friction.
* Vandal Savage's illegal Omicronian Knife Suit from ''DCOneMillion''. It used {{nanomachines}} to constantly sharpen the blades so they could "cut out your very soul".
* In the ''NewGods'' series, Giliotina's swords can slice through anything. Then again, [[BrickBreak she doesn't really need them]].
* Mack "Clownface" Delgado from ''ComicBook/BodyBags.'' He's a {{Badass}} KnifeNut who is seen cutting two men in half with one diagonal stroke among other impressive feats.
* In ''Comicbook/ScottPilgrim'', Knives Chau's father has a sword so sharp it can cut clean through a streetcar!
* Warblade of the ''WildCATS'' can fashion parts of his body to make blades as sharp as he wants. How sharp? Sharp enough to cut the NighInvulnerable CaptainAtom.
* ''SinCity'''s Miho has blades that are sharp enough to slice right through human bone or, in one case, a car roof.
* In ''WorldOfWarcraft'' manga comics there is a tale of a dwarven blacksmith. He is regarded as the best weaponsmith in the world. After his son is killed by one of his weapons he forges the best weapon he has ever crafted for the purpose to avenge his son. To test his blade he he destroys his own anvil with a single one-handed strike.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Fanfiction]]
* In the ''Kung Fu Panda'' story [[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5862877/14/Making-the-Cut Making the Cut]], Jo is able to cut a single strand of hair by dropping it onto the edge of his obsidian dagger.
* The punching dagger in the ''WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic'' Fanfiction {{Fanfic/Silent Knight}} counts as this. According to one of the characters, it displays several examples shown in the [[ShownTheirWork Real Life]] section.
* Something of an InformedAttribute of the Lotus Blade in the [[Fanfic/BloodBondBloodOmenSeries Blood Bond Blood Omen Series]] of KimPossible fanfics. While it can obviously take any form that Ron likes while he's wielding it, when Kim [[spoiler: AKA the Scarred Warrior]] wields it, it becomes simply a "very hard, very sharp" sword, one "so perfect that – if one of the men of the school had been so blasphemous as to try – it could easily be shaved with." And this description comes from Sensei, who has surely seen his share of swords. On the other hand, we never see it cut anything that an ordinary sword couldn't cut, at least not when it's in sword form.
* Sephiroth receives a magical dagger that can cut through any substance as a present from Yuffie in Fanfic/ShinraHighSOLDIER.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Film]]
* ''Film/TransformersRevengeOfTheFallen'' had Reedman, a robot sharp enough that it cut a soldier in half just through a full-body tackle.
* The Hattori Hanzo katana owned by the Bride in ''KillBill''. "I can tell you with no ego, this is my finest sword. If on your journey, you should encounter God, God will be cut." This is a quote of [[ShownTheirWork Musashi]], although in his context it meant steeling yourself for battle no matter who faced you.
* At the end of ''Film/{{Underworld}}'', Viktor's sword is fully sharp enough to cut through someone such that [[DiagonalCut they don't fall apart immediately]].
* Shortly after Logan receives his adamantium infusion in ''Film/XMenOriginsWolverine'', he slices up several items in a farmhouse bathroom (including a porcelain sink) with his now impossibly sharp claws, despite applying what appears to be no more than the force required to move an unrestrained arm.
* The legendary Green Destiny sword in ''CrouchingTigerHiddenDragon'' is capable of slicing through virtually any other weapon, and apparently never gets chipped or cracked, regardless of how often it gets used. Amusingly, in one of the later fight scenes there is a blink-and-you'll-miss-it shot that clearly shows the prop sword to have been severely deformed in the action sequence.
* In ''{{Equilibrium}}'', Cleric Preston uses a katana sharp enough to perform a DiagonalCut.
* In ''ClashOfTheTitans'', Perseus receives a sword from the gods that slices through a block of marble without leaving a scratch on the blade. This is the weapon that he later uses to slay Calibos. And he wasn't even trying to cut the marble, he was just a bit careless with how he lowered the sword after testing the balance and accidentally hit the marble block.
* At one point in ''TheForbiddenKingdom'', the blade of the Jade Warlord's weapon is smashed into the floor, and then dragged across the room. It cuts through the stone floor like butter. Granted, this is probably a magical blade, but still.
* Machetes in ''WalkHard''. They have to be sharp to cut a person in half and impressively sharp to do so on accident, but it's reaching into the realm of the absurdly sharp when you can cut yourself in half by accident.
* A scene in ''TheBodyguard'' involves a katana and a silk scarf. The scarf falls across the katana's blade and is sliced in half by its own weight.
* Hilariously inverted in ''HotShots: Part Deux''; Topper swings a sword through a candle, and it passes clean through... only for the sword to break a moment later.
* ''NinjaAssassin'' has this on every blade we ever get to see. The swords can cut a man in half, and on one occasion, the protagonist is seen slicing open a wooden floor with his [[ImpossiblyCoolWeapon kusarigama]]. The shuriken are also pretty sharp, able to slice a man's head in half or cut off two arms at once, without changing trajectory. The movie actually spends a ''lot'' of scenes showing ninja sharpening their blades.
* In ''Film/KickAss'', Hit-Girl (a 10-year-old girl) uses a double-bladed weapon to cleanly and ''casually'' slice the leg off one opponent, then stabs her blades through a ''metal door''.
* ''Film/{{Dragonslayer}}''. Galen's lance, which is aided by a magic fire to make it sharper than sharp. It slices ''through the anvil'' with little effort.
* In ''Zatoichi'' LongRunner, Ichi's sword cane (shikomizue) cut through candles, papers, lanterns, shōji's (doors, windows), ryō's (golden coins), wooden buckets, wooden columns, pushcarts, stone statue and katanas.
* ''WesternAnimation/KungFuPanda'' featured the Sword of Heroes. "Said to be so sharp you can get cut just by looking at -- Ow!"
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Literature]]
* Literature/{{Discworld}} has several examples of this:
** Both the scythe and the sword of Death , especially in ''Discworld/{{Hogfather}}''. The edges of these weapons glow blue because of the air molecules being sliced in half all the time. The sharpness even extends a few inches beyond the blade due to the impossible aura of sharpness. In ''Discworld/ReaperMan'', Death sharpens his scythe on ''sunlight'', and then tests it by cutting a sentence Miss Flitworth is speaking ''into its individual words''.
** Death defeats his evil replacement with an ordinary field scythe sharpened by ''his own pure rage''. Rage isn't even "real," like light, it's just an abstract concept.
** Carrot's sword is sharp enough to pierce a solid stone pillar. It is the long-lost sword of the Kings of Ankh, and the Disc's rules of NarrativeCausality insist that such a historic weapon ''must'' be sharp enough to do such things. His ancestors specifically didn't want a magical sword; they wanted a sword that was ''really good at killing people''.
** In ''Discworld/InterestingTimes'', when a small army of samurai demonstrate their absurdly sharp blades by throwing silk cloths in the air and slicing them in two, a reference to the old Saladin/Richard legend. CombatPragmatist Cohen the Barbarian claims he can do the same with his ancient notched sword -- then, while they're all looking up at the handkerchief, he and his men decapitate nine of them. In ''Discworld/TheLastHero'', however, Cohen uses the same sword to roll a seven with a six-sided die by ''slicing the die in half'' while it's in the air, so his sword must be quite sharp.
** ''Discworld/WitchesAbroad'' has a much more mundane example.
--->"Every established kitchen has one ancient knife, its handle worn thin, its blade curved like a banana, and so inexplicably sharp that reaching into the drawer at night is like bobbing for apples in a piranha tank."
* Subverted in the ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles''. Throughout the series, you see the Warden's specially enchanted swords, which cut through demons, summoned constructs, and enchantments with ease. But WordOfGod explains that while these swords are indeed magical, their sharpness is simply due to them being really well-made swords.
** Played straight with the Knights of the Cross' holy blades. One cut right through a ''steel door''.
* One of the evil empire's primary advantages in the FarsalaTrilogy is that their folded steel blades ('watersteel') can cut through the Farsalan weapons, though with their superior numbers, much smaller egos, and much greater brains than the first line of Farsalan defenders they hardly need them.
* In the ''Cross Time Engineer'' novels, Conrad Stargard has a sword that regularly slices through armor, body parts, anvils, and other swords. He thinks it is just really good steel. In reality, it has a diamond edge and was made by the same [[MagicFromTechnology highly advanced]] people who accidentally sent him to the 13th century.
* In the ''{{Sten}}'' novels by Allan Cole and Chris Bunch, the signature weapon of the eponymous hero is an absurdly sharp knife that can cut almost everything, even diamonds. And he keeps it hidden ''inside'' his arm.
* In ''{{The Princess Series}}'', Danielle Whiteshore- {{Cinderella}}- possesses an enchanted glass sword as the final gift from her mother's spirit, capable of cutting through anything apart from Danielle's own flesh.
* In his ''World's End'' series, LinCarter uses a super sharp sword, in Ganelon Silvermane's "Silver Sword", although it won't quite cut anything -- there are limits, it seems.
* In ''Literature/TheSilmarillion'', the knife Angrist, a knife that can "cleave iron like green wood..."
* In ''Literature/LordOfTheRings'' elven blades are sharper than anyone else's and the blades hold their edge forever. Then there's the dwarven-made Narsil, which is absurdly sharp even by elven standards.
* ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'' has several examples:
** Blades of Valyrian steel are far sharper and stronger than even the best mundane steel. Forging the metal is a magical process that has become LostTechnology after the fall of Valyria. It has a smoky, rippled appearance that resembles Damascus Steel.
** Dawn, the ancestral blade of House Dayne. The blade was forged from [[ThunderboltIron meteoric iron]] and is hinted to be of extraordinary quality. [[KnightInShiningArmor Arthur Dayne]], the Sword in the Morning, notably used it to hack a foe's sword to bits, then chivalrously allowing him to retrieve another sword before slaying him. Jaime Lannister also recalls that the sword cut through his tunic and into the flesh beneath when Dayne tapped it against his shoulder to knight him.
* [[SwordOfPlotAdvancement Kosall]] in ''Literature/TheActsOfCaine'' combines this with {{Vibroweapon}}.
* In ''{{Everworld}}'', Coo-Hatch steel is used to make absurdly sharp blades. The Coo-Hatch show off by cutting a tree into pieces, which stand for several seconds before falling, and then cutting the falling pieces with throwing blades. Later, a Coo-Hatch pocketknife is used to ''tunnel through rock''. Very slowly.
* In ''[[Literature/InheritanceCycle The Inheritance Cycle]]'', Angela the Herbalist has a sword she calls "Tinkledeath" which is so sharp that it can literally cut through anything as if it were custard. Throughout the series, all Riders' swords are imbued magically such that they never rust or dull and can defeat or outright ignore most enchantments. They're also forged using a rare meteorite that the sword smith Rheunon named "Brightsteel" which has a notable crystalline structure. The same is true of Eragon's first Riders' sword, Zar'roc. After getting a new sword in ''Brisingr'', Eragon was able to cut through a portcullis and then the door behind it.
* The contemporary fantasy novel ''Into the Out Of'' by Creator/AlanDeanFoster features an African master woodcarver who furnishes the heroes with ''wooden'' knives and spears so sharp they give you a paper-cut like cut just from touching the edges of the blades and can be thrown right through a wall. You can't even quite make out where the edge of one of them ends and the air begins, they're so sharp. As one of the characters describes them:
-->"They are wood, but they are anything but ordinary. There are no other such weapons anywhere in the world. They are blackwood plus history, blackwood plus a little of every weapon that has ever been. There are the spears of the great Zulu impis in each edge, the power of Tamerlane's hordes, the thrust of Caesar's legions. On the very edge of each swim things that race the components of existence around racetracks on which the beginning and end of the universe is the bet. They contain weapons that have not been and weapons that will never be. They are blackwood plus all that plus Nafasi. Into them he has put his heart and soul and much more. They will cut well. I think they will even cut a [[TheLegionsOfHell shetani]]."
* In one of the ''LeftBehind'' novels, [[EvilOverlord Carpathia]] is slain with a sword that's supposedly sharp enough to sever half of someone's fingers off, before they even notice they're being cut.
* ''Literature/TheWheelOfTime'' series brings us Power-wrought blades. They can cleave through metal armor and the tough flesh of a [[TheUsualAdversaries Trolloc]] with limited resistance. Lan notes that they never need to be sharpened though some men have been known to try, resulting in wearing a whetstone to nothing for no good reason.
* "One, two! One, two! And through and through, the vorpal blade went snicker-snack!" - from ''Jabberwocky'', in Creator/LewisCarroll's ''[[Literature/AliceInWonderland Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There]]'' (1872).
* Flann O'Brien's ''Literature/TheThirdPoliceman'' features a spear so sharp that if you were to prick yourself with it, your finger would begin to bleed about two inches before the point appeared to reach your finger. In fact, when your finger starts to bleed, the spear point had penetrated your skin two inches ago, but was so thin it slipped between the atoms of your finger without causing any damage.
* ''Literature/{{Animorphs}}'' has Andalite tail blades that seem to be able to cut through pretty much anything. Although, at one point, Tobias (in Anadalite morph) gets his tail blade stuck in the trunk of a tree he was practicing on, much to Ax's amusement.
* The main character of the Literature/{{Safehold}} series has one of these, it's made of some super-hi-tech alloy that's nearly indestructible to boot, he actually considered making an even sharper blade with an edge SharpenedToASingleAtom, but decided that was overkill. It helps that the character in question is a RidiculouslyHumanRobot with SuperStrength who can thus put enough force behind the blade to slice an opponent's own sword into bits. Later he gives another character a similar blade.
* There's one of these in ''The Magic and the Healing'' [[http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/title.cgi?7249 ]] by Nick O'Donohoe.
* The DevilsDictionary's article on [[http://www.alcyone.com/max/lit/devils/s.html Scimitars]] has a lengthy passage on an executor flourishing his sword before lightly tapping the condemned man's neck. He is later called in to explain why he didn't kill the man, and realized he had in fact ''[[YouAreAlreadyDead decapitated himself]]'' while showing off.
* Shardblades in ''Literature/TheStormlightArchive'' are an interesting variation. They are explicitly magical weapons, and can slice through any nonmagical material -- stone, metal, etc -- without slowing. They only things they don't cut are other Shardblades, [[PoweredArmor Shardplate]], and living flesh. The latter the blade simply passes through without marking, and "kills" the part of the body it passes through, as if severing nerves without touching anything else. If it passes through any part of the spinal cord the victim dies instantly, and their eyes burn out. It's implied that the blade in fact [[SoulCuttingBlade cuts the soul.]]
* ''Literature/HisDarkMaterials'': the Subtle Knife. Pretty clearly demonstrated throughout the story that it can cut through ''anything'' like butter. Including the boundaries between dimensions. Once it was dropped blade-first into stone: it didn't even slow down until the hilt hit the ground, after blade had already completely sunk.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
* In an episode of ''MisterRogersNeighborhood'', Jay O'Callahan told the story "The Bubble", about a king stuck in a giant bubble and his attempts to get out. One of the knights who failed to pierce the bubble had a sword so sharp it "cut the wind and made it bleed".
* Parodied in an episode of ''{{Newsradio}}'' Matthew gives Bill a katana which Bill thinks is fake. When Bill realises it's real he drops it and it cleanly cuts off a piece of a nearby table as it falls.
* The 1998 television series ''[[Series/{{Merlin-1998}} Merlin]]'' has an example of Excalibur that fits this interpretation. Just parrying a weaker sword will cut the weaker sword in half.
* In ''Series/TeenWolf'', werewolf claws, despite looking almost like 'normal' sharpened human nails, can substitute a knife to cut cable and rake through metal effortlessly.
* An episode of ''{{Warehouse 13}}'' revolved around the threat of the assembly of ''the'' Masamune. The sword was so sharp, it could cut through light, rendering the user invisible. That was clearly a bit of hyperbole though, since that function didn't work until the tsuba (the little circle thing above the hilt) was reattached. That said, the sword is absurdly sharp in its own right, as it was able to slice through a computer monitor effortlessly.
* In an episode of ''Series/{{Castle}}'' ("Heroes & Villains", s4e2), a victim is laterally bisected apparently through his skull by what turns out to be a samurai sword.
* Pretty much every ''Series/{{Highlander}}'' episode with a beheading... most swords, with the possible exception of a katana, can't sever a human head in one stroke.
* One of the Salamanca cousins in ''BreakingBad'' carries a chromed fire axe. It's sharp enough to stick in pavement just from being accidentally dropped.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Myth & Legend]]
* Some incarnations of KingArthur's sword Excalibur fit this trope. Depending on which legend you're reading (and which interpretation of the legend), Excalibur is either the most powerful blade ever worn by a British king, or else was just a sword. Many linguists believe that "Caliburn" (which became Excalibur) is an Anglified spelling of a Welsh phrase meaning Cutsteel.
* In NorseMythology, the Dwarf-forged magic sword Tyrfing could cut through metal and stone as if they were cloth. Needless to say, it could wreak havoc on an opponent's armor and weapons (to say nothing of the opponent themselves). Especially since it was never supposed to miss.
* In [[IrishMythology Irish myth]], Cuchulainn's sword can shave a hair from the skin without cutting the skin, or cleft a hair floating on water in twain, or cut a man in two "[[DiagonalCut that the one half of him might not miss the other for some time after]]". [[hottip:*:The ability of a sword to shave hairs was impressive because of the sheer thickness of the blade (and thus the trouble of getting a very sharp edge without burrs). Some swords of antiquity were in excess of 1/4" thick. Having a sword capable of field combat yet also able to shave hairs was a sign of superior bladesmithing.]]
* There are claims that certain units of lancers from Eastern Europe and Eurasia (it has been attributed to Polish lancers and Cossacks) would shave with the tips of their lances before battle, and if their commander could see any stubble or nicks on their chin, then their weapons weren't sharp enough for battle.
* A popular Japanese legend tells of a competition between two famous swordsmiths: [[AxCrazy brilliant but slightly unbalanced]] Muramasa Sengo, and [[{{Badass}} even more brilliant and universally revered]] Masamune. Each smith held his sword tip-first into a gentle brook, with the edge facing upstream. As leaves floated down on the current, Muramasa's sword cut them neatly in half as they wafted against the blade. Leaves that encountered Masamune's sword, however, would make a 90-degree turn and avoid the blade altogether, in a [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome Crowning Moment of Zen]]. In other versions of the legend, the leaves that Muramasa's blade cut, Masamune's blade healed together. In yet other versions the blades were placed in the river and floated downstream. Muramasa then argued that his blade was finer since it cut the leaves, Masamune pointing out that such a blade was inherently evil and bloodthirsty, which his wasn't, therefore was superior.
* In American tall tales, Pecos Bill's razor was so sharp he shaved with just the shadow of it! (Which means he [[PermaStubble didn't shave so well]] on cloudy days, when the shadow was dimmer and fuzzier.)
* The Germanic tale of Wayland/Velent/Völund/''[[SpellMyNameWithAnS whatever]]'' has the hero make a sword, Mimung, so sharp that he slices the competing smith Amilias from the head down in half with one stroke, complete with his extremely thick armor, and Amilias didn't discover this until he was asked to shake, at which point he fell apart.
* There's an apocryphal legend about {{Richard the Lionheart}}ed having a conversation with Saladin about their respective swords. Richard requests an iron bar, and chops through it cleanly. Saladin shrugs, and requests a silk pillow. Richard's sword fails to even mar it, while Saladin's scimitar slices it neatly in half. [[RuleOfCool More fanciful]] versions of the story have Saladin letting a silk veil fall across the edge of his scimitar, and cutting ''itself'' in half, while Richard was able to split an ''anvil''.
* A 20th-century apocryphal tale has a burly Afrika Korps infantryman going hand-to-hand with a Gurkha. The latter delivers a throat-high slash with his [[KukrisAreKool kukri]], which the German doesn't even feel. "You missed!" he snarls, preparing to skewer the little Nepalese guy with his bayonet. Unperturbed, the Gurkha just says "Nod your head...". [[DiagonalCut And, of course...]]
* Islamic folklore has Zulfiqar, Ali's sword. It was found by Muhammad in the Mecca temple of Ishtar, and described as a long scimitar with a curious forked end. According to the legend, the archangel Gabriel constantly chained the true power of Zulfiqar since it was so sharp that at full force it could create {{Kamaitachi}} that would cut mountains apart. Another myth says that Ali killed an enemy knight by beheading the horse and slicing the knight in half with a single slash.
* According to the Norse/Germanic saga of Sigurd/Siegfried, same hero's sword Gram/Balmung/Nothung was so sharp that he tested it by ''slicing an anvil in half''.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
* ''WarhammerFantasy'' has the Runefangs, dwarven-made swords that are wickedly sharp. There are twelve of them, each made for one of the Elector-Counts of the Empire. None of the people the swords were made for lived long enough to use them, because the dwarves wanted them to be perfect and it took longer than a human lifetime for the smith to make them all. The descendants of the original intended owners use them just fine.
** ''WarhammerFantasyRoleplay'' allows runesmiths to create more Runefangs by adding the master rune of Alaric the Mad (the smith of the original Runefangs) to weapons. Lest you think this a GameBreaker, creating a new Runefang can only be done by a master runesmith (a tertiary career), will take ''years'' for a PlayerCharacter even without failing any checks (making a sword that can become an absurdly sharp blade for a single blow is easier, taking a few days' off-time), and it's explicitly verboten for a runesmith to ever create two weapons with identical runes on them (that Alaric did this is why he's called 'the Mad'), and master runes occupy all slots on a weapon.
* ''[[TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons Dungeons & Dragons]]''
** Weapons made of adamantine bypass most objects' hardness -- meaning that, essentially, they're so sharp that they can cut steel (hardness 10) as easily as paper or cloth (hardness zero). Of course, this ability only works on objects up to hardness 20, meaning that adamantine (hardness 20) cannot [[LikeCannotCutLike cut itself]].
** The major artifact sword Angelwing Razor is so sharp, it can cut through literally anything, bypassing all forms of hardness and damage reduction. this includes barriers of pure magic that have no actual material substance.
* The ''{{Everway}}'' RPG had among its legendary artifacts a sword named the "The Edge of Light and Darkness", which was created to exemplify "the dividing line between ''Is'' and ''Is Not''". The Edge of Light and Darkness could cut anything its owner could conceive of cutting, and could wield the blade with sufficient skill to hit. In addition to the relatively mundane task of doing a CleanCut through any physical substance, known examples include cutting through the fabric of space-time to create portals between alternate universes, killing an opponent by cutting his soul free of his body (without actually leaving any physical wounds on his body), and destroying a pocket universe by slicing the substance of reality into its fundamental elemental components.
* ''[[SeventhSea 7th Sea]]'' has the crescent-shaped scythe of the NPC Captain Reis, which allows him to cut through anything -- even armor made from Dracheneisen, the ''7th Sea'' version of {{Mithril}}, gets cut in half like so much butter.
* ''TabletopGame/NewWorldOfDarkness'' has a supplement called ''Dudes of Legend: How To Be Fucking Awesome''. It contained- among rules for using your genitalia as a bludgeoning weapon, instituting experience charts for kills and other things that ran completely contrary to the intended feeling of nWoD- a hack that let you wield a katana that had the 7-Again quality, allowing you to reroll any result of 7 or higher on a d10. Considering that the system only counts successes at 8 or higher, and rerolls at 10, you will reroll every success you manage to get, again and again. It's explicitly intended to simulate these kinds of weapons.
* ''{{TabletopGame/GURPS}} Ultratech'' has a number of (increasingly super-science) ways of justifying this. Superfine blades divide damage resistance by two. [[SharpenedToASingleAtom Monowire and nanothorn]] blades divide damage resistance by ten, and the latter is additionally described as ''shredding'' molecular bonds.
* In {{Exalted}}, assorted magic allows blades to cut through everything, up to and including spirits, mountains, memories, souls and reality, amongst other things.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Theatre]]
* Based on stories similar to those in the Myths and Legends section, above, Creator/RichardWagner in his music-drama ''Theatre/{{Siegfried}}'', has the eponymous hero, after he has [[ForgingScene reforged]] his father's sword Nothung, use it to slice in two the anvil he has formed it on.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Video Games]]
* ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry'' displays this trope every time a sword is used [[CutscenePowerToTheMax in a cutscene]]. WordOfGod says that Dante's blade is capable of slicing absolutely anything in the physical plane. Not very convincing after the series' later graphical pushes (the rust and nicks become more pronounced).
** The Rebellion is upstaged by that of the Yamato, [[EvilTwin Vergil's]] trademark sword, which is capable of ''cutting through dimensions''.
* ''VideoGame/{{Darkstalkers}}'' has Bishamon's ancient blade, Kien. The sword was originally forged because talented warriors were frustrated that their swords had dulled irreparably. Thus Kien was crafted -- using forbidden techniques -- in such a way that it actually became ''sharper'' the more it was used, meaning a ''stronger'' blade from multiple battles. However, Kien eventually fell into the presence of the demonic Hannya, "the armour of hate", and was subsequently corrupted, gaining a thirst for blood...
* Throughout the Franchise/FinalFantasy series:
** In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'' Sephiroth's Masamune: in one scene in ''VideoGame/CrisisCore'' where he's fighting Angeal and Genesis, Sephiroth tears apart a gigantic cannon with it by slicing through the barrel with SwordLines from the blade during the fight. That's one bad-ass sword.
** Odin's OneHitKill attack cuts (''Zantetsuken'') all monsters on the battlefield in half.
** In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIII'', [[RivalTurnedEvil Seifer]] ''cuts Odin in half''.
*** Which caused the Zantetsuken to go spinning off into the sky, cutting a hole clean into another dimension. Specifically, the Interdimensional Rift from ''Videogame/FinalFantasyV'', where it was caught by Gilgamesh.
** In ''Anime/FinalFantasyVIIAdventChildren[=/=]Complete'', Sephiroth's Masamune and Cloud's Fusion Swords are capable of not only slashing cleanly through massive pieces of concrete buildings that are far larger than the swords themselves ([[{{BFS}} which is saying something]]), but setting the edges of the cut concrete ''on fire''. Of course, the swords, despite repeated clashing, never damage each other.
* ''SamuraiShodown II'' features Cham Cham, resident CatGirl with her ImprobableWeapon, a wooden boomerang used for melee combat. It's considered sharp by the game, enough that (in the original releases) you could trigger the game's DiagonalCut death animations if you ended a match with a strike from it. Or if you pitched it at an enemy. Her claws work the same, too. 'Oh! How dangerous a boomerang is!'
* In ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWars'', there is nothing that Sanger Zonvolt's [[{{BFS}} Zankantou/Colossal Blade]] cannot cut. It achieves this by having thrusters on the non-bladed side, allowing it to keep cutting even when it should get lodged into its target. This allows it to cut through huge battleships, hence the name "Zankantou", but it still breaks when it tries to cut into Giganscudo's {{Unobtainium}} armor. The Type 3 blade, however, is made of liquid metal and [[RuleofCool Runs on Badassoleum]], making it more an example of this trope.
* Youmu's sword from ''VideoGame/{{Touhou}}''. "The things that can't be cut by my Roukan Blade, forged by [[UltimateBlacksmith Youkai]], are close to none!" It is able to cut ''spirits'' and possibly other intangible things. However, her ''other'' sword, Hakurouken, while not as absurdly sharp it has the power to cut ''confusion'', to the point of potentially giving instant enlightenment to spirits. It however still hurts humans.
** In ''Touhou Soccer'', she takes this to [[UpToEleven an over the top level]] by [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fDjtg1K8gkQ cutting the moon in half]]. As the description for Roukanken the equippable item in Touhou Soccer states: "A certain gardener's personal sword. It cannot cut through the ball. [[LampshadeHanging Just what is that ball made of, I wonder.]]"
* At the beginning of ''VideoGame/{{Xenosaga}} Episode II'', [[BadassBookworm Jin]] is introduced when he slices a HumongousMecha in half with his sword while on foot.
* In ''{{Nethack}}'', the Tsurugi of Muramasa and Vorpal Blade each have a 5% chance of bisecting (in the case of the former) or decapitating (in the case of the latter) what they hit, causing instant death.
* In ''VideoGame/ChronoTrigger'', once repaired, the Masamune sunders a passageway into a mountain.
* In ''VideoGame/SkiesOfArcadia'', Ramirez's sword is described as being sharp enough to cut through ''light'' (which appears to be evidenced by his powerful "Silver Eclipse" attack).
* Rayne's wrist blades in ''VideoGame/BloodRayne'' cut through bone as easily as air. Also wood, stone, many kinds of metal -- anything that can be [[DieChairDie demolished in the environment]] she can put a blade through as easily as waving her hands.
* ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas - Dead Money'': The Sierra Madre Casino's kitchen staff believed that the Cosmic knives they were supplied were ''too'' sharp for their needs. Sure, they could slice through a T-bone steak with no problem, but they'd cut through their cutting boards and their own fingers just as easily.
** [[GameplayAndStorySegregation Their effectiveness in combat, though, does not meet the description.]] [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] in that they've spent 200 years in a corrosive, toxic miasma. The chemicals probably dulled them somewhat; however, they're still very effective limb loppers, which is good in an environment where most enemies are best dealt with by lopping off a limb.
* Geralt of Rivia's swords in ''TheWitcher'' are described as being absurdly sharp. Later on in the game if the player [[spoiler:kills Vincent. The Guards originally believe only a Scythe would have been sharp enough to kill him.]]
* ''VideoGame/BaldursGate II'' has the Silver Sword, which is a vorpal blade as outlined under the Dungeons & Dragons rules above. It has a 25% chance to instantly kill anything it hits. (Although most bosses are immune.) The ExpansionPack added the [[AnAxeToGrind Axe of the Unyielding]] and the [[BladeOnAStick Ravager halberd]] which have a similar chance for an instant kill.
* In the Franchise/MetalGear universe, Raiden gets one in ''VideoGame/MetalGearRisingRevengeance.'' Part of the gameplay mechanics involve Raiden being able to slice HumongousMecha into pieces.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Animation]]
* Baninja's "katanana" in ''BananananaNinja'' is a tiny sword wielded by a banana, which can cut through the roof of a bus and cleave through HumongousMecha. He stores it in his ''head'', disguised as his stem.
* In ''Machinima/RedVsBlue Revelation'', Tex's combat knife is sharp enough [[spoiler: to pierce the meta's armor when Washington throws it.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Webcomics]]
* In ''Webcomic/TheDreadful'', during a non-canon advertising intermission, heroine Kit is depicted effortlessly slashing villainous monkeys to bits with a sword that is apparently made from a single large feather.
* In Garth Graham's ''FindersKeepers'', there is a knife that is literally, the Cutting Edge. Of course, ''Finder's Keepers'' is about the realm of Faerie, so [[LiteralMinded things are automatically literal]].
* Bro's swords in ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}'' have cut through wooden ventriloquist's dummies, (extremely shitty) swords, ''meteors'' and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking the design on Dave's shirt]] ''[[BeyondTheImpossible without cutting the shirt]]'' in one stroke. [[SerialEscalation Later he tops the record once more]], by cutting into the Beat Mesa, which otherwise requires Infinity Plus One Magical Needles to do.
* In ''{{Sinfest}}'', a comparison of swords [[http://www.sinfest.net/archive_page.php?comicID=2182 includes one that cuts diamonds, and one that can cut paper dolls in mid-air.]]
* In ''Webcomic/GunnerkriggCourt'' the sword that Coyote's fang is so sharp that, not only can it cut through an iron girder like butter, and cut a steel ball bearing dropped against its edge in half, it also [[spoiler:[[BeyondTheImpossible peels a shadow up from the floor]]]]. Oh, and said edge rings with Coyote's laughter.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Original]]
* Black Knight in ''MarvelsRPG'' wields Excalibur, which is so insanely sharp that he can cut through anything... and then comes all of its magic abilities.
* ''{{Chapel}}'' manages to [[spoiler: decapitate Porter]] with a sword she bought...at Ren Faire.
* From the ''GlobalGuardiansPBEMUniverse:'' A Espada ("The Sword") is a Brazilian who can create a "sword" out of pure mental force that can cut through anything as long as he has confidence that it will. Pendragon, a British hero, wields the legendary sword Excalibur, and has yet to meet a substance it cannot hack through. Fey, a mystic swords man who claims to be from the elf-lands of Faerie, once used his sword to cut through a bank vault door, though he says it's all in the magic and not in the blade.
* The sword Kamimura uses to sever Oran's chip-implanted hand and therefore save him in the GrandFinale of ''BrokenSaints''.
* The WhateleyUniverse stories have a few of these. The magical sword Destiny's Wave, wielded by [[ChosenOne The Handmaid Of The Tao]] (a superheroine codenamed Bladedancer). In the hands of the rightful user, it can cut through anything (even unstoppable superhuman bricks), if the Tao requires it. At other times, it is as blunt and harmless as you'd expect of a blade made of white jade. And then there's Toni's mithril Kukri, Fey's scimitar Malachim's Feather, and Hank's PK shortswords.
* Dominic's sword in ''AtherCity''. Don't bother asking which one, because it seems to spontaneously apply to every sword he picks up.
* [[Wiki/SCPFoundation SCP]]-[[http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-585 585]] is a pencil sharpener which infinitely sharpens the points of graphite pencils. To the point of their being able to penetrate steel. And bedrock. And ''split atoms.''
* Armsmaster, a [[GadgeteerGenius tinker]][=/=]martial artist superhero in ''Literature/{{Worm}}'', developed a halberd with a [[{{Nanomachines}} nano-cloud]] blade that can turn anything to dust. He does more damage to [[{{Kaiju}} Leviathan]] with it than the rest of the heroes and villains put together.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Western Animation]]
* ''SamuraiJack'''s [[AncestralWeapon ancestral sword]] fits this bill very well. It can potentially cut through almost anything, but he has came across things that he simply wasn't strong enough to cut. It was a plot point at one time, when Jack had to destroy a series of robots Aku supercharged himself - the blade couldn't cut, because Jack wasn't strong enough, but when given a bionic arm by the creator of the robots (who was tricked into making said robots for Aku), he's able to decapitate them easily.
** There was also a rather entertaining episode in which he proved that the sword wasn't everything -- he took on an entire army of MechaMooks with a bamboo stick. And cut them in half with it.
** The Scotsman's magical Claymore, being just as powerful as Jack's katana and capable of wounding Aku, averts the idea that KatanasAreJustBetter.
* Saluk from ''[[Disney/{{Aladdin}} Aladdin and the King of Thieves]]'' has [[WolverineClaws brass knuckles with blades]]. He can use them to [[BladeBrake slice his way down a cliff]] -- and they don't get dull at all.
* ''WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender'' has Sokka's "[[ThunderboltIron space sword]]". Its sharpness doesn't come up that often, but during the invasion, he cuts through a ballista in one swing. In the finale, [[spoiler:to stop fire benders, he throws the sword and even without any weight backing it up, it cleanly slices through a sturdy metal platform. Moments before that, it also works against him, when [[BladeBrake his attempt to stop a fall by stabbing the hull of the airship]] just results in the sword shearing through the metal until they reach the bottom and keep falling.]]
** Much earlier in the series, in "[[Recap/AvatarTheLastAirbenderTheBlueSpirit The Blue Spirit]]," the titular masked spirit uses dual Dao sabres to cut right through the chains holding Aang captive. In a single stroke.
* In one episode of ''GIJoe'', Cobra swordsman Storm Shadow gets his hands on the original Excalibur, which among other things can cut right through an enormous stone pillar with one swipe.
* Near the climax of ''Disney/TheHunchbackOfNotreDame'', Frollo pursues Quasimodo and Esmeralda on the balcony of Notre Dame, all the while cleanly slicing through ''stone gargoyles'' attempting to slash at them.
* Related to this trope is the old cartoon gag of a blade being sharp enough to [[SplitHair split a hair]] neatly in two. A notable example is in the ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'' short "AliBabaBunny", where Hassan's scimitar comes short of piercing Daffy's skull but it does part a single hair (feather?) on the top of his head.
* In the ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime'' "Slow Love", Jake and Finn's tree house gets dragged around by a giant snail. At one point it cuts to the bedroom, showing Finn's sword falling over and completely slicing through his bed.
** Finn's [[CoolSword Root Sword]] cuts through a train's control panel when it's first introduced in "Mystery Train", and yet Jake is able to block it with [[WoodenKatanasAreEvenBetter a wooden sword]].
* PlayedWith in the ''[[WesternAnimation/{{Thundercats 2011}} ThunderCats (2011)]]'' episode "The Duelist and the Drifter" where several swordsmen in an AdventureTown {{Invoke|d Trope}} this in the local sword competition, each bragging of their blade and striking a towering, giant boulder to see how deeply it cuts (one prideful PigMan sees his sword [[SubvertedTrope shatter on impact]].) Only young hero Lion-O makes good on his boast, as his Sword of Omens totally cleaves the boulder in two with a classic DiagonalCut, winning him a hefty purse.
* The Star Saber in ''WesternAnimation/TransformersPrime'' can cut through an entire mountain with little effort (as can its evil counterpart, the Dark Star Saber). Part of that, though, is the large sheets of HardLight it shoots, rather than its actual cutting edges (not that it isn't Absurdly Sharp).
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Real Life]]
* To prepare a slide for a transmission electron microscope, a diamond blade is used to get a less-than-paper-thin slice. Once properly sharpened, it's about a hundred atoms wide or so, and it will slide through your hand as easily as through the air.
** There is another type of blade used in microtomes to prepare samples for the electron microscope: Freshly broken glass. A fresh one is among the sharpest cutting instruments known to human science.
* Knapped obsidian blades are a small and measurable number of molecules in thickness. And while diamond is the harder material, obsidian can be made ''sharper''. The greatest of care should be used in handling obsidian knives and arrow points, etc. because they can remain truly Absurdly Sharp even centuries after being made and will cut you badly with even the slightest touch. The drawback of course is that being basically an exotic form of glass, they wear out quickly in use.
** Obsidian blades are still used in eye surgery when a clean cut is needed.
** Anthropologists and paleontologists have "tested" the technology available to Stone Age humans by using hand-knapped obsidian blades to butcher an elephant's carcass.
** The Aztecs used obsidian blades embedded in a wooden club to make a deadly weapon known as the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macuahuitl Macuahuitl]]. The blades were easily sharp enough to decapitate a man, and can supposedly decapitate a horse if used correctly. (Unfortunately for the Aztecs, a glass blade, no matter how sharp, isn't ''durable'' enough to be much help against an enemy armored in steel.)
* Traditionally, the ''[[ButterflyKnife balisong]]'' was tested before it was sold. The vendor would take out a few one-peso coins and stab right through them with the blade. The blade would be completely undamaged, and the coins (and table) would have holes in them.
** [[FridgeBrilliance This worked only because the coin was nearly pure silver]], as opposed to the 925/1000 silver in jewels. Silver is very soft, Mohs hardness of about 2.5, and can be scratched by a human fingernail. Think modern electronics solder, with lead replaced by silver in the alloy, and even this is harder than pure silver.
** A similar tale is told of the original Bowie knives. Their maker supposedly tested them by whittling a piece of hickory for a couple of hours, after which the knives still had to be sharp enough to shave a man's arm without nicking him.
*** This is less fanciful than it may appear. The original Bowie knife (made for Colonel Bowie himself) was forged from a large file. Files are made of extremely hard steel (so that they can be used on regular grades of steel), so as long as it was properly tempered the blade would hold an extreme edge through treatment like whittling.
* Some modern steels such as CPM-154 can be taken to this point by a user skilled at sharpening with fine grit stones or strops. Depending on the steel, this edge can last for a while before use dulls it down.
[[/folder]]

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