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Stopping a razor-sharp blade requires only your hands.
"Grabbing a sword by the blade isn't a valid move, is it?"
No sword on hand, and about to be slashed? No problem! Reach out and clap your hands if you believe... you can stop a blade barehanded. At the extreme end are characters capable of stopping a blade between two fingers or — if Made Of Iron — simply bouncing the blade off their finger or arm.
One of the Tropes Busted By Myth Busters: The best-case scenario would end up with a large chunk of a hand sliced off, assuming one had enough force to stop the blade coming down. Most likely one would get a sword in the head anyway. However, a trained martial artist using hand protection like the metal grips used to help climb walls could pull this off with (depending on size) the appearance of doing it barehanded.
In Real Life, most sword blades were not razor-sharp, and some had a "ricasso" (which is when the blade is left unsharpened at the bottom ), so this was actually possible with some weapons. Then there is this video that shows it is possible to grab and hold onto the end of a sharpened long sword, here, and several long sword techniques show how to disarm someone by grabbing the end with the bare hand while the blade is not in motion. As long as the blade does not slip through the hand, the hand should remain relatively safe. When dueling with rapiers, it was common practice to use a dagger in the other hand to parry, and several medieval combat manuals recommend that, if you were challenged when you had your rapier but not your dagger on hand, you could use your off hand for similar parries. Granted, they recommended wrapping your cloak around your hand first. At least one manual even describes the proper method for cloak-wrapping. Sometimes, mail-lined gloves were also used. In fact, this maneuver was one of the main reasons why exclusively thrusting weapons such as smallswords were still kept sharp along the edge.
Cutting weapons weren't out of the question, either — many techniques involved grasping the blade. There was even a technique called " half-swording" where you grabbed your own sword about halfway down the blade, with the results of improved strength and accuracy on the thrust when at very close range. However, these techniques were executed after a block or bind — when the sword had stopped moving — and generally with the additional protection of mail gloves. (You wouldn't need to half-sword unless your opponent was wearing full plate to begin with.)
In the end, though, the best option would be the DODGING the damn blade. Especially if the user is fast enough both mentally and physically to pull this off right...
If done almost right, and the user retains their hand, don't be surprised by a Bloody Handprint to emphasize the injury.
Examples
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Anime & Manga
- The title character of Hayate the Combat Butler does this almost offhandedly with two fingers during his "duel" with Wataru and tosses the sword aside. He's just that good. In a recent manga chapter, Hayate also manages to grasp a sword wielded by Athena with one hand, although he bleeds from it.
- When he is fighting with Hinagiku, he does manage to catch her blade barehanded. It isn't a bladed sword, but it still cuts extremely well.
- Ogami Itto from Lone Wolf and Cub does this. A ninja sent against him does a double subversion — he deliberately aims the sword into his own skull, so that his partner would have a chance to kill Ogami while the sword was stuck.
- Also a magnificent Crowning Moment of Awesome for both the protagonist and the villain. Having killed every single ninja in Japan, hero Itto Ogami faces down his enemy Retsudo Yagyu, armed with only a broken sword against Retsudo's spear and sword. Ogami blocks the spear and breaks it in half, then blocks Retsudo's sword and disarms him, taking a mortal wound in the process. Retsudo then blocks Ogami's final strike, tells him that the heavens desire Ogami's death more than his own, and gently lets go of the blade. Ogami dies on his feet, sword in hand.
- Also, Itto usually doesn't just catch the blade. He also tends to flip up and yank away the blade (or just snap it) and throw it into whoever struck at him. In the last fight, this doesn't work since Yagyu is good enough to flip with him and thus not lose the blade.
- In Saint Seiya, Shiryu manages to do that to Shura's attack, which was done with the arm but it was treated as a Sword attack by them. He then proceeds to explain the technique.
- Professor Stein in Soul Eater is able to do this and does so quite often. In fact, there are loads of examples throughout the series.
- In Love Hina, Keitarō manages to do this against Motoko, which has her worrying that her abilities are slipping. She starts to completely lose it, though, when Tama-chan (the turtle) manages the same feat.
- In Urusei Yatsura, Ataru regularly foils would-be samurai Mendō with this maneuver (pictured above).
- A signature move of Jubei-chan, it's a very relevant plot point in the second to last episode of the second season.
- This is taken to an extreme. It's not only bare-handed, the blade is stopped with bare-fingers (thumb and index finger) with only one hand. With absolutely no effort regardless of how much force was being put into the slash.
- It's also relevant earlier in the second season when Jiyu performs this in her civilian form, showing that her Ninja Girl skills are not limited to when she uses the Lovely Eyepatch.
- Happens a lot in Bleach. Ulqiorra, for instance, has a habit of blocking blades (and energy beams, and people drawing swords) with just one hand, and looking really cool while doing so. It reaches the point that that the protagonist's Kung Fu is shown to have become stronger when Ulqiorra can't even block the attack with both hands. Long before Ulquiorra, though, the series' current Big Bad demostrated just how much of a Badass he was when he blocked the protagonist's sword's powered-up form with a single finger, also cutting his Theme Music Power Up off in the process.
- Justified in the case of Ulquiorra; he, and all other Arrancar, are specifically stated to have "Iron Skin" as one of their abilities. Consequently, they tend to do a lot of catching swords with their bare hands, since their bare hands are basically armor. The Big Bad, however, is apparently just that awesome.
- Well it is supposed to be the same for Shinigami, if you remember Kenpachi's speech - you shouldn't be able to cut a shinigami that is vastly more powerful than you because the stronger spirit pressure cancels the weaker one. Of course, it's doubtful Kubo Tite remembers that.
- Ichigo in his hollow form does this to Ulquiorra's strongest attack
- Even before then he does this to Ichigo when his Hollow power awaken.
- Most recently, Ichigo after a 3 month training from hell manages to block Aizen's sword swing. With one hand. And look bored while doing it. This becomes more important when you realize Aizen has already "Transcended Soul Reaper and Hollow." And he's getting curb stomped hard.
- If Number One does not reappear when Ichigo does this, this troper will be severely disappointed.
- Kanbei does this to the robotic Kikuchiyo in Samurai 7.
- An entire episode of Voltes V was devoted to The Hero of the Five Man Band learning this when the eponymous Super Robot was fighting against an enlarged swordsman. The episode also included The Hero doing a bullet catch using a pair of rocks.
- Nanoha pulls this off during the White Devil training incident in Nanoha StrikerS, stopping a powered punch with one hand and a magical blade with the other. She grips the blade, which draws blood, and uses magic to halt its wielder's momentum. Considering her talents, she had plenty of alternatives, but would they have freaked out her opponents as much?
- Jail Scaglietti also does this to Fate during an incredibly impressive scene-especially considering the sheer size of Bardiche's energy blade and the way Scaglietti is driven partially into the floor, which shatters from the force, whilst still standing upright. His claw-hand may have helped with this. The block didn't help in the long run though, which just goes to show You Can't Fight Fate
- While Kenshin performs this move against Aoshi in an episode of Rurouni Kenshin (and does, indeed, cut his hands), the person most known for this is Yahiko who is known as the "man who has caught 1,000 blades". He uses the blade block because his sword style, the Kamiya Kasshin-Ry?as conceived for self defense. During Yahiko No Sakabatou Yahiko breaks a blade one handed.
- To be more specific about Yahiko's blade block, his is the Kamiya Kasshin-Ry?timate technique taught to him by Kaoru (Thus making her a practitioner of this trope as well). Unlike the traditional blade block pictured above, the technique is done by crossing your arms and catching the blade with the back of your hands while still grasping your sword (Which in this case is a bamboo sword or a wooden sword) so that you remain armed even after disarming the opponent.
- Aoshi also breaks a blade with one hand at the end of the manga's Jinchu Arc. Into multiple pieces.
- Make sure you never ever use your sword techniques on Shishio more than once. Once Shishio knows how an attack works it's almost always guaranteed to be blade blocked with just three fingers.
- With only a few exceptions, this is interestingly one of the more realistic depictions of this trope. Characters who catch incoming blades are often seen getting cut by the blades they have caught. This is evidenced by the technique Kenshin uses against Aoshi, which looks the closest to the most common form of this trope, where he reveals that the object is actually to allow oneself to be cut but to clamp down on the blade to prevent it from slicing, which is where a slashing sword like a katana does its real damage. On the other hand you do have people like Shishio and Aoshi, who are badass enough to do it in a less bloody fashion.
- In the third Inu Yasha movie, Swords of an Honorable Ruler, the title character's Aloof Big Brother Sesshoumaru does the trope one better by punching his opponent's blade out of his way.
- During the series, InuYasha's Superpowered Evil Side does the same thing to Sesshoumaru's sword. But due to the special properties of the sword, not only his fist but his entire forearm is sliced up in the process.
- Subverted in Seto No Hanayome. Slow motion goes into effect as Saru gives a dramatic monologue while preparing to perform a blade block... only to fail to grab the sword in time after his speech, resulting in a colorful spray of blood.
- Ginji does this to Pixy Misa in Magical Project S. It's almost plausible, considering that Misa is quite physically weak.
- Used once in Real Bout High School, though there it was with Ryoko's wooden sword, making it much more plausible.
- Miyu from Mai-HiME blocks a Brainwashed And Crazy Mikoto's sword just as she's rising out of her coffin.
- Zoro of One Piece claims to be able to do this, but never actually manages it due to the interference of his perennial rival, Sanji.
- Hachi tried to do this in his duel with Zoro, but utterly failed despite using all six of his hands.
- Luffy also does something similar one-handed in his match against Arlong, but it was more with his monstrous strength than any learned skill.
- Gundam SEED Destiny had the Strike Freedom catch the Destiny Gundam's anti-ship sword in this fashion. It made a little more sense than most examples because 1) the Freedom used its beam shields to slow the impact, and 2) it caught the solid part of the sword rather than the energy blade. However, Fridge Logic kicks in when one remembers that this is an anti-ship sword, packing extra weight to help it cut through the hulls of enemy battleships.
- Gundam 00: Used beautifully when "Mr. Bushido", the human incarnation of Everythings Better With Samurai, shows up in season two using every samurai trope in the book. Setsuna responds by executing a perfect Barehanded Blade Block, and then casually snapping Mr. Bushido's katana in half with a flick of his wrists.
- SD Gundam Force: Captain Gundam manages to parry Commander Sazabi's beam sabers with his (albeit powered-up) bare hands.
- Comander Sazabi lampshades this, and Captain apologizes as he squeezes the saber blades hard enough to explode the handles with the feedback.
- Gally/Alita does this in Gunnm (OVA 2 and manga) while fighting with a dual-sword-wielding bounty hunter; being an advanced cyborg, she then adds some Applied Phlebotinum to her Barehanded Blade Block and calls down a lightning bolt to fry the baddie.
- A gag panel between two chapters of Gunnm: Last Order volume 11 shows Sechs attempting a Barehanded Blade Block — but being too slow. The sword breaks on his cyborg skull.
- Samurai Deeper Kyo showcases the entire range of sword catches. But the real kicker (pun intended) is when Yuan of the Taishiro catches Hotaru's sword between his toes!
- The implausibility is inverted in an episode of Outlaw Star where Gene fights Suzuka. Gene isn't even using his bare hands but rather a bullet-deflecting force-field focused to a very small space while Suzuka is using a bokuto and he still can't hold her off.
- Berserk: Guts does this a lot. However, most of the time he's using his fake metal arm to block, and when he does grab a blade with his right hand, he's wearing metal gauntlets and he does bleed.
- He also does an interesting variation a few times by catching blades BETWEEN HIS TEETH.
- An interesting case in one episode (and manga chapter) of Space Adventure Cobra. The title character and his female cyborg sidekick are fighting apparently invincible suits of armor, and Cobra does a Barehanded Blade Block on one sword (not that hard for him considering his superhuman reflexes). He subsequently breaks the sword and the armor crumbles, empty. He discovers later that they are fighting a race of living, telekinetic swords.
- It is shown later in a flashback that Cobra once got his left arm cut off by an axe. Right after, he blocks it with his right hand's fingers.
- Ranma and Akane regularly pull this off against Kunō in Ranma ˝. On the one hand, it's easier to catch his sword since it's a wooden bokken; on the other, he regularly projects a Razor Wind with it.
- Ranma also uses this technique against Mousse, who favors bladed and piercing weapons in his vast arsenal.
- Later on, Ranma used this technique with the soles of his feet, facing away from the attacker, to stop his mother's katana. She didn't know it was him at the time, but she was very impressed.
- In Suzumiya Haruhi, Yuki Nagato catches Asakura's combat knife with nasty spikes on the backside straight-faced in her Big Damn Heroes moment. What a girl!
- Possibly subverted, in that she's shown bleeding during/after the blade catch. Yuki, of course, ignores it.
- Dragon Ball Z: Trunks' sword against Goku's finger.
- And later Android 18 catches Trunks' sword in one hand, and it breaks off.
- And before both of them Trunks catches his own sword after being attacked by King Cold with it.
- Shana pulled this one off in the Shakugan No Shana backstory episode when she awakens to her abilities.
- Rocky pulls one off when challenged by the nomad chieftain who rescued him in Area 88, though he cuts his hands pretty badly.
- Michiko from Michiko to Hatchin does this in one episode.
- Negi of Mahou Sensei Negima managed to stop a dagger stab at the very last moment using two fingers immediately after he learned Magia Erebea.
- Earlier, Jack Rakan did the same thing, although it was a tendril of shadow magic rather than a blade, but same idea.
- Double subverted in Baccano!. At first the guy Carol pinned as The Hero (Firo) gets his fingers sliced clean off trying one of these on a mugger with a knife... and then it becomes immediately clear that the reason Firo was willing to do something so apparently dumb is because he knows those fingers are coming right back in a second, freaking the mugger out enough to make way for an easy shot at his face while delivering a Badass Boast.
- Samurai Champloo manga: The Russian catches Mugen's sword. In his teeth.
- Not only does Ryoma Nagare manage to pull this off in the Getter Robo manga (though with some injury to his hands), he also manages to redirect the blade into another man's skull and then sever another man's arm clean off by throwing it.
- Intrepid Reporter Rocky from Area 88 pulls one off in a duel with the chief of the Bedouin Rescue Service that saved him after his helicopter was shot down. The chief thought Rocky might have been a spy for the anti-government forces that had attacked his tribe earlier. Unlike most examples, Rocky winds up cutting his hands badly.
- Mega Man.EXE does this twice to ProtoMan.EXE in the Mega Man NT Warrior Manga (volume 4).
- The title character of Midori Days manages to pull this off, of all people. To be fair, it was a fake sword, but she's the size of your hand using her own tiny hands. And she's a 16-year-old girl.
- A bystander thought the main character had caught it with just two fingers.
- In Yu Yu Hakusho, Genkai did this to the demon Shishiwakamaru and his demonic blade. In the English dub Kuwabara at least acknowledges the unlikeliness of the feat by shouting "Whoa, that's hardcore!" in response.
- In Naruto, Killer Bee does this with the Decapitating Carving Knife (granted, the size might have made it easier to grasp, as it would have more room to grasp and move slower).
- A little earlier, Madara pulled a somewhat different version of this by blocking it with just his forearm. It's not yet been explained how he did this (he may have had some sort of armor under his sleeve or used a jutsu to make his arm hard).
- Naruto himself pulls this against Karui, which impresses her a little, although she had flipped the blade around anyway because she was trying to get information from him. And even earlier he breaks one of Pains blades with his hands. Granted, he was in his Super Mode as the time.
- This trope was first used in the series by Kakashi, who blocks a giant shuriken with one hand. Granted, he wears hand-guards, but still... ow.
- Actually, in the manga he doesn't have those plates on his hands and it cuts to the bone.
- Nuriko pulls this trope off in Fushigi Yuugi. Heck, he even snaps the blade in half.
- Actually justified when done in Rave Master. Haru's sword is in a form that uses magic to create explosions while he's attacking Sieg. Sieg is an expert sorcerer who just happens to cast spells by making various gestures with his index and middle finger. He casts a spell to stop the sword at his fingertips. It's averted not to long after when Haru switiches his sword to a form without magic and Sieg ends up getting hurt.
- In Kuroshitsuji, Sebastian manages to do this against a shinigami wielding a chainsaw. Did I mention this series takes place in Victorian England?
- Ciel does this during a sword fight with Alois.
- In Pokémon, Steel Wing is arguably the mons's counterpart to this. And in one famous battle, Ash's Charizard, while he's already battered and exhausted, managed to block two Steel Wings. It helped him win. Against a LEGENDARY Pokémon.
- In a later episode of Sola, Matsuri attempts this when fighting Takeshi. Justified in that she's immortal and has the power to instantly decay any object she touches (she's quickly rusted metal scaffolding and induced mild necrosis in Takeshi's arm earlier). It still draws blood since Takeshi's sword turns out to be immune to Yaka powers.
- A favoured tactic of Greed (both versions) from Fullmetal Alchemist, thanks to his ability to turn his skin into diamond-hard Instant Armour.
- Megatron does this to Vector Prime in the first episode of Transformers Cybertron.
- In the original novel/anime of Vampire Hunter D, Count Lee is able to block a sword strike with his two bare hands. Justified because he's a vampire with superhuman speed and strength, and that he was taught the technique by Dracula.
- WORKING!! has a particularly egregious example - the store's general manager manages to pull this off with no wounds, despite the fact that Yachiyo had just finished sharpening her katanna(though she might not have gotten around to sharpening the part he grabbed).
Comics
- In the classic GI Joe comic issue 21, Snake-Eyes does this in response to a blade thrown at Scarlett.
- Daredevil managed this on a knife-wielding Punisher. The Punisher, an experienced knife-fighter, then whipped the knife out with a slight twist, leaving DD with two handfuls of blood.
- Spider-Man once blocked a katana between the foreheads of two ninjas that he had rolled up into a carpet.
- Okay, that is something I just HAVE to see — after I clean the soda off my monitor...
Films — Live Action
Gamebooks
- In the first Fighting Fantasy gamebook, The Warlock of Firetop Mountain, the vampire demonstrates its being Nigh Invulnerable (sort of, it just has high combat stats) by grabbing the player's sword when the combat begins.
Literature
- In the Discworld novel Maskerade, Granny Weatherwax manages to do this against the main villain at the end of the book. The trick here is, she's using a spell that delays the wound until later, when she's ready to treat it. Which puts a whole new spin on the old Predator quote "I ain't got time to bleed!"
- Weatherwax also criticizes the trope while playing it straight. While everyone's amazed at her catching a sword with her bare hands, she basically calls them gullible saps for believing such a ridiculous fantasy trope, stating she could have had a bit of metal hidden in her palm or something along those lines (she didn't, but just wanted to be contrary and call everyone out anyway, because she's just that type of character).
- Anytime Granny dismisses something as a trick and explains a mundane way of faking it, she will do it by the end of the novel, under circumstances that make it impossible for her earlier explanation to account for.
- Victarion Greyjoy does it in A Song of Ice and Fire while wearing metal gauntlets, though he still cuts his hand. Quorin Halfhand earned his famous feature by blocking a wildling's axe barehanded.
- Dragaera: Vlad Taltos claimed to have lost his finger attempting this trick, though he gives a conflicting account later on.
- This is tried by one of the targets of Samurai Cat's vengeance. He then smiles up to Tomokato. And then dies due to the razor-sharp katana buried in his skull — he failed the manoeuvre.
- In Peter David's Star Trek New Frontier, Mackenzie Calhoun deliberately takes a blade in his shoulder, where it sticks, thus disarming his attacker.
- Averted somewhat in The King of Attolia, in which the king does this one-handed (necessary because that's all he's got) and disarms an assassin. Later, he does it again in practice with a wooden sword. His opponents protest that he's cheating because you can't do that with a real sword, so he shows them the scars on his hand from the aforementioned catch.
- This Immortal includes a brief mention of Badass Hasan "using his hand to parry a sword cut by striking the flat of the blade in an old samurai maneuver I had thought lost to the world forever." Granted, he's slapping it off course rather than blocking it, but....
Live Action TV
- In the Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode "Becoming, Part 2", Buffy stops Angelus's sword this way, although the attack that she blocks is a stab rather than a swing. Also, she has Super Strength.
- Several years later, Glory pulls the same stunt; justified because she is an actual god.
- Xena Warrior Princess is fond of doing this, when she isn't pummelling people with her sword, her chakram, martial arts or makeshift weaponry.
- Sylar pulls this off in Heroes. Well, it's more like grabbing the blade and pulling it towards him, but still. The fact that he's telekinetic probably helped.
- Done once in an episode of Highlander The Series. Granted, there have been other methods of unarmed defense, such as grabbing the attacker's arms, kicking, punching, etc.
- Subverted in the part 5 of "Green with Evil" in Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. Dragonzord tried to do this with the power sword while fighting the revived Megazord. Didn't work.
- Toku shows like Super Sentai would always invoke this as a cultural nod of sorts.
- Tokusou Sentai Dekaranger: The Dekaranger Robo stops an incoming missile with both hands, but the Rangers refer to this move by the official Japanese terminology for Barehanded Blade Block.
- Engine Sentai Go-Onger: One-time character Bukkorin, apparently a pampered debutante, proved herself to be worthy of her father's Yakuza status by doing this to stop him from splitting Ren's head.
- Samurai Sentai Shinkenger: Chiaki trains himself to master this move through a bit of Mac Gyvering, tying a wooden sword to a tree and spinning it around, then trying to catch it.
- As noted above, busted by the Mythbusters. Even with superhuman strength, there is no way to catch the sword without taking massive damage to the hands.
- On the other hand, one-handed blade block is perfectly possible if you use a palm protector made for the exact purpose, and block the strike before it gains too much momentum. Blocking the blade with two hands on either side of the blade is still quite impossible.
- Averted in the Smallville Season 9 finale, where Clark wraps his arm in his jacket to parry his opponent's kryptonite dagger.
- Played ludicrously straight everywhere else, though. Blades that make contact with Clark are not only blocked, they shatter. Justified because invulnerability is one of Clark's superpowers.
- Done in The Gates by a vampire. While normally the whole vampire thing might justify it, she was fighting another vampire who presumably had a comparable level of enhanced speed and strength.
Tabletop Games
- One of the common thing to do with a stunt in Tabletop Games Exalted and often one of the most low-level fighting power available to most characters.
- Dungeons & Dragons: In the first edition supplement Oriental Adventures, the "Locking Block" martial art move could be used to perform a Barehanded Blade Block (but it also covered other weapons and unarmed opponents). Success wasn't guaranteed, however, and against a weapon the user could get wounded.
- The "Hand-Clap Parry" in GURPS: Martial Arts is dangeous and leaves you at a disadvantage, if it works at all.
- Vampire The Masquerade states that anyone with Fortitude can try to stop a sword using unarmed combat.
Video Games
- In both the Tekken series and the fairly obscure Squaresoft fighter Ehrgeiz, characters can grab an incoming blade attack and flip the opponent via his sword.
- "Wario Kendo", one of the late-level microgames in Wario Ware: Mega Microgames, asks you to do exactly this. On the easiest difficulty level, you have to catch a daikon radish. On its hardest difficulty level, the bokken-wielding samurai accidentally lets his blade slip, and you have to catch the falling sword before it bops Wario in the nose.
- One of the "Reaction" abilities of the Samurai class in Final Fantasy Tactics, Blade Grasp (Shirahadori in the retranslation,) allows you to stop any physical attack in this manner. That includes swords, axes, bashing with a blunt object, and bullets. Depending on a character's Brave stat this could have as much as a 97% chance of success, though only for the first swing in an attack round. You can't block two blades barehanded (as in from dual wield), although this would be impressive to say the least.
- Tactics Advance had Strikeback, which allowed you to block a basic attack and counter attack. For some reason, Tactics A2 changes the animation to have the character do a spinning dodge rather than stopping it with their hands.
- The Samurai class in Final Fantasy V had a similar ability, called "Swordclap" depending on the translation.
- Played completely straight by Jester in Devil May Cry 3. Seems like everyone in that series either has a Healing Factor or is just plain Made Of Iron anyway...
- The opening cutscene of Mission 20, also in 3. Vergil attempts to deliver a vertical downward slash to Dante using Force Edge. Dante, in retaliation, pulls the same attack with Rebellion, and the twins catch each other's swords with their off hands. Granted, those hands bleed profusely, but these are the sons of Sparda...
- Happens to Nero in the 4th game when he first confronts Agnus.
- In the MMORPG Ragnarok Online Monks have a skill called Blade Stop that consists basically of this trope. The skill-user and the attacker both get locked in place/time, unable to move.
- In Kingdom Hearts II, Auron is brainwashed by Hades into a one on one fight to the death with Hercules. At the climax of the fight, Auron swings his BFS and Hercules catches it. Slight subversion in that Hercules probably would not have won the struggle if Sora hadn't subsequently broken Hades's spell on Auron.
- Part of the barehanded gameplay of the Samurai Shodown games, at least the first four. Still, few players knew of its existence, and fewer still could use it effectively. Notable example is Nicotine Caffeinne in the second game, who can do it with one hand.
- Jin blocks Margulis' sword when he is disarmed during a fight scene in Xenosaga Episode II, cementing his status as a Badass Normal.
- In the PS 2 version of Soul Calibur II, Heihachi is a guest star from Tekken, a fighting series in which the characters don't use weapons. (Some characters have them, but don't actually attack with them.) In Soul Calibur, all the characters do have weapons and fight with them. Despite this, Heihachi has the best blocking ability in the game.
- Played straight in Ryu Ga Gotoku Kenzan! when an Old Master does this with TWO FINGERS.
- Yo-Jin-Bo has Mon-Mon do this to Harimoto. In an unusual twist, he simply throws his arm in the way, instead of actually catching it with his hands. He then tells Harumoto he must be a lousy swordsman, since he failed to cut his arm off. Of course, the pain and bloodloss of a cut down to the bone fails to do any damage...or even show up as a splash of red in the art.
- In the otherwise unremarkable Beat Em Up Eve of Extinction, the first sign (other than being The Stoic) that The Dragon isn't entirely human is when she does this to the protagonist's Laser sword/Love Interest.
- In Punch Out Wii, Piston Hondo is shown doing this as training in Title Defense mode.
- This is how Oda Nobunaga is shown to block incoming all attacks (or, perhaps, via telekinesis) in Samurai Warriors.
- In {{Assassin's Creed}}, Ezio does this all the time while waiting to disarm guards. Although he blocks them with his arms, and seeing as a certain metal plate was added on later in the story, it is sort of reasonable.
Web Comics
Western Animation
- Goliath, in the first episode of Gargoyles, catches a sword in his open hand, upon which it starts to bleed from the sword wound. This simultaneously establishes that the gargoyles are extremely tough... but not, as the villain notes, invincible.
- In the Code Lyoko episode "Revelation", Ulrich does this against a polymorphic clone that has taken his appearance and stolen his katana, attacking him Dual Wielding. The Hero then returns the weapon against his Doppelganger in the same move, killing it.
- Ulrich gets disarmed the same way by a XANA-controled Aelita in "Wrong Exposure".
- Danny does it with the Fright Knight in Danny Phantom. Considering how much he struggled with him beforehand, the fact that Danny did it with ease (and won the battle as a result) was unexpected and a Crowning Moment Of Awesome.
- In the climax of Animatrix short Program, Cis performed a bare-handed blade block in Bullet Time, then snapped the blade off the sword and stabbed Duo in the neck with it.
- Coop from Megas XLR does this kinda like in Gundam SEED Destiny... only this time it is fully bare-handed.
- In Batman Beyond, Terry manages to do this against Talia or rather Ra's. Possibly justified by the bat-suit, but then again, the sword's strikes were tearing through it like nothing, and it was against a rather nasty leap attack. But it was awesome. For bonus points, having grabbed the blade, he then slams it into some Explosive Instrumentation.
- Grougaloragran pulls this off a time or two in Wakfu, catching Nox's blade between two fingers — even when the Xelor is stopping time before attacking. Of course, Grougal is a freaking dragon in human form.
Real Life
- In Krav Maga, the Bursting technique can do exactly this (more or less). See for yourself...
- Subverted by real life, in that the style known for doing this, the Yagyū Shinkage Ryū, never said you could catch the blade. Their technique, mutō, lets the practitioner take a sword from an enemy, while unarmed. Notice it doesn't say what he grabs (it involves stepping inside the sword's reach — not as impossible as it sounds, especially with the Shinkage Ryū's emphasis on controlling a fight's spacing). The ideal goal, the true mutō or No Sword, was to reach a point where the enemy, knowing you'll take his sword, gets so concerned not to let you do it, that he forgets he can cut you. Knowing how to take swords, and being known for that knowledge, means never having to take a sword.
- This short but painful rapier duel illustrates one of the dangers of a failed attempt to grab the opponent's sword.
- This probably got inspired by Ninjas sometimes doing it, but they were wearing metal hand bands so they could do it without getting cut. Since ninjas typically fought in the dark, the samurai couldn't see the hand bands, so it really looked like the ninja was catching the blade.
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