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alt title(s): Katanas Are Better 
Katana? What's with fanfics and katanas? — unknown20troper
"There's nothing more reliable than a Japanese sword, is there?" — Saito Hajime
Most gamers are Nippophiles — the popularity of ninja and samurai makes this fairly clear. Not only this, Japan is the country of origin of a large number of games. This trope is essentially a manifestation of that love for Western pop-culture conception of Japanese history and culture. Rule Of Cool says swords are cooler than guns (except for a certain type of gun), and Japan, historically, didn't take to guns as extensively as the West and in fact repressed their development.
This means that in some games or fantasy universes where Eastern and Western archetypes exist side by side, such as knights in shining armor vs. samurai, ninja vs. thieves, and so forth, the Japan-themed selection tends to just be better. Flashier, more honorable, more skilled, sometimes portrayed in a more positive fashion. (The overwhelming positive representation of ninja in anime and fantasy is an example.) In some extreme cases, anything Eastern/Japanese is just inherently better, logic be damned.
Perhaps the single most obvious example is the ancient Japanese vs Western Swords debate In many games where, say, a katana (and on film, Every Japanese Sword Is A Katana) exists alongside Western swords, the hero is more likely to wield the katana and it is definitely more likely to be the superior sword. Chinese and other 'eastern' weapons are often subject to a lesser version of this. This trope may sometimes be used even if it's utterly out of place or anachronistic. Wielders of such weapons frequently possess Implausible Fencing Powers, particularly the kind where a katana can slice through things it really should not be able to cut. Katana-wielders may be shown to be able to deflect bullets with the blade and then cleave the firearms they were launched from — but someone wielding any (non- magical) European-style blade, regardless of whether it is a huge two-handed claymore, a katana-equivalent longsword/sabre or a lightning-quick rapier, will never be shown to manage such feats.
Since fencing with katanas will usually be depicted as being an "honorable" manner of fighting, it will in most cases be implied if not stated outright that using firearms is despicable, cowardly or somehow "low". At the same time, fencing won't be depicted as "low" compared to hand-to-hand combat, nor will it be "low" for a katana wielder to attack people armed with less effective melee weapons, like knives or farming implements. Other standard melee weapons like mauls, flails, and polearms are generally not subject to this trope, but Rule Of Cool says none of them are cooler than a sword to begin with. In either case, they're usually given to secondary characters or foes whose sole purpose is to die to the hero with the sword.
It's not just Japanese ethnocentrism, either — this trope appears even in some Western productions, probably part of the mystique that Japanese medieval culture and archetypes holds over anime fans and many gamers. Part of it may be backlash, part of it may be fascination with a view of the Japanese as very traditional, obsessed with honor, and willing to commit ritual suicide at the drop of a hat.
As this trope has its roots in Rule Of Cool, occasionally designers just create a unique sword that would be useless in real life, if not outright impossible to wield.
Strangely enough, a number of modern myths about the strength of a Nihonto have been confirmed. In one notable video, a Nihonto blade withstood, with some chipping, seven direct strikes by .50 BMG heavy machine gun bullets before snapping. [1] The same sword had previously been struck by a .45 ACP bullet and been subjected to a sheet metal shear without obvious damage. Of course, since the .50 BMG bullets are made of lead with a copper jacket, the hard Martensite edge of the sword resists the projectile (traveling at 1200 meters/second) and the soft Pearlite core dissipates the impact. A sword should be able to replicate it only if created with the differential hardening used in the tempering process of some sword production. Modern factory-made Japanese-style blades have been shown to be rather less impressive by the Mythbusters.
At the same time, other myths regarding the katana's capabilities against modern weapons have been discredited. While the katana can withstand several high-caliber rounds, as described above, actually blocking a bullet, let alone several, would require reflexes that can be charitably described as "superhuman." Chopping a bullet in half with a katana is not only even more difficult, but it would only create two bullets flying toward the wielder.
Most importantly, the myth of the katana being a better weapon than equivalent European swords (namely the medieval longsword) is debatable. Japanese swords use vastly inferior iron for katanas compared to that available for medieval European swords, necessitating costly and time-consuming efforts by Japanese master swordsmiths to remove impurities from the iron, such as the famous "folding of the blade". Folding iron is a common forging technique not unique to Japan, but Japanese blades were folded many more times than many (but not all) European ones to compensate for the inherent lack of quality in material. (One exception was Viking swords, which were commonly more folded, by orders of magnitude, than most ancient Japanese swords.) Contrary to popular belief, folding a sword does not aid its cutting or edge holding properties at all; it merely made it more durable by ensuring an even distribution of carbon within the steel (while some other alloying elements will remain layered).
There is some truth to the myth; as stated above, European swordmakers had access to better iron than their Japanese equivilants. However, they also had far more of it, meaning that the relatively materials-intensive sword was much more common in Europe, while in Japan spears were the standard infantry weapon. That means, simply, that the average European sword was little more than a sharpened chunk of metal handed to the peasants in the local militia. In contrast, katanas in Japan, due to their cost, were reserved for samurai and other elite—hence the comparitively large amount of effort that went into making them. European swords made for knights were, as illustrated above, often equal or superior to Japanese swords, not least because the European swordsmiths simply had more experience in the craft.
On the other hand however, European swords are just as good, if not better than the katana. Besides aforementioned better material quality, the longsword was double edged with a point, which was far more difficult to forge than a single edged weapon. The longsword is a much more versatile weapon, able to cut and thrust, and the cruciform hilt construction is a lot better for parrying off blows than the katana. And the second edge allows the weapon to cut in either direction; blows with the "short edge" (which faces the weilder) are a major component of many Western martial arts. Contrary to popular belief, many longswords of equivalent size were just about the same weight. The western swords also aren't the 'blunt, barbaric weapons inferior to the katana in sharpness' many like to claim. While the ability to cut a person in half with a katana has been proven in Deadliest Warrior, western weapons like the longsword and the cutlass were shown to be able to do the same.
Cutting motions were of relatively limited use against armor. Sword designs begin to heavily diverge here, as Europeans wore increasingly sturdier armor made of hardened and spring-tempered steel plates, while the Japanese, due to their poor mineral resources, continued to use armor made largely of soft iron plus non-metal components such as horn. Consequently, European weapons began to focus more on stabbing to overcome more vulnerable sections, while Japanese weapons evolved primarily as a result of warfare against those outside of Japan; the tachi, the main ancestor to the katana, tended to break its tip off when used against Mongolian and Korean armor.
But generally, the only thing that matters is the man behind the sword. Both European and Japanese weapons have been developed through centuries of martial tradition and along with them various techniques to use them effectively, responding to changes in the combat environment as they occur. So in a match between unarmored competitors, the more skilled swordsman will win out.
Now that we got that over with, lets move on.
This trope is distressingly common amongst Mary Sue characters (especially in tabletop roleplaying). Indeed, the image of the purple clad girl with Kaleidoscope Eyes walking down the roads of Middle Earth with her trusty katana by her side is one that seems to come naturally to a lot of amateur writers. It's not so much the ownership of the blade that marks the Sue as it is the total out-of-place anachronistic implications of having one in settings that either shouldn't realistically have them or have rendered them obsolete. Add in the rest of this trope and you can practically hear the eyes rolling. Dual Wielding full-size katanas is pretty much the instant giveaway.
Wooden Katanas Are Even Better is a Sub Trope. Those wielding a katana may Swipe Their Blades Off.
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Examples
Anime & Manga
- Assassin from Fate Stay Night is a pretty cool guy, eh uses a katana (nodachi, really) and doesn't afraid of anything. The long range of his weapon, excellent skills, and a nigh-undodgeable ultimate technique make him a very difficult recurring opponent to the Western swordswoman protagonist, Saber. This technique isn't even really a special, unique skill like the other Servants have—he's just that good.
- Partly averted in one way: in Saber's second fight with Assassin (both the anime and one game route), Saber kills Assassin while barely dodging his ultimate attack... only doing so because, in the course of the fight, Assassin's sword had gotten bent out of shape.
- The difference in the swords is actually commented upon by Assassin. Saber uses a heavy western sword useful for chopping, blocking and endurance fighting. Assassin's nodachi is a good sword, but it's a lot lighter and more suited for quick kills because it's not strong enough to block. When he stops parrying and actually blocks an attack to get into a better position, his sword gets bent slightly and he ends up losing the fight because it creates a gap in his ultimate technique. The weapons screen also notes that his sword isn't useful for actual battle but since he's such a badass he can do it anyway.
- Averted in Naruto, as Orochimaru's Kusanagi sword is accurately depicted as a double-edged sword (a Chinese jian specifically). Later on, Sasuke obtains his own personal version of the Kusanagi that, while very similar to a katana, is actually a Chokutō, a much older straight-bladed sword. Indeed, the only named character who uses an actual katana is killed seconds into his first (and only) fight by an opponent who brags that wind is far sharper.
- Although the "Kusanagi is a jian, not a katana" is only in the anime; in the manga it is a katana, or some similar sword. Of course, it still turns out to be a inferior to a spiritual blade.
- Aya, the primary protagonist of Weiss Kreuz, uses a katana as his weapon of choice even against enemies wielding guns, and pulls off a couple of Diagonal Cuts throughout the original series. On the other hand, the trope is also subverted several times throughout the series:
- In the Radio Drama Endless Rain, several characters discuss the idea that Katanas Are Just Better, with one of them remarking that the katana is just a weapon like any other and, all things being equal, he'd just as soon have a gun. In another scene, Aya, wielding a katana, is defeated effortlessly by another character who wields only a paper fan.
- After a katana vs. katana battle by at the conclusion of another Radio Drama, Dramatic Precious, Aya finally defeats his former swordmaster by shooting him with the gun he carries as a backup weapon.
- And in the manga sequel Weiss Side B, Aya is provided with his pick from another character's collection of katanas before going into battle, and takes all of them, correctly expecting all of them to break before the fight is over. One of them is broken by Chloe's rose.
- Code Geass has Humongous Mecha wielding Chainsaw Katana, but this is pretty well justified as they were designed for use by strongly nationalistic Japanese soldiers. Additionally, their superiority comes from the fact that they're some of the few powered melee weapons in the series, with The Empire having yet to mass produce the vibro-swords seen on the show's iconic Super Prototype.
- Cowboy Bebop's Vicious, in a world where most characters are gunmen or martial artists, uses a katana as his weapon of choice. And he is damn good with it, good enough to match his rival, The Gunslinger Spike Spiegel, in no fewer than two one-on-one duels.
- Of course, if he'd used a gun, he could have easily killed Spike in the first duel or avoided his own death in the second.
- And of course, in Samurai Champloo, everyone uses katanas, all the time!
- Well it does take place in Edo period Japan...
- Pretty sure whatever Mugen has isn't a katana: it's double-edged and has a pronged hilt that points upward. Also, Mugen tends to fight enemies with less orthodox weapons like a Giant Mook with a naginata, a lunatic with a scythe on a chain, and a guy using a rocket launcher. Jin does have a katana, but then so do all of his opponents.
- Don't forget episode 10, which is is about as subversive as you can get. Its villain uses a dao, having gained a superior fighting style training with Shaolin monks. All expert samurai in the episode are depicted as weak and vain, refusing to admit his surpassing them because using a foreign style makes him a "heretic." He is defeated by Mugen who only wins by playing dirty and stabbing him with a hidden knife. The title of the episode might as well been "Samurai Suck While Chinese Martial Artists are Superhuman."
- As is Ginji Matsuzaki from Black Lagoon, an underboss of the Washimine Group who takes a shirasaya katana to a mess of gunslinging yakuza goons and performs Implausible Fencing Powers feats like slicing bullets in half and slicing one cocky yakuza's gun (and his hands!) to pieces. He's even Badass enough to take on Revy herself on equal footing in a one-on-one battle to the death, even though he ultimately throws the fight and loses.
- Thoroughly subverted by Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann; every single time Viral draws his katana-esque swords in his Ganmen, he's going to lose (after a Heel Face Turn he's able to make it work, though). Kamina does use a katana, but only on foot, and only actually wields it in a few scenes (he mostly carries it around for looks) and he's not particularly good with it.
- It's a nodachi, not a katana.
- Lowe Gear in Gundam SEED Astray prefers the Humongous Mecha-sized katana Gerbera Straight to the Beam Swords his mecha comes with. Partially justified in that Beam Swords are rather power-intensive.
- Gundam 00 takes this one step further in season 2 when Graham aker (puzzlingly referred to as "mister bushido") takes to the field with a custom 'Ahead' mobile suit, complete with samurai armor styled armor plating and...wait for it, a Humongous Mecha-sized beam katana.
- Subverted in Turn A Gundam, whose eventual villain Gym Ghingham carries a katana and insists he is a samurai. At the end of the series Gym tosses a spare sword to the protagonist, Loran, and challenges him to a duel. Loran, having basically no sword fighting knowledge, just swings madly. Gym's katana quickly snaps and he loses.
- Justified in Lupin III; Goemon's katana is made from an unearthly metal hard enough to cleave steel. There are still harder objects in the series that break it from time to time.
- It's still better than other weapons, can magically block bullets, etc.
- A weapon made from phlebotinum, better? This a series where magicians and men with boomerangs can deflect bullets.
- For a series about disgraced samurai-turned-assassin, Lone Wolf And Cub sure averts the heck out of this one: the protagonist doesn't use a regular katana in the first place, he is just as likely to skewer his opponents with one of many spears concealed in his son's cart and Guns. Are. Better. Period.
- Used interestingly in Busou Renkin. The Sword Samurai X Busou Renkin is noted to be abnormally fast an accurate, but is otherwise played as the equal counterpart to the main character's European-super-lancey-thing Busou Renkin, itself excelling in overpowering the opposition. It doesn't necessarily help matters that the character holding the sword had previously been training in kendo, and bokkans are very different in weight to a katana. It's also totally useless against European Victor's axe-type Busou Renkin, Fatal Attraction.
- Averted ironically in Vagabond — Miyamoto Musashi's skills are more important than any katana — which by the way are not not breakproof (in fact multiple swords break throughout the story) — and other characters comment on how by their time firearms have surpassed swords on the battlefield. The only two times where a gun vs. sword encounter is shown, the swordsman's win has nothing to do with the sword. (The first has the gunner being caught by another swordsman after shooting a young Musashi in the leg, the second has grown-up Musashi closing the distance so quickly — despite standing right in front of the wielder — that the other guy simply tossed it aside, claiming that he didn't even know how to use it and that it was probably inoperable anyway.) Heck, this troper was reading a page where Musashi decides that one of the swords he picked up from a just cut down enemy is so "inferior" that he sees it only fit for tossing it at a crowd of opponents. (It doesn't seem to hit anyone, so if it was meant as an actual attack throwing it didn't work.)
- Heck, even his archetypical Dual Wielding averts the trope: he uses it against the kusarigama, a weapon whose method is by definition immune to the katana trope, and his success isn't because they're katana and wakizashi, it's because he's now got a backup weapon and is so physically strong (at least with his right hand) that he's not disadvantaged by wielding a sword with only one hand.
- Ryou Asakura◊ from the Genderbending of Suzumiya Haruhi has this as his Weapon Of Choice when he attacks Kyonko.
- Creed from Black Cat used to wield a katana he called "Kotetsu." Later, although still in the form of a katana, it becomes a blade formed from Creed's Chi.
- Still, his Kotetsu was broken by a gunshot.
- The majority of zanpakuto in Bleach take the form of a katana in their default form (although there are obviously several exceptions, such as Ichigo's BFS), but they usually change into something else in their released state (Ikkaku's sword becomes a three-sectioned spear and Iba's becomes a falchion).
- As a matter of fact, Ichigo's BFS at present is an "always in its released state" version. When he originally gained Shinigami powers, his sword took the form of a really huge katana.
- Partially subverted in the fight between Shunsui and Starrk during the recent arc. Although Starrk begins combat with a Katana, he abandons it after releasing in favor of a pair of cero guns. Shunsui's attempts to take the offensive against him afterward are thwarted by his inability to get inside the range of Starrk's guns with his sword attacks, and he doesn't succeed in landing a blow against him until he's distracted by his fight with two other captain-level opponents. Only a partial subversion, since Shunsui's weapons transformed into something other than katanas, and his opponent's weapon fired Abnormal Ammo.
- Subverted in Dragon Ball Z, in which the last major character to use a weapon (Future Trunks) wields a two-handed broadsword. The Demon King Dabura also appears briefly wielding a spear before he gets eaten by Majin Buu.
- Averted to some extent by Rurouni Kenshin. Many characters do use katanas, but other bladed weapons are also shown, such as kunai, kodachis, and in the manga, a tachi. Katanas that win generally do because their wielders are experts, not just because they use katanas, and Kenshin is shown having trouble at the beginning of some battles where different weapons are used against him.
- It is also shown early on that there is no straightforwards way for these experts to beat even an amateur with a gattling gun.
- Saito Hajime, quoted above, ends up in a slight subversion himself when his so-called reliable katana snaps in his very first fight. It might be worth mentioning that his entire character is based around being an ex-samurai who refuses to change his views or ways, but his superhuman sword skills do reinforce this trope for the rest of the series.
- It is worth noting that Saito did have an Implausible Fencing Powers in Real Life, and even at 70 his hand was sure enough to easily cut an aluminium flask suspended from the tree. Even though he generally did not use a sword since the end of Boshin war at that point. So he might've said whatever he wanted, because he could answer if called upon his words.
- In Saiyuki Gaiden, Tenpou Gensui is a soldier who fights with a katana, interesting because as a god and an agent of Heaven, he's not permitted to take a life (even the gunslingers in his group of soldiers only have stunguns), although when he throws all rules out the window, he's shown to be pretty damn good with it. Also interestingly, katanas are rare in the Saiyuki universe (this Troper honestly believes, other than the cannon fodder opponents at the end of Gaiden, Tenpou is the only character shown using one), possibly because it's set in China rather than Japan. His reincarnation, Cho Hakkai, uses no weapon and is, instead, a gifted martial artist and manipulator of chi.
- Averted in Princess Mononoke where the katana-armed samurai prove to be no match for Ashitaka, who wields a straight, chinese-pattern sword as befits the last prince of a precursor culture.
- Averted in the Twelve Kingdoms where the commonly used sword is the Jian sword, as seen with Yoko.
- Subverted in OVA Yakumo Tatsu, where Kuraki has inherited the family's ancient japanese ceremonial sword: a chinese Jian sword.
- In Mai-HiME Destiny, Shizuru uses one with expert skill to disable a gang of gun-wielding yakuza mooks.
- Subverted in Escaflowne. Whatever Van carries is not a katana. In fact, it looks like a tachi blade with a European bastard sword mounting.
- The Sacred Blacksmith runs wild with this trope in the first episode. Luke Ainsworth uses a katana to cleave clean through a giant claymore, with the show's heroine spending the rest of the episode fawning over the exotic super-blade that chops through everything other swords can't. Then said katana is breaks when blocking ice. So... yeah.
- Played straight and subverted in Chrome Shelled Regios. Almost every single character used a weapon other than a katana, and they aren't really being shown as inferior to those that do use katanas. However, the protagonist, Layfon Alseif, who has been using a standard sword the entirety of the series, gets his greatest Crowning Moment Of Awesome after fusing two different kinds of Infinity Plus One Sword s together. Partially justified in that all of his training focused on katana-using, and it was just a personal vow of repentance that kept him from using it the whole time.
Card Games
- Averted, interestingly enough, in Magic's Japanese-themed Kamigawa block, which takes advantage of the possibilities for exotic weapons when it comes to its equipment cards. There are two specific legendary rare weapons (three if you insist on counting Oathkeeper as two swords, but really only two cards) plus the generic No-Dachi, but no straight-up plain katanas, and the strongest equipment card by general consensus is actually a legendary jitte (sword-catcher).
- Lampooned in the non-collectible card game Let's Kill. One of the weapons available to the serial-killer players is a 'Cool Oriental Sword', whose flavor text cited all the work the smith put into forging it just so 'you can play this card and Whack (kill) a couple of other cards.'
Comics
- The Muramasa Blade is a katana occasionally used by Wolverine (and others in related stories), and is one of the few weapons that is stated to be capable of killing him on its own, without otherwise negating his healing abilities. This weapon was used to kill Sabretooth. Thus, while not necessarily stronger than adamantium (itself Unobtainium), it is still better.
- Of course being that this is the Marvel Universe there are many western style weapons that are superior to this, including Thor's Mjolnir, Namor's Trident, and of course Hulk's fist.
- The DC heroine named Katana wields a magical katana called "Soultaker". It cuts through just about anything. It completely resists melting. And yes, she can deflect bullets with it. But it also has a curse: Those killed by the sword may have their soul taken into the world within it, and can subsequently be summoned to do the wielder's bidding. And it makes an evil person who holds it even more malevolent.
- Groo The Wanderer fights with two katanas, one in each hand. A "swords origin story" in the Epic run established that his skill in combat is due to them. The first time he uses them, he is stunned by how well they work.
- Deadpool frequently uses and is often seen dual wielding katanas, and kills a ton of people with them.
- It's not clear whether this has anything to with the katanas, though.
- In the movie-verse it most certainly is. To the point he has Katana's surgically grafted to his arms, looking like Baraka more than anything
- Of couse he does use guns more
- Green Arrow recently took up the katana under Judd Winick's authorship. By all accounts, he's fairly good with it, although this is more out of a tremendous amount of life-or-death training than the weapon itself.
- Toyota, the female ninja mercenary in Y The Last Man, displays open pleasure whenever someone challenges her to a sword fight, as her previous (male) sparring partners were all killed in the gendercide. However she prudently vanishes when her sword is shot in half by one revolver-wielding opponent.
- Zealot of the Wildstorm Universe uses a Kherubim warsword that can absorb large amounts of energy and is sharp enough to cut atoms. It is, incidentally, often drawn as a katana.
- Knives Chau's father uses a katana in Scott Pilgrim, at one point even slicing clean through a street car!
- In an early issue of his first ongoing run, Wolverine states that "in the hands of a master, there is no deadlier single-combat weapon in the world, in all history... than the Dai-Katana, the Japanese samurai sword." One of his villains, Silver Samurai, proves this a few pages later, deflecting bullets from a semi-automatic gun.
Films
- The Last Samurai is based on the Satsuma Rebellion against the Meiji regime in 19th century Japan, at a time when the rapid modernisation of the country had just begun. The "honorable" rebels are depicted as wearing anachronistic armor and using "honorable" weapons such as katanas against "dishonorable" loyalist troops fighting in the "despicable" modern, "Western" style, with rifles, field artillery, machine guns and "barbarian" uniforms. In the first battle, the rebels win a smash victory against the poorly prepared loyalist army. One particular samurai cuts through an enemy's rifle to kill the man behind it. In the final battle, however, they make a good showing of bravery, but succumb to the superior firepower of the loyalists. The historical rebels actually used a good deal of Western tactics, but did die in an old-fashioned cavalry charge after their ammo ran out.
- In Kill Bill, The Bride and several of her adversaries wield katanas crafted by Hattori Hanzo, the greatest swordsmith to ever live. The Bride's sword in particular is said to be his finest work; upon giving it to her Hanzo states, with no small amount of pride, "If on your journey you should encounter God, then God shall be cut." Interestingly, Bill and the gang are trained in swordsmanship by a Chinese martial artist who does not have any katanas around. The film also averts the katana's overpowering superiority. The Bride is helpless against the only two characters who have her at gunpoint, and she gets beaten up with a meteor hammer for a little while.
- Samurai 7; samurai armed with katana are able to take on powered armor, cyborgs, and more. One enemy samurai turns to using a BFG; he is looked down upon for it, as are the former samurai cyborg bandits, who have given up their bodies and, according to Kambei, their honor as well. He insults them, doubting they were ever samurai.
- In Pulp Fiction, Bruce Willis' character chooses a katana over a variety of other weapons (including a small chainsaw) to battle his former captors/attempted rapists. Of course, it's a lot easier to sneak up on someone while using a katana than a chainsaw.
- Subversion: In Dead Man's Shoes, wielding a katana doesn't do the Anti Hero's prey much good at all.
- In The Matrix: Reloaded, Morpheus wields a katana for an extended period of time and causes a car to flip over by slicing its tires as it passes. However, overall katana are not given a great deal more weight than other weapons. In the stairway fight, Neo actually spends the most time wielding a European longsword.
- Although not exactly a katana, in King Arthur (2004), Tristan fights with a Dao, a Chinese sword (in 5th century England!), and is depicted as the group's best swordsman. This is somewhat subverted in that he loses to the broadsword-wielding Saxon Big Bad at the end.
- The Kevin Costner flick The Bodyguard uses this trope. Costner demonstrates the implausible sharpness of the katana by tossing a silk cloth into the air... which lands on the katana and is cut in half just from that impact. This scene is probably taken from an apocryphal story celebrating the sharpness of Damascus steel.
- Older Than You Think? In the 1974 Hammer Horror Captain Kronos - Vampire Hunter, the titular character carries a katana as well as a cavalry saber, and at one point kills three bravos who try to pick a fight with him in two quick slashes. Also partially subverted in that it doesn't turn out to be the ultimate vampire-killing weapon...
- The original Highlander movie has the hero Mac Leod gives up his Scottish claymore to use an ancient katana made by a legendary swordsmith. Of course, he turns out to be the world's strongest swordsman.
- In the new Star Trek movie, there's a scene where Sulu fights Romulans with a folding sword that looks a lot like a katana. However, his background is in western-style fencing. The weapon was ostensibly a collapsible emergency knife built into his space-diving parachute rig.
- In the 2009 Wolverine movie, Deadpool jokes with his colleagues that his katana are far more "memorable" than guns. He is shown to be capable of parrying fully automatic fire from multiple opponents with them, occasionally deflecting bullets at enemies. The blades, of course, are completely undamaged.
- Played straight and subverted in 300, where the finest troops in the Persian army duel-wield katanas for some reason, but they prove useless against the Spartans.
- Averted in Akira Kurosawa's Ran during the castle siege/slaughter which is the movie centerpiece. Hidetora's sword breaks when repulsing an attacker, which, when he wants to Do The Honorable Thing and commit seppuku amidst the carnage, leaves him with no recourse. The experience (along with the first half of the movie) turns the powerful warlord helpless and leaves him crazy.
- Even subverted in Kurosawa's other film, Seven Samurai. All the samurai who die are picked off by muskets as there is very little they can do about them.
Literature
- A western example, the swords of Grayson in the Honor Harrington series are katanas with a western hilt put on them and a sharpened stretch along the back of the blade. Amusingly justified with the idea that the forty-third century settlers who created them had no IDEA how to actually design a sword, so they cribbed their blueprint from a Kurosawa film. These are also the only swords ever displayed in the series, and they're used only in traditional duels- never against modern weaponry.
- Their shape would make them very similar to the shashkas — a Cossack saber adopted from Caucasian Highlanders, except that shashka had a one-hand grip, unlike Grayson swords' two-hand one.
- Eric Lustbader's Nicholas Linnear novels (The Ninja, The Miko, and White Ninja) tend to use katanas. A lot. At one stage the protagonist cautions his Love Interest against touching the blade of a katana because if she did it would sever her finger.
- And if that wasn't good enough, Lustbader goes on to suggest that a bigger katana is even better: Iss-hogai, Linnear's weapon, is a dai-katana, or literally "big katana". But then Nicholas Linnear does have more than a touch of the Gary Stus about him.
- Brisingr: The method of forging the special swords used by the Dragon Riders are admitted to be taken from Japanese forging methods, making them katanas in all but name (and shape, and number of edges, and..). The one forged in the book is tested by cutting through iron posts. But considering they're explicitly magical swords...
- Also, when given the choice, Eragon chooses to have his new sword look like a long sword over a katana. Take that how you will.
- Niko, the Badass Normal of Rob Thurman's Leandros Bros series, is proficient with a variety of edged weapons, but his favorite is the katana. Interestingly, his brother Cal fares as least as well or better when he just shoots monsters with a gun.
- The hero of Marion Zimmer Bradley's Hunters of the Red Moon is abducted by aliens and ends up being chosen for a "The Most Dangerous Game" type reality show. He is given the choice of a wide range of hand-held weapons from across the galaxy and is happy to spot a Japanese katana which he uses to be one of the rare survivors of the game.
- In The Dresden Files, this trope is avoided in the book Summer Knight, where the Winter Knight, Lloyd Slate, uses "a Japanese sword without enough class to be an actual katana." The trope is also averted with the Knights of the Cross. Each of the three wields a sword with a nail from the Crucifixion worked into the hilt. One is a longsword, one is a cavalry saber, and one is a katana. The longsword is actually the most superior, being that it's actually Excalibur and all.
- Plus, Michael points out that the two swords other than his are known to have been reworked in the past. This suggests that Fidelacchius is a katana not because Katanas Are Just Better, but because it suited the swordsman training of a Knight chosen to wield it.
- Averted in a Dirk Pitt novel when he is forced into a duel with a Japanese antagonist who fancies himself a samurai warrior. Pitt, who had fencing experience, chooses to fight with a sabre instead of a katana and eventually wins the duel. The antagonist had to get in close in order to make a lethal slicing blow with the katana while Pitt instead uses the point of the sabre to inflict minor wounds and keep him at a distance.
- Although machetes are more portable and multifunctional, The Zombie Survival Guide recommends the katana as the best bladed weapon to use against zombies, as it lends itself to decapitation — the book's zombies can only be killed via brain destruction, but a zombified head can only do so much.
- Partially true. The guide actually recommends the Shaolin spade and halberd as the best bladed weapons, due to the beheading power combined with the reach allowing to stay out of the zombie's reach. Katana are recommended as the better swords, if a proper polearm in unavailable.
- And at least one other survivor indicates a preference for the Scottish claymore, although This Troper was a little incredulous that a scholar had the strength to wield a six-foot long sword. Or the room to use it effectively in combat.
- One would assume that he had a lot of time to train, bailed up in Windsor Castle for years...
- Surprisingly subverted in Snow Crash. Although the katana-wielding Hiro turns out to be an amazing swordsman even outside of the Metaverse, it's the Big Bad's glass daggers with their monomolecular edges that do all the improbable cutting. Hiro also makes a point to compensate for the fact that his sword won't slice clean through bone like in the movies.
- As a fanboy of ancient cultures, Valerian Mengsk in the Star Craft Dark Templar Saga novels has quite a collection of ancient weapons. In itself, perhaps not so strange. But he's also a master swordsman who regularly practices with his trusty katana.
- Sort of used in The Thrawn Trilogy, part of the Star Wars Expanded Universe. A fleet of two hundred dreadnoughts called the Dark Force was also called the Katana fleet after its flagship, Katana. No one knows why it's called Katana in a 'verse where Japan and Japanese culture do not exist. It could just be Translation Convention, the ship actually named after some other cool sword.
- So the original name could just as easily have been Really Awesome Sharp Cutty Thing That Will Totally Pwn You Because It's Cool?
- On the other hand, the Katana Fleet was a dismal failure in the Republic's eyes, as the entire crew came down with a hive virus which caused them to go insane and make the slave-rigged ships jump blindly into hyperspace, causing the loss of 200 ships, 440'000 crew members, all the resources and man hours that the Republic spent building and modifying them, and much face for the Republic Navy.
- On the third hand, most of the ships in the Katana fleet were still functional many years after their crew died.
- In David Weber's first Safehold book, Off Armageddon's Reef, Nimue Alban manufactures a katana and wakazashi for her "Merlin" persona specifically because there is no specific counterpart in Safehold society and her intent is to give Merlin as exotic an image as possible. Also a factor is they're the blades used in the only sword style Nimue ever studied.
Live Action TV
- In the Highlander franchise, the main heroes (Connor and Duncan MacLeod) both tend to use katanas, despite being, well, Scottish Highlanders, already familiar with European swords when they first discover their immortality. In each case it is justified by the sword having sentimental importance: Duncan's was bequeathed to him by a dying samurai who was his only friend during his time in Japan, and Connor's was previously owned by Ramirez, the mentor who taught him about Immortality before being killed by the Big Bad. Ramirez, in turn, also had a sentimental attachment to the katana, which was a gift from his Japanese father-in-law.
- Duncan would very occasionally switch to a Scottish Claymore. Usually this was a sign of how serious and personal things had gotten.
- Hiro Nakamura of Heroes was horrified that the Alternate History he found himself in would lead to guns supplanting katana in Japan sooner than they did historically.
- This would be more a case of preventing Alternate History. His used of the katana in the present day is a better example. Of course, being able to stop time and teleport through time and space makes any weapon better.
- Also, for Hiro, what with the ability to stop time and move instantly from one place to another, a katana makes sense. Obviously, he doesn't need to worry about being shot by the other guy and he's got all the time in the world. He can just walk up to the guy and hack him to pieces. One good sword stroke can do more damage than a bunch of bullets.
- In Xena, the titular heroine's sword is sliced in half by a Japanese katana. Her response? "I want one!". She promptly kills the swordsman and takes the katana for herself.
- Kamen Rider Ryuki starts off with a katana in his blank form. Subverted when it easily snaps against the very first Monster Of The Week, only to be replaced by a Chinese saber which easily minces the same monster while deflecting all its attacks.
- It's worth noting that for a Japanese franchise, the only notable use of katana was in Kamen Rider Hibiki, culturally steeped to the point of being a Widget Rider series. And even then it was just a handful of times in the series (combined with Blazing Sword) and part of The Movie.
- Super Sentai gets to use more katana, due to Rangers being more weapon-savvy than Riders. In particular, Ninja Sentai Kakuranger, Ninpuu Sentai Hurricaneger, DekaMaster from Tokusou Sentai Dekaranger and the current Samurai Sentai Shinkenger. Other seasons (in fact, other toku as well) sometimes employ kendo technique to non-katana swords.
- Balancing this is most of the swords used to finish off the monster, weilded by a Megazord, being double-sided.
- Garo's hero carries an Applied Phlebotinum katana (technically a chokuto) and weilds it with Implausible Fencing Powers, and yet still subverts this trope. The katana is the sword's weaker form as it powers up into a claymore when slaying monsters. He also fares terribly when pitted agaisnt a gunman and only survives in his armored, claymore-weidling form as it is bulletproof.
Tabletop Games
- Exception: In 3rd Edition Dungeons & Dragons, a katana is a just a masterwork bastard sword under another name, no better or worse than its identically-priced European equivalent. However, this is a change from 1st and 2nd Edition, in which a katana was better, able to deal more damage with the right roll.
- The 3rd Edition version may be a more watered-down instance of Katanas Are Just Better, but it is an instance nonetheless. All other weapons might either be "normal" or Masterwork (more expensive but better); but all katanas are "Masterwork".
- Given that katana come from Japan, where the price of steel made swords very expensive, combined with the fact that the techniques they developed for coping with the crap quality of said steel were very difficult to master, it could be argued that, by the standards western swords were made to, any katana that wasn't a masterwork was crap.
- Katanas are a huge source of Internet Backdraft on the forums, to the point that topics about katanas were once outright banned for a long period of time.
- That's it. I'm sick of all this "Masterwork Bastard Sword" bullshit that's going on in the d20 system right now. Katanas deserve much better than that. Much, much better than that.
- D20 Modern has the katana as the best sword in the core rules, but it requires the Exotic Weapons Proficiency feat to use.
- Very much used in the first version of the World Of Darkness, where statistically the katana was undoubtedly the best weapon you could use.
- Just like the above D&D example, however, this changed over time. By the Revised (third) edition of the old WoD, katanas were simply lumped under the heading "swords" (in other words, Strength+2 damage and required a trenchcoat to conceal).
- In the "new" World of Darkness this is half used. While a katana is no stronger in terms of attack bonus than swords of similar size, it is noted as being more durable, the reason given being that it has superior craftsmanship.
- And in the Armory book, it explicitly states that that only applies to "genuine" ones; the one you're likely to be able to buy barely has better stats than a competitive fencing foil.
- In the Stick Guy Role Playing Game, most equipment provides either a +1 or +2 bonus on a roll. Katanas ALWAYS provide a +3, whether the situation makes the use of a katana logical or not.
- Shadowrun 4th edition takes this trope in a weird direction, with the katana being better than the generic sword, as good as the mono-filament sword, but worse than the combat axe.
- It's the same way in 3e. However, as one of my GMs put it: "(...) if you hit a tank with a katana, I will laugh. If you hit a tank with a monosword, I will start rolling Body." Well, he would. If one managed to get such a Strength score to get through a tank's Hardened Armor.
- Arguably justified by the resurgence of Japanese imperialism and nationalism in the setting causing public demand for a traditional style melee weapon for the Imperial army, updated to use more recent materials and techniques. Traditional western swords don't get this treatment as no comparable nationalist sentiment provides a market.
- Not to mention that mono-filaments are all the rage in Shadowrun. That said, Radioactive Zombie and his buddies sliced their way through waves of mooks with daggers, sais, and rapiers, though his character used to have a masamune (the MUD IMM had it as a tribute to Final Fantasy VII — Sephiroth jokes abounded).
- The Final Fantasy Role Playing Game neatly averts this issue: katanas and single handed swords match each other stat for stat, the only differences being price (katanas are more expensive, owning to their more complicated method of creation) and weapon abilities, and even then one doesn't top the other. Katanas are, however, necessary for the Samurai job to use its full abilities, though that is more a function of the Samurai job than of the katana itself. The strongest weapons in terms of pure statistical power are, fittingly enough, the weapons most likely to be swung with the most strength behind them: the greatswords and polearms (spears, lances, etc).
- In Unknown Armies, Katanas give a +9 damage bonus in melee, three more than a regular sword. As do chainsaws.
- Although that's merely because they're assumed to be wielded two-handed. Any two-handed sword gets the same bonus. (Weapons get +3 each for being "penetrating", "heavy" and "large". The system doesn't differentiate between specific weapons in any way.)
- In GURPS 3rd Edition, a katana wielded two-handed did more damage and was better at defending than any comparable western blade. After many "Magical Sword of Ethnic Badassery" jokes, this was fixed in the new 4th Edition.
- They did try to dilute this, by citing the important part was the Katana skill, and citing that it was a limited-sword, better-acting skill. And that it covered Korean swordsmanship. Whether this works or not is up to you, although the skill naming at least fits the pattern of that edition ('Karate' for general trained unarmed strikes, like Savate; 'Judo' for grappling. 'Boxing' and 'Wrestling' were somewhat intermediate.)
- Ironically in 4th Edition the katana is actual slightly inferior to western swords of equal quality. Katana's and western blades both do the same cutting damage but the western weapons are much more effective if you want to stab someone.
- Averted in Feng Shui, which lumps katanas and every other sword you can wield under the category of "sword", which along with spears do the most damage out of all melee weapons of the game, particularly when you take one as a Signature Weapon. Feng Shui being Feng Shui though, that just means that you get to use said katana to rock all over the opposition without having to worry about stealing the other characters' thunder.
- Used and (partially) subverted in Legend of the Five Rings. In fact, the book lists half a dozen weapons as "the only truly honorable ones for Samurai". In due fairness, however, it then proceeds to list exceptions by clan, and the katana is not an all-purpose superweapon in this game (heavy weapons are more useful against opponents with carapace, bows can be devastating if used right, etc.). Nearly all of the powerful magical weapons in the setting are katanas, though.
- In Chaosium's Basic Role Playing system, a multi-genre game based on the rules used in Call of Cthulhu and Rune Quest among others, the Katana does the same amount of damage as a bastard sword ... but it has a higher "base" value, meaning that people who train in the use of a Katana start out with a higher chance to hit — and it can be used one handed by weaker and less dextrous fighters, as well!
Video Games
- In Kirby Super Star, the Katana found in The Great Cave Offensive is the most valuable item in the game (990,000 G to be exact).
- Almost every Final Fantasy game features a sword called the Masamune, after legendary Japanese swordsmith Masamune Okazaki, which is typically the best sword in the game. This actually occurs in many Japanese RPGs such as Onimusha. More often than not, it is a katana. A strange translation added a Masamune to Chrono Trigger; it was originally a European knight's broadsword called the Granleon.
- For some reason, this trope's been overturned through the last few games. In Final Fantasy X, Auron's base weapon is called a "katana," and his ultimate is "Masamune," but none of his weapons (or anybody else's, for that matter) even remotely resemble the real-world article. In Final Fantasy XII, katanas are handled a bit differently than greatswords, but aren't neccessarily better. Even the best katana (again, Masamune) is only good for its ridiculous combo rate. Meanwhile, the weapon with the most raw power is a spear, and the overall best weapon is Tournesol, a wave-bladed greatsword.
- However, from the third onwards, even the best katanas are overpowered by European style swords like the Ragnarok, Ultima Weapon, and sometimes the Excalibur. Besides superior base attack power, the western counterparts usually had special bonuses that made them the obvious ultimate weapons.
- Over 80% of weapons in FF series are European-base and 99% of the ultimate weapons are European-based too. I think this applies to most jRPGs and animes in general.
- I think it's worth mentioning that in Final Fantasy 1, even if you don't grind, a Monk's bare fists will be dishing out more damage than the Masamune long before you acquire it. Most players never think about de-equiping the guy and letting him mangle bosses with his bare hands. So unless fists don't count, that's 1 in 12 Final Fantasies that have a katana as their best weapon so far.
- While there are too many to name, including titles that do not make it over, most j-RP Gs draw on medieval European fantasy. Of which, very few end with the hero chopping up the last boss with a katana. Not to mention games like Onimusha that take place in a time and location where katanas were the norm make for poor examples. This entire entry is a misleading sham.
- Chrono Trigger: Crono, the main character, wields a katana as his weapon, and his ultimate weapon, the Rainbow Sword, is the most powerful PC weapon in the game. (Usually. The random damage multipliers of Lucca's Wondershot can sometimes best it.)
- Chrono Cross, its sequel, has ... no katana, no katana today. The main character uses a double-bladed polearm, and the rest of the characters are more Weapons Kitchen Sink, but the few sword swingers don't cite a katana as the blade of choice. The special swords? 'Slasher2' looks sabre-like, 'Einlanzer' is a straight cruciform-hilted sword, Masamune is similar (until it moves from that into Serge's polearm), and Viper's Venom is ... well, metal fatigue waiting to happen, but it's certainly not a katana.
- Mass Effect averts this trope. There are no swords in the game, but one of the models of shotgun available to the player is "Katana"' (part of the Japanese Name weapons set). It's better than some other models, but not that great overall.
- Zhou Tai in Dynasty Warriors 4 and 5 originally used a Katana, despite being Chinese. He was given a more-fitting Dao in Dynasty Warriors 6.
- Final Fantasy Tactics: The thief and standard knight classes are comparatively easy to acquire and have fairly mundane abilities: The knight breaks armor, and the thief steals things. Their Japanese equivalents, the ninja and samurai classes respectively, are both much harder to acquire and have mystical abilities: The samurai is capable of drawing upon his or her 'sword spirits' to unleash ki attacks, and the ninja can turn invisible as a counter technique.
- Final Fantasy Tactics Advance 2 doesn't have Katanas as a stronger weapon type in general, but the skills learned from them, most notably Dual Wield, are much more powerful. And by extension, the katana-wielding Paravir is easily the most physically powerful close range class. Ninjas less so, but they have the best speed growths of any hume class (they are both Glass Cannon classes, though).
- Although the Samurai and Ninja are very powerful classes, that can overpower the rest when properly utilized, katanas and ninja swords are atrociously weak. The game's Infinity Plus One Sword (the Javelin II) is a polearm, and Knight Swords and Fell Swords are stronger and more versatile than even the highest-level katana.
- In the first game (in the original PSX version), the top of the heap was the Knight Sword. Either that, or a Monk using bare fists.
- Balanced by Brave Fencer Musashi's titular hero who wielded both a katana and a large, double-sided sword. Technically the double-sided sword was more powerful, to the point of being the only weapon that could damage certain bosses.
- The double-edged sword was also statistically superior. In fact, the only drawback of the huge weapon was that it was huge, and therefore took a lot longer to swing than the katana. Comparatively, the katana didn't do much damage, but could it could be swung three times in the time it took to swing the huge sword. Once the player learns combos that combine the power of both swords, mooks just don't match up.
- In the Devil May Cry series, Dante, the main character, wields as his primary weapons a broadsword and twin pistols. He amasses numerous other weapons, both melee and firearms, in each game. His brother and Worthy Opponent, Vergil, uses a katana and has eschewed firearms as being beneath him. Although Vergil has definite Magnificent Bastard overtones, Dante is by far the more stylish of the pair. When Dante does get his hands on a katana, incidentally his brother's old "Yamato", he is less competent with it than with any of the other weapons, demonstrated as a tiny moveset.
- Nero's Devil Trigger spirit uses a version of Vergil's with considerable reach and grants moves superior to those Nero can do without it.
- Heck, Yamato itself is a plot device in the fourth game. It's just that awesome. Not to mention a whole lot of people are 'handed' the sword throughout the course of the series and get a taste of its awesomeness.
- Averted and used in different Castlevania games. For example, in Curse of Darkness, the nodachi (A larger cousin of the katana) is both slightly more powerful and much faster than the comparable Western sword, the Zweihänder, while in Dawn of Sorrow, the katanas are actually among the weaker weapons, with what advantage they have being entirely in attack speed.
- They are actually overall slower than longswords even in Dawn due to the gaping lag time following each swing. Katanas only hit sooner because Soma uses them in a quickdraw style. You can cancel out of the lag with a backstep, though.
- Romancing Sa Ga: There is only one technique only limited to the Katana; Gust Blade. It involves dashing past the opponent while cutting them and then they fly up into the air; The Surge (Stronger Version of it); Surging Headwind incorporated Ice into the attack; sadly this attack eats up a lot of Battle Points (Points required to use techniques).
- Soul Calibur never really mentions the fighting ability or skill or the characters within the story. Except for Mitsurugi, who is pretty much referred to as a One Man Army against the many, nameless opponents he's apparently slaughtered from his constant searching for an opponent to test him, therefore the only character who's practically explicitly called a Bad Ass. Naturally, he has the whole Samurai/Ronin look to him, complete with a katana... But considering who he's been based on... (Subverted in that his backstory involves firearms becoming predominant in war in general, and he wasn't completely successful with his idea of a style to overcome this.)
- Also somewhat subverted in that one of the best weapons Mitsurugi can wield in the later games is the Middle-Eastern Damascus Sword rather than his default Japanese katana.
- Also, gameplay-wise, Mitsurugi is only a balanced fighter. His speed is no match for the Gladius (actually a Xiphos, but no-one knows that one) of Sophitia or the Rapier of Raphael, and his power is obviously lower than Nightmare's highly modified Broad Sword (a BFS) or Astaroth's Giant Axe. Although the game has yet to give us characters with a fighting style with an European medieval sword...
- Not actually true anymore. Hilde uses a short spear/short sword combination, which is painful to think about, but is not quite unheard of. Looks sweet, too.
- Well, I think they call the Siegfried or Nightmare fighting style weapons a 'Zweihander', which is a kind of European sword... though naturally, the game's examples prefer to go with ridiculous BFSes as opposed to more actual examples of Zweihanders...
- Worth noting that 'Zweihander' was never a type of sword, just a word made up to describe any large, two handed sword of vaguely European origin. neither Siegfried not Nightmare's swords can really be called 'European' dispite Siegfried's German origin. They're just BFS'
- Tales of Phantasia is mostly based on Norse Mythology. So it's no surprise that the best weapons for the protagonist are based in Norse and Arthurian myth, with the katana trailing far behind.
- If memory serves, if you visit Japoni at the earliest opportunity, the Muramasa is the best slash weapon for a while. Just not forever.
- In Tales Of Symphonia the main character's most powerful weapons, the Kusanagi Blades, are legendary katanas.
- The Kusanagi Blades are Lloyd's most powerful slash-type weapons, the strongest thrust-type weapons are the bulkier Valkyrie Sabers, decidedly not katanas.
- Hell, from recent memory, the Kusanagi Blades don't even look like katana (which in opinion is a good thing), having the appearance of tsurugi, which is similar to a jian.
- Subverted in Tales Of The Abyss. As seen in the opening Guy Cecil's style of sword-fighting is traditionally for thin single-edged swords, to contrast the broadsword-intended style of Luke's. However, since he can use the the same swords that Luke use, and still be ridiculously fast, it doesn't matter. In fact, the only sword in the game this troper remembered to look like an actual katana was Guy's first sword he had eqipped when he joined.
- Blazing Warriors (also known as Mystaria) on the Sega Saturn reversed the rule; the "Western" characters were good guys with better powers and weapons, and with the exception of a couple of ninja allies, the "Eastern" characters were evil and with lesser but still respectable powers.
- Record Of Lodoss War, an anime influenced almost entirely by Dungeons & Dragons and other Western role-playing tropes, featured no Eastern swords at all, but the Dreamcast game based on it includes a folded-steel "Oriental Sword", which has an absolutely absurd critical-hit rate and deals eight times normal damage on a critical strike (the average weapon's critical deals double damage or less). Needless to say, that makes it one of the game's best weapons, especially when you can customize a weapon to give it a 100% critical chance.
- Grand Theft Auto: Vice City: Chainsaw Good, because it can kill in one hit. But Katanas Are Just Better because Tommy can run with them and still kill in one hit.
- However, the chainsaw does much more damage to objects (like cars) than the katana.
- In San Andreas, there's a moment in one of the missions where your enemy throws you a katana, inviting you to a duel. Not that you can't immediately gun him down with a UZI...
- There are two katanas in Drakengard, Nobuyoshi and Takamasa, and they both do good damage, have decent range, and have useful magic attacks, qualifying them as among the best weapons in the game. They are outclassed by certain other swords though.
- In Civilization III, most civilizations build the "knight," an armored soldier on horseback. The Japanese build "samurai," foot soldiers in kimono, with identical speed and defense and no need for horses.
- In Civilization IV, the samurai remains as a unique unit for the Japanese but it replaces macemen. It has the ability to deal damage before the enemy gets to attack, in a similar way to archers.
- This is arguably logical, though, since historically samurai were archers in the battlefield, the sword being a weapon of secondary resort.
- In Dead Rising the player can find both Katanas and western-style swords and battle-axes. This is partially subverted because the character swings the western sword horizontally, wounding several zombies at once, while he swings the katana overhand and usually gets hit from the sides. Though the mini-chainsaw destroys both of them.
- Daikatana. Not only a powerful melee weapon in its own right, but it has random powers of time-travel.
- Daikatana does manage to subvert the Rule of Cool trope at least though, because, well, it's Daikatana.
- The trope is hilariously (and frustratingly) inverted when grates that can be knocked open with a mere pistol cannot be opened with the most powerful sword in history.
- In Fable, a katana is more powerful than any other melee weapon of the same material.
- One-handed weapons anyway. The greatsword does more damage, has greater range, and can hit multiple enemies with one swing, but it moves much slower.
- The sequel completely reversed this, making the Katana class the weakest melee weapons in the game (and the fastest).
- In No More Heroes, Travis' best Energy Weapon is a beam katana, stronger than all others, never running out of energy with the right upgrade, and somehow curved despite being a beam of light emitted from a single point. It also has the ability to split into three blades to hit a wider arc during one of his Finishing Moves.
- All of Travis' weapons are called beam katanas, though admittedly the Mk. III is the only one that resembles the name. Also, the Mk. II is more powerful than the Mk. III. The game is close to the ultimate example of this trope given you play a loser who becomes an assassin simply because he won a beam katana. The game especially reinforces how great katanas are given the diversity and craziness of your opponents weapons.
- In Princess Maker 2 katanas are better than Mithril swords!
- In Rogue (at least some versions, such as iRogue for Palm), the katana is the most powerful stock weapon available and is essentially a necessity in the deeper dungeons. In this troper's experience, however, the easiest way to get one is with a "create object" scroll, as actual katanas on the dungeon floor are very rare.
- In The Elder Scrolls: Oblivion, Akaviri katanas are lighter and do more damage than regular steel swords. While there are vastly more powerful weapons out there they are much heavier, making the katana the best in terms of damage/weight ratio.
- Despite that, they will get outclassed by everything else eventually. The Goldbrand brings them back to glory though.
- Also, in The Elder Scrolls: Morrowind, the dai-katana only comes in two flavors: steel, and daedric.
- Averted in City Of Heroes - the Katana is faster than the Broadsword but does less damage, so it averages out. The Katana does look much cooler, though.
- Says you. The Broad Sword gets more customisable skins too (including, ironically, a 'katana'- one used by an enemy group with the Broad Sword animations).
- In Vampire: The Masquerade - Requiem, the katana is the best melee weapon in the game, which is saying something, since guns do just about squat against other vampires. Unfortunately, you only get it right before the penultimate boss.
- Subverted somewhat in Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines, in which the katana, while still good, is not as good as the Bushhook, a modified gardening tool, or the PC's own claws if your Protean is high enough.
- The Infinity Plus One Sword in Super Robot Wars Original Generation is a katana for Humongous Mecha called the Shishioh Blade. It's not the most powerful weapon in the game, but it's the most generally useful melee weapon since it deals as much damage as many Limit Breaks yet has no energy or morale requirements. Averted in Original Generation 2, however, with the similar but more powerful Boosted Hammer and G-Impact Stake. Also oddly averted in Sanger Zonvolt's BFS-wielding endgame mech, whose katana shapeshifts into a massive effing broadsword for the more powerful attacks.
- The Katana in La Mulana deals good damage, is about as fast as the whip, and has a very effective hit area. Unless you figure out how to completely power up the whip, you'll be using the katana as your main weapon (with some Axe thrown in for overhead enemies) once you get it..
- In Net Hack, while the Katana is certainly the strongest vanilla longsword, the Artifact katana Snickersnee is outclassed by more impressive traditional longswords like Fire and Ice Brand, as well as the special longsword Excalibur, as it only offers bonuses to hit and minor damage, as opposed to automatic improved searching and level drain resistance like Excalibur, or the double damage against non-resistant enemies like Fire and Ice Brand. However, the Samurai quest Artifact, the Tsurugi of Muramasa, is indeed a fearsome weapon that can bisect non-gigantic creatures, it's only drawback being that it is a two-handed weapon (specifically, a broadsword-type).
- In Dungeon Crawl the Katana is way better than any other weapon with comparable statistics. Later, heavier weapons may be stronger, but only the Double Sword can be wielded at one hand and not be much worse than the Katana. At least there are no fixed artefact katanas (random artefact katana may still be generated).
- Subverted in Cadash, where you could choose to play as a fighter, mage, priestess, or ninja. Already considered the worst balanced character, the ninja also gained levels the slowest. It didn't help that the arcade version had a time limit.
- Ninja worst? This troper disagrees. Even though he levels the slowest, he has the fastest foot speed to make up for it, the fastest attack speed, and the greatest attack range. In fact the ninja is the character this troper uses to one credit the game. This Troper usually still had the first free extra life elixer upon reaching the second one, and had to backtrack to collect it when it finally gets used. (Levelling up until time nearly runs out on the rock monsters and gathering money, then buying a metric crapload of hp-bar lenghening bells helps.)
- Subverted in the original Gameboy SaGa games (Final Fantasy Legend) where katanas (and knives) are Agility-based weapons and European swords are Strength-based. While the Agility-based weapons sort of win out because they increase Agility and thus your chances of hitting faster late-game opponents, the European sword Excalibur ("XCalibur") is the only weapon in the game that will never break.
- In the third game which follows a more traditional inventory system, the Excalibur is simply the strongest "Mystic Weapon", with the katana Masamune in second place.
- In Shadow The Hedgehog, you can find katanas in special weapon boxes. Although they are close-range melee weapons as compared to the guns, they are still extremely powerful and can destroy almost any robot or thing with one swing. I suppose the writers thought "Shadow with guns is cool, but not cool enough. Let's add a katana!"
- In Command and Conquer: Red Alert 3, the Empire of the Rising Sun's basic infantry normally uses laser rifles... but activating their secondary ability causes them to ignite laser katanas and charge the nearest enemy infantry for an instant kill.
- Forget that — the Empire's Shogun Executioner has three lightning katanas that don't just slice through tanks (literally), but can create base-destroying earthquakes.
- The "ninja" characters in Metal Gear Solid all wield a High Frequency blade; which appears to resemble a katana. These blades have been shown to be able to deflect bullets from assualt rifles or even Metal Gear vulcan cannons and slice through steel like butter. Since these ninjas are all cyborgs or wearing Powered Armor that grants them super strength and reflexes, and their swords are presumably made of Applied Phlebotinum, the trope is somewhat justified.
- That said, it's not mentioned exactly why the ex-President of the United States wields, along with tentacles, a pair of Phlebotinum sword reminiscent of katana.
- Also possibly justified if "High Frequency blade" means "Vibroblade": Basically an electric turkey carver on PCP that can cut through a lot of things with ease comparable to monomolecular edges.
- In the roguelike game Liberal Crime Squad, this trope is subverted by the identical damage and accuracy of the katana/wazikashi combo and European fantasy sword, both of which have lower damage values than the weakest firearm (a .22 revolver). It is saved from complete uselessness by the game treating all combat as point blank.
- Played straight in Mega Man X 6 where Zero's Z-saber becomes shaped like a katana post-resurrection. Later inverted with the same character in Mega Man Zero: the katana shape remains the same until halfway through the series.
- Sorta subverted in the MMO Raganarok Online where the basic Katana has the lowest base attack and weapon level of it's weapon class(unless you use the card system to power it up a certain way then it becomes formable) however some other swords of Japanese origin are quite powerful weapons.
- Jin Uzuki of Xenosaga II and III wields a katana forty-seven thousand years in the future, when everyone else is using massively tech-y weapons. And he's effective.
- Many years earlier, Citan Uzuki of Spiritual Predecessor Xenogears was capable of taking down mech-scale enemies with his katana. Then again, this was Citan.
- If katanas do more damage in Final Fight than other edged weapons, I can't tell. So this'd fall under subversion.
- Yoshimitsu out of the Tekken games is for some reason allowed to bring a katana to a fistfight. Naturally, he's got a lot of manoeuvres that you can't block with your bare arms. Realistic in a way — a katana really would be better in most situations to a bare hand, that's why people like weapons.
- Katana, wakizashi, and nodachi are secret weapons in Mount and Blade. Subverted because comparable buyable weapons are statistically better, and can even have positive modifiers, which the secret weapons can't have, due to being unbuyable.
- The second Left 4 Dead game will feature a katana amongst its collection of melee weapons, for apparently no better reason than fanservice. The American south is not exactly a hotbed of battle-ready Japanese swords, but there's no word on how commonly found the weapon will be.
- Rubi combines this trope with Guns Akimbo to devastating effect.
- A Justified Trope whenever it crops up in the Silent Hill series — katanas, where present, are generally among the best melee weapons in the game. They're also one of the few melee weapons appearing in the series that were actually intended to be weapons, rather than just being a random object you could conceivably hit or stab someone with.
- Wario Ware has the twins Kat and Ana, who wield katanas.
- Subverted in The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask with the Razor Sword, an unusual two-bladed short-sword, the closest Link ever gets to wielding a katana. It's twice as powerful as the default sword from which it is forged, but can only be used 100 times before reverting to the default shape. In addition to this, the best main sword in the game is a golden western-style BFS (in proportion to Link, that is).
Web Comics
- Backward Compatible cites this very site and page in a strip about Left 4 Dead 2, but then suggests that a swung guitar is even better.
- In the webcomic Harkovast, a battle is looking dire for one side until an ally shows up and defeats the enemy with little effort. Of course, unlike the other combatants that were losing their lives on the battlefield, he wields a katana!
- In Homestuck, John and Rose wield a hammer and needles, respectively, but Dave's allocated a katana to his STRIFE SPECIBUS.
- Subverted in Order of the Stick. Nale uses a charm spell to persuade a prison guard to give him a katana, then uses the katana to kill a hobgoblin and takes the goblin's weapon, saying 'I prefer longswords, actually.'
Web Original
- Subverted in Survival of the Fittest; while people have been assigned katana as weapons before, the people with katana are not shown as any more skilled than anyone else for the most part, and rarely accomplish much. In fact, the person assigned a katana in V1 was quickly killed off in their debut thread, and to add insult to injury their killer discarded the sword as useless. Adam Dodd would later use the weapon near the end of V1 to pin his nemesis Cody Jenson to a tree before carving the word "rapist" into his chest, a reference to one of the acts that drove Cody over the Moral Event Horizon.
- Parodied by SCP-572 of the SCP Foundation; it's a poor-quality katana intended exclusively for display, but anybody who holds it becomes convinced of its balance and cutting power, as well as their own invincibility.
- Both parodied and played straight in zOMG. In the introductory comic, the guard's weapons all shatter on the hides of the Animated. When a heroic looking guard steps in to save the day with his katana, the other guards express awe at the sheer awesomeness of his weapon... only for them to scream in horror as his Katana is shattered and he gets attacked by Animated Buzzsaws. Despite this, the Mantis Ring generates a G'hi Katana that actually can harm the Animated. Even then, the Katana isn't the most powerful weapon, as the Hack and Slash rings (which summon cutlasses) deal more damage in exchange for speed and energy consumption.
- Averted in Monster Hunter; the Tachi, the token Japanese sword, generally does less damage over time than an equivalent greatsword. However, it is a lot easier to learn when fighting solo. That, and its appearance ("just like a giant katana!"), make it the weapon of choice for newbies, who often end up causing trouble for their teammates due to the weapon's propensity for friendly fire.
- Main character Snowball from Bunny Kill has a katana as his trademark weapon. But he uses many more weapons in the series.
- Sapphire: Especially when it's the detonator for a bunch of exploding throwing stars.
Western Animation
- Huey in The Boondocks inexpicably has a Katana in "Let's Nab Oprah".
- In the Transformers Generation 1 episode "The Burden Hardest to Bear", a Japanese man is able to use a katana to hurt a Matrix-powered Scourge.
- When Danny and his friends follow Vlad into unknown Asian land in Danny Phantom, Danny (dressed in awesome ninja/samurai garb) and Vlad duke it out with katanas; Vlad's is an ectoplasmic katana.
- Justified in Samurai Jack in that it is a magic katana. Also averted in the episodes with the Scotsman, whose magic claymore is shown to be equally indestructible.
- And technically speaking, as it has an edged end instead of a curved one it's not a katana.
- That has a lot to do with the art style, Jack himself is essentially made of angles and lines.
- Ulrich Stern from Code Lyoko is certainly victim from this trope. The Lyoko forms are hypothesized to be created from the subconscious of the virtualized persons... and seeing himself as The Hero, his avatar is quite naturally a samurai with a katana. Since this is a virtual world, he can get away with things like Reflecting Laser, Throwing Your Sword Always Works or Sword Dragging.
- But in "A Bad Turn", he uses an authentic katana in the real world with just as much skill.
- On Frisky Dingo, Killface's plan to recover his son Simon from Torpedo Vegas while wading through the sewers under Vegas's hideout is laughably over-the-top, and involves witty catchphrases, throwing stars and Xander/Barnaby's ludicrous distraction technique (he's already completely naked anyway, and in Killface's imagination, his job is get the attention of a guard, rub his nipples and yell, "OH ME SO HORNY! YOU DISTRACTED? YOU LIKE TEABAG, CHINATOWN?!"). But the trope comes into play when Killface muses that the final showdown with Vegas will be an epic battle, "probably with katanas!".
- Of course, while he slices Vegas in two in his imagination, they're captured before even getting out of the sewer.
Real Life
- Katanas are quite popular among criminals in countries such as the United Kingdom and Malaysia, where firearms are harder or more expensive to purchase. The UK even bans the selling of modern production katanas due to their use in violent crime. Katanas have become quite common due to their popularity as a collector's item, so many of them naturally find their way into the hands of unscrupulous people who are prepared to use them.
- Because the cutting power of Katana and swords in general is often ridiculously exaggerated, it may be easy to underestimate it. To quote an example of the cutting power of Chinese jian, "I have seen an unsharpened jian used to shave ribbons of steel off a heavy security grate. This particular jian was forged circa 1900 and was left undamaged by this demonstration." (quote from Chinese Swordsmanship by Scott Rodell) A sharpened jian will rival the sharpness of a surgeon's scalpel in the thinnest third of the blade nearest its tip. Katana are used differently and trade some sharpness for toughness, but should still easily match an unsharpened jian.
- The Mythbusters showed whether or not a katana could actually decapitate a sheep in one swing. {Warning: Possible icky video.} This isn't particularly surprising, since the victim is stationary and braced to get the maximum effect from the swing.
- The TV show Deadliest Warrior plays into this trope while its experiments debunk it. The show's samurai expert and narrator take turns praising the katana as "the perfect sword," with a "diamond-hard edge" that is "sharper than any razor," though these qualities would actually be unfavorable for a sword. During the test phase, however, the katana failed to do any appreciable damage when slashed at a dummy wearing 10th century mail. The show's (admittedly dubious) battle simulation ultimately gave the katana 137 "kills" against the 134 "kills" of its rival weapon, the Viking great axe. Thus, the katana was judged about equal to a weapon several centuries less advanced.
- There is a minor internet meme of a Japanese-made President Obama action figure posed with two katanas.◊ Further pictures reveal that the toy doesn't come with katanas, but does have hands that can hold about just about any scale weapons you might have lying around.
- Need to stop a burglar in a hurry? Just unleash a Bankai on that mofo and call it a day.
- This video shows that a katana will cut .50 BMG rounds in half when fired at the blade edge-first. This will generally happen when a lead bullet meets a hard, narrow, deep target, though the katana does impressively last through seven shots.
- The Non-Fiction Discovery Channel show Lock and Load has R. Lee Ermey proclaim the katana better than a longsword (in pure damage to a breastplate by an untrained user anyways). The test is suspect however as the katana used was implied to be forged out of decent quality iron (see main article).
- That same episode also showed when comparing cavelry sabers that the curved blade had a slight advantage in chopping and cutting motions than a straight blade. These results are backed by physics, as when a curved edge hits a target, more kinetic energy is being focused into a smaller area, thus increasing power and damage at the exact point of impact (but only by a marginal degree). In stabbing, however, the straight blade might have an edge.
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