Basic Trope: Excalibur and the sword in the stone turn out to be the same.
- Straight: King Arthur takes a sword called Excalibur from a stone. The Lady of the Lake does not make an appearance.
- Exaggerated: The sword was originally from the Lady of the Lake, but at some point it was put into a stone.
- Downplayed: Excalibur is obtainable in a video game adaptation either from pulling the sword from the stone or from meeting the Lady of the Lake, resulting in a Multiple-Choice Past.
- Justified: King Arthur retrieves the sword from the stone. He later breaks it, and throws it into a lake. The Lady of the Lake repairs it and gives it back.
- Inverted: The Lady of the Lake gives Arthur a sword, which proves that he is the chosen one to be king. Later he pulls a sword from a stone.
- Subverted:
- King Arthur takes the sword from the stone. He considers calling it Excalibur but calls it something else, like Caliburn.note When the Lady of the Lake gives him a sword, he calls that one Excalibur.
- Double Subverted: It turns out there was a Stable Time Loop involved and the two are literally the same sword disguised. After a near disaster from "Caliburn" and "Excalibur" nearly clashing Merlin sends "Caliburn" to the past to the Lady of the Lake.
- King Arthur's sword is neither pulled from a stone or given by the Lady of the Lake, but it's explained how he gets it some other way, which may be a twist on either or both.
- King Arthur takes the sword from the stone. He considers calling it Excalibur but calls it something else, like Caliburn.note When the Lady of the Lake gives him a sword, he calls that one Excalibur.
- Parodied:
- Excalibur's scabbard prevents the holder from dying of blood loss. Unfortunately, Excalibur's "scabbard" is a giant rock.
- King Arthur can never remember which of his swords he pulled from the stone, and which he got from the Lady of the Lake.
- Zig Zagged: The sword in the stone and the sword from the lake are both called Excalibur.
- Averted:
- Excalibur is a different sword from the sword in the stone, which may be otherwise nameless.
- King Arthur is depicted as wielding both swords at once - making the distinction quite clear.
- King Arthur retrieves Excalibur from the lake, but there's no sword in the stone in the story, Excalibur or otherwise.
- King Arthur's sword Caledfwlchnote has no origin story given, he just has it.
- Enforced: For a King Arthur stage play or movie, it's more economical to make the sword in the stone Excalibur and thus need only one prop sword for them.
- Lampshaded: ???
- Invoked: ???
- Exploited: ???
- Defied: ???
- Discussed: "Why is it people always think I pulled Excalibur from the stone? I got the sword from the stone, then traded it for Excalibur. Get your facts straight"
- Conversed: ???
Back to Excalibur in the Stone
