Sandbox / Katanas Better Check

A wick check of Katanas Are Just Better to check the severity of sinkholes onto the word "katana", mere examples of characters using a katana, or otherwise misuse that doesn't say how the katana is better or superior to other swords and weapons. Includes wicks of the redirect Katanas Are Better.

Wicks checked: 60/60

• Correct: 3.33%
• Misuse: 46.67%
• ZCE: 15%
• Sinkhole: 35%

Correct (2/60)

1. The War Sequence: The final push to the Premiere in Mother Russia Bleeds involves walking through a long hallway filled with dozens upon dozens of mooks. Fortunately, the game is generous enough to hand you the katana, [[KatanasAreJustBetter the most powerful melee weapon in the game]], right at the start. The katana (not a katana) is the most powerful melee weapon in the game.
2. Anime.Bloodivores: When the bloodivores are quick to realize that firearms are ineffective against the monsters, Lee Shin proves than bladed weapons such as katanas can still cut them with enough force. Katanas portrayed as better than firearms.

Misused examples (28/60)

1. AvengersEndgame.Tropes H To O: Clint Barton as Ronin is shown dispatching a group of Japanese criminals with a katana and then duels their leader, who's also wielding a katana. Characters use katanas.
2. Characters.BBC Robin Hood: (Archer) He even appears to Dual Wield them somehow (despite them being two-handed weapons). Character dual-wields katanas.
3. Characters.Dark Souls II The Lost Crowns Trilogy:
   • (Graverobber, Varg and Cerah) The Afflicted Graverobber carries around two Berserker Blades, which will build up your bleed meter extremely quickly if you're not careful. Character has two blades that have an ability. They are not shown as "better".
   • (Sir Alonne) Wields a large-handled zanbato wreathed in Abyss magic. You can acquire it by trading Sir Alonne's soul to Weaponsmith Ornifex, and it's one of the strongest weapons for its weight, combining range with quick swings and high counter damage, crippled only by a mediocre amount of durability, which is 30 points worth. Still, when its durability is compared to the other katanas, it's in the middle. Not better than other weapons.
4. Characters.Epic Rap Battles Of History: Boasts about his skills with his katanas. Skill with katanas, not about the katana being better.
5. Characters.Final Fantasy Type 0: (Jack) His weapon of choice is a two-handed katana. Character uses katana.
6. Characters.Golden Sun Antagonists: (Blados) His BFS is one. More like a nodachi. Character has a nodachi.
7. Characters.Grimms Notes Main Characters: Shane now wears one on her belt. Fittingly, Attackers became her main class when she joined Revol's party. Character has a katana.
8. Characters.I Dont Run An Orphanage The Sky Pirates: His previous weapon of choice as a vigilante. He switched to a cutlass after joining The Sky Pirates to fit the theme. Previous weapon is a katana.
9. Characters.Injustice One Earth Regime: (Robin / Nightwing) He has one, and it's central to his fighting style and moves. Character uses katana in combat, not about the katana being "better".
10. Characters.Queen Of All Oni: (Left and Right) Right fights with one. Character fights with katana.
11. Characters.Teen Titans 2003 Teen Titans: (Bushido) He uses a katana as his weapon. Japanese character uses katana.
12. Characters.The Heart Of Storms: (Blademaster) The Blademaster wields a katana, going with their samurai motif. Does not say how the katana is better.
13. Characters.The Spectrum Game: Wields an orange one in battle.
14. ComicBook.Uncanny X Force: Both Deadpool and Psylocke wield katanas. The latter's is psionically charged. Two characters wield katanas.
15. EldenRing.Tropes F To N: True to Soulsborne tradition, the Tarnished will have access to the Katana weapon type. Character can use katanas.
16. Fanfic.Rabbit Of The Moon: Mikoto wields a katana in combat as a warrior hailing from the Far East. Character uses katana.
17. Film.Captain Kronos Vampire Hunter: An Unbuilt Trope: Kronos carries both a katana and a sabre, and appears to favour the katana for everyday use. However, he uses a medieval-style arming sword in the final fight, specially forged for the occasion. Character uses weapons, including a katana.
18. Film.John Carpenters Vampires: Derek's primary weapon is a katana which he keeps hidden in a surfboard. Character uses katana.
19. Film.Ultraman Tiga Gaiden Revival Of The Ancient Giant: Mahoroba’s preferred weapon. Character's preferred weapon is a katana.
20. LetsPlay.Mianite: The Kikoku, the very sword used to kill Season 2 Dianite. A katana is used to kill a character.
21. Literature.Dante Valentine: Necromances and a number of other types of psion carry swords of blessed steel. Danny uses a katana, while Jace prefers a longer dotanuki. Characters use katanas.
22. Manga.Psyren: being stronger with Rise and Trance as opposed to Burst, Sakurako keeps a katana with her whenever she enters Psyren. Character has a katana.
23. Recap.Castle S 4 E 2 Heroes And Villains: Lone Vengeance makes use of one. Character uses katana.
24. Recap.Mobile Suit Gundam The Witch From Mercury Episode 17 Precious Things: Part of the Darilbalde's upgraded arsenal is a giant katana-shaped sword which generates a beam around its blade. A katana-shaped sword is used.
25. Roleplay.Of Men And Titans: Almost every character in the Roleplay who uses a blade, 75% of the time, it will be a Katana. Character uses katana.
26. VideoGame.Age Of Empires III: Ronin mercenaries and Japanese Samurai have some of the strongest infantry attacks in the game. Entry is not about how the katana is superior than other weapons.
27. VideoGame.Mind Zero: Kotone's weapon. Character's weapon is a katana.
28. VideoGame.Ys Seven: Scias is the first character in the series to have something recognizable as a katana. Character has katana.

ZCE (9/60)

1. Characters.Rise Of The Magic Girls Original Roleplays: Blank ZCE.
2. Characters.Yggdra Union: Blank ZCE.
3. Characters.Zyuden Sentai Kyoryuger Antagonists: Blank ZCE.
4. DarthWiki.Burning Rhapsody Newlight: Blank ZCE.
5. Fanfic.Kamen Rider Xtreme: Yuki ZCE.
6. Literature.The Third The Girl With The Blue Eye: Commented out blank ZCE.
7. Literature.Zodiacs: This attitude convinced the Ryouiki nobility to declare that no zodiac, samurai or not, is allowed to use a katana despite the Imperial Family otherwise granting equal social status. As a result, the Kitsune Court uses wakizashi and the Kikage Clan use spears. What's "this"?
8. Series.Lion Maru G: Blank ZCE.
9. TabletopGame.Old World Of Darkness: In those gamelines of the old World of Darkness where mundane weapons did matter. Unclear.

Sinkholes (21/60)

1. Blue Is Heroic: Blue Exorcist has this trope right on the title, with Rin Okumura being the Anti Anti Christ who becomes an exorcist and battles his father Satan while having a strong affinity with blue fire that engulfs him whenever he unleashes his [[KatanasAreJustBetter sword]]. Sinkholed to the word "sword".
2. Films of the 2000s – Franchises: Kill Bill — Katanas Are Just Better in its purest form. Sinkhole that shouldn't be present in an index of films.
3. Good Thing You Can Heal: The nations of Hetalia: Axis Powers have a powerful Healing Factor that lets them regenerate near-instantly from wounds that would be fatal to humans: For example, France at one point is shot in the head by the rifle-wielding Switzerland, only to be fine moments later. Russia breaks all of his bones after jumping from a plane with no parachute^note He thought the snow on the ground would cushion his fall and is fine with no recovery time that we can see. China is stabbed in the back by the [[KatanasAreJustBetter katana-wielding]] Japan, and except for a scar remaining there, shows no ill effects afterwards, and a young Lithuania continues holding a conversation as normal with an arrow sticking straight through his head. Sinkhole that indicates "Japanese character wields a katana.
4. Hot Blooded Sideburns: Bro in Homestuck sports these, along with Cool Shades, [[KatanasAreJustBetter a katana]], and one of the most awesome STRIFE techniques ever unleashed. Sinkholed to the word "katana". Context says that the character is cool / badass because of katana, not how the katana is better than other weapons.
5. Noble Male, Roguish Male: Ragna and Jin in Blazblue. Jin was brought up in a noble family in refined culture and learned to fight as a Teen Genius in a prestigious Military Academy. He fights in a graceful and elegant style with Yukianesa, a long [[KatanasAreJustBetter katana]] crafted from solid ice. By contrast, Ragna never received a proper education and grew up as a criminal, learning how to fight under the legendary hero Jubei. He relies more on brute force with Bloodscythe, a large angular sword that can transform into a scythe. Both of them care little for the world and both of them are Jerkasses (Ragna not completely, though). Sinkholed to the word "katana".
6. Valkyries: Hrist is the second Valkyrie sister, as well as the third to act as a Volund. Hrist has a Split Personality, one known as her "Trembling in Fear" personality, who is quiet, calm, and kind, and the other known as her "Trembling in Anger" personality, who is wrathful, Hot-Blooded, and a Lady Swears-a-Lot. She acts as Sasaki Kojiro's Volund, taking the form of a [[KatanasAreJustBetter katana]], with her special ability allowing her to split into two weapons. Sinkholed to the word "katana".
7. Analysis.Pastimes Prove Personality: Collecting: Oh dear. In media-land, collecting is creepy. It shows obsessiveness and single-mindedness, possibly also rabid passion when some highly sought-after trinket appears on Ebay. Much depends on what exactly is being collected: stamp collectors are boring, train spotters are boring and slightly scary, ceramic pigs are quirky and silly, and weapons... well, let's just say "Uh-oh" and leave it at that.^note Collecting swords and [[KatanasAreJustBetter katana]] specifically are a sign of an unstable, loner Otaku, in most internet circles. Sports memorabilia, however, is acceptable and healthy, as are film/celebrity collections as long as they fall below the "scary stalker" line. Dolls of any kind equals serial killer. Sinkholed to the word "katana".
8. Anime.Kill La Kill: Two sinkholes that indicate "character uses katana".
   • Ryuko and Satsuki are pretty much like Dante and Vergil and Ragna and Jin. Red vs. Blue, BFS vs. Katanas Are Just Better, and Siblings? Yup. '''
   • Ryuko's situation and personality also bares a striking resemblance to that of Ragna the Bloodedge. Both of them are mean, but good-natured loners who wield really large swords that can transform into an even bigger sword. They're primarily motivated by revenge for the death of a loved one and go against an established government to do so, and end in up a conflict with [[KatanasAreJustBetter a Katana user]] Who later is revealed to be their sibling. Bonus points for the actual culprits of their messed up lives being revealed later, and taunt them over their weakness which massively pisses them off. The Big Bad of each respective series is also revealed to be a relative of theirs as well, who is also under the control of an otherworldly menace.^note The main difference here is, unlike what happened so far in Blaz Blue Chrono Phantasma Both Ragyo and Nui worked and died together at the end compared with what happened with Terumi (Nui's counterpart), who was betrayed by Izanami (Ragyo's counterpart) and killed by Hakumen at the end. They also both have a Cloudcuckoolander Morality Pet as a best friend (Mako and Taokaka).
9. Awesome.Project X Zone: Just before the fight begins, Kaguya blesses Sanger's [[KatanasAreJustBetter katana]] to give him a better chance at hurting the demonic forces they're about to face. It turns out Sanger's connection to his sword was so powerful, that blessing allowed it to take the form of the Type 3 Colossal Blade we all know and love. Sinkholed to the word "katana".
10. Awesome.Were Alive: CJ and Scratch engaging in an epic [[KatanasAreJustBetter katana]] vs. knife fight. The Radio Drama nature of the show makes it difficult to tell just what is happening, but just let your imagination run wild and enjoy the awesomeness. Sinkholed to the word "katana".
11. CastingAShadow.Video Games: Being one of the elemental Blade types in Xenoblade Chronicles 2, the player can resonate with Dark-type blades, just like with any other. The most prominent examples include Azami (a ruthless marionette/cyborg-like woman with a Magic Eye and a huge gun), Perceval (a former assassin with a desire to punish evildoers with his [[KatanasAreJustBetter katana]] and a no-kill policy), Kasandra (a sweet girl who seems to be unaware of the misfortune that seems to follow her around, and wields a gigantic hammer) and Vale (a spear-wielding teenager with an appreciation for the occult). Sinkholed to the word "katana".
12. DragaliaLost.Tropes R To Z: (Weapon-Based Characterization) [[KatanasAreJustBetter Blades]] play similarly to Swords. The last hit in their combo becomes stronger if you attack after the character sheathes their weapon. Sinkholed to the word "Blades".
13. HeroesPreferSwords.Literature: The Asterisk War: Ayato Amagiri trained in his family's kendo dojo as a child, and in the series he wields the Ser-Veresta, a sentient Laser Blade previously used by his sister. Its base form is a broadsword, but over time he learns to shape it like a [[KatanasAreJustBetter katana]]. Other characters wield sword-type weapons as well, such as Julis, Claudia and [[KatanasAreJustBetter Kirin]]. Two sinkholes that have nothing to do with the superiority of the katana.
14. Manga.Future Diary: Near the end of the series, Yuno starts wearing an black lacy dress with Zettai Ryouiki boots and straps all over. Add in the fact that she's [[KatanasAreJustBetter wielding a katana the whole time]], she basically turns into a Lady of War sprinkled with Axe-Crazy. Sinkhole that refers to character using a katana.
15. PlayingWith.Hyperspace Arsenal: Straight: Player's character, Colonel Bob, can carry on his person: an entrenching tool (which can be replaced by a pair of [[KatanasAreJustBetter Japanese swords]]), a pair of supressed .45 pistols, a massive .500-caliber magnum revolver, a pump-action shotgun, a full-auto assault shotgun, a pair of Sawed-Off Shotguns, an belt-fed light machine gun with an underslung Grenade Launcher, a gatling gun, an bolt-action anti-materiel rifle, a quad-barreled rocket launcher, 99 frag grenades... Sinkholed to "Japanese swords".
16. Series.Miami Vice: (Samurai) Castillo. His martial arts training made him into a stealthy [[KatanasAreBetter katana-wielding]] Badass, but his code of honor was pure Bushido. Highlighted in the second season episode aptly titled "Bushido". Sinkhole that just mean "character wields katana".
17. VideoGame.Nuclear Throne: (Throwing Your Sword Always Works) Chicken's ability lets her throw her weapons — even if she only has one of them. This, of course, includes her [[KatanasAreJustBetter starting weapon]]. Sinkholed to "starting weapon".
18. Webcomic.Evil 2016: (Impaled with Extreme Prejudice) Kahn gets impaled on a piece of rebar after Omega House collapses, but hardly seems bothered by it. Shortly after, Gabriel has a flashback that implies Jezebel did this to him with [[KatanasAreJustBetter a katana]]. Sinkhole indicates "a katana is used to impale someone".
19. WesternAnimation.The Lego Ninjago Movie: (Weapon-Based Characterization) Hotheaded Kai dual wields [[KatanasAreJustBetter katanas]]. Sinkholed to "katanas".
20. YMMV.Devil May Cry: Sinkholes that just mean "character uses katana".
    • (Hilarious in Hindsight) Vergil's katana, Yamato, has its name written as 閻魔刀 in Japanese. 閻魔 ("Enma") is the Japanese name of the Buddhist god of the dead, Yama. The weapon's etymology is even acknowledged In-Universe in Devil May Cry 5 under "The Legend of Sparda" library file; the Yamato was a devil sword of Sparda and is intentionally named to "embody a god of death". In the hololive fandom, Ina's stream manager, ENMa-chan, also happens to be named after the same god of the dead, she became infamous for killing a Tank in Left 4 Dead 2 with a katana, and is therefore commonly depicted as a [[KatanasAreJustBetter katana-wielder]]. Devil May Cry fans who are also into hololive found it interesting that there are now at least two characters who associate the god Enma with a katana, and thus compare ENMa-chan with Vergil.
    • (Magic Franchise Word) Due to Vergil saying it a lot in his Boss Banter, the word "Motivation" is engraved enough in the Devil May Cry community as a meme for more than a decade, so mentioning it will evoke a reaction from any DMC fan especially if the topic is about Vergil, or simply related to katanas and iaido.