Changed w/o discussion: Sword Beam

Some good images in this thread. I have nothing to add but Jin's Touga Hyojin.◊

I would disagree Link's attack in the series is consistent with other actual sword beams like Fate's Plasma Zamber Breaker in Nanoha, Ferengi Laser Whips in Star Trek TNG and the sword item in The Binding Of Isaac Antibirth among others.

It's the only actual sword beam example posted in this entire thread, everything else is Razor Wind style shockwave which should not be this trope, maybe a related spinoff. Even that page's image is exactly the same kind of thing that others are posting for this one.

Note: I did look for good images of these others but I couldn't find a thing.

edited 9th Jan '17 10:34:02 PM by Memers

Just noting that:

• both swinging motion and simple shooting from the sword are acknowledged to be covered by this trope
• The Link cartoons are valid examples as they demonstrate the trope, regardless how well the depiction sits with the source material
• Razor Wind seems to be a sister trope for air and not energy blasts. The second paragraph on there really makes no sense to me and should be rewritten.

I'm not familiar with your other examples, but you've got Plasma Zanber Breaker backwards. Fate never had to swing her Magic Staff in order to shoot Plasma Smasher blasts. It's only when she turned it into a sword that it gained that requirement (and Plasma Zanber Breaker is the exact same attack as Plasma Smasher,^note Word of God is that Fate's and Hayate's attacks are supposed to be called "Plasma Zanber Smasher" and "Ragnarok", and they only shouted "Breaker" for the sake of timing just with more power behind it).

Anyway, the point is that Zelda is the Trope Namer for Sword Beam, and is not restricted to literal beams (nor are most people going to think of the cartoon over the games). If you restrict the page to literal beams, then you're creating a situation where the Trope Namer is not an example of the trope... and where people familiar with the Zelda usage of the term are going to keep adding non-literal beams anyway.

And besides, changing the contents of a trope page to match its name is missing the point. The page isn't based on the name, the name is based on the page (and the page is based on the underlying patterns in fiction, which we can't change). If there's a mismatch, it's the name that needs to go.

I'm not saying that the Crissword's zaps aren't Sword Beams, just that they're unconventional ones. When a beam is just point-and-shoot it becomes impersonal, which weakens one of the primary appeals of a sword compared to modern weapons. If it requires physical effort, then it feels more like an extension of the character's fighting skills and of the sword's normal functions, rather than relying on outside forces. Same logic outlined on the page description for Rocket Punch. Mind, in context, the Zelda cartoon doesn't suffer much from this, since relying too much on his equipment is one of Link's character flaws there.

And Razor Wind is a subtrope of Blow You Away for wind that's used to cut things. Not specifically wind fired from swords. People keep changing the page image without discussion though.

edited 10th Jan '17 3:56:51 PM by Prime32

I rewatched the As movie and she does both. A sword energy shockwave and shooting a beam from her sword in the very climax of the movie.

"That is, it's a weak example of a Sword Beam since the "sword" part is completely irrelevant to how the beam works" - Prime 32

Eh, that'd be a better cricism of "Zelda screenshot as a standalone image" than "Zelda screenshot as part of a collage."

"Also, while the Zelda games are the Trope Namer for Sword Beam, the attacks in the cartoon are referred to as "zaps"." - Prime 32

Is there supposed to be some contradiction between "beam" and "zap?" I've heard lasers referred to with both...

...Memers, I just linked to a video of that battle in my last post, at the exact point where she uses the Wave Motion Sword attack. You took a screenshot of the one frame between her swinging it down and the beam coming out.

First thing first, the current image Definitely hasa to go. The main thing about image is that is supposed to be clear visual representation of a trope, which th present image does not. The first image was pretty clear to me, i see no point in changing it. If for some reason it doesn't work 5.1 definitely does the trick. These two are the best ones in my opinion, but like i said the original one does the trick already.

I have removed the picture from the page in the meantime that we look for a replacement, since there was at least consensus on this.

May as well replace it with the original image in the meantime. Maybe we'll find something better, maybe we won't, but it's better than nothing and this started as a "Changed w/o discussion" anyway.

Found a Youtube Channel with political stances you want to share? Hop on over to this page and add them.

^^ I see consensus to swap back to the Kirby image, not to do that.

Becky: Who are you? The Mysterious Stranger: An angel. Huck: What's your name? The Mysterious Stranger: Satan.

Clock expired, so restoring Kirby pic then closing.

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