History Main / ExcaliburInTheStone

Not to be confused with SwordInTheStone or ExcaliburInTheRust. See also CowboyBebopAtHisComputer.

* The film Excalibur attempts to use both versions; Merlin gets the sword from the Lady of the Lake himself and gives it to Uther to use to unite Britain. But, when Uther proves to be a jerk unworthy of being king by going to war with one of his vassals just so he can take the guy's wife, Merlin withdraws his support just as everyone starts rebelling. Uther ends up sticking Excalibur in a stone so that if he can't have it, then no one can. Later on Arthur, who was taken away by Merin and raised in secret, comes along and pulls Excalibur out of the stone simply because his foster brother Kay needs a sword for the tournament (the purpose of the tournament being, of course, to win a chance to try and pull the sword from the stone... Arthur was either extremely naive or not very bright.) Still later, Arthur manages to BREAK Excalibur and has to give it to the Lady of the Lake to be fixed.

* ''{{Series/Merlin}}'', as of "The Coming of Arthur: Part 2". [[spoiler: The (technically still unnamed) sword that Merlin cast into the Lake of Avalon in the Season 1 episode "Excalibur" because it was too dangerous to use is retrieved by Freya (from the Season 2 episode "The Lady of the Lake") to defeat the undead army. And afterwards, since it's still too dangerous and it's been shown to be retrievable from the lake, Merlin takes it into the depths of the forest and drives it into a stone so it ''definitely'' can't be used again.]] Well, for now at least.

Not to be confused with SwordInTheStone or ExcaliburInTheRust.

* The ''BatmanTheBraveAndTheBold'' episode "Day of the Dark Knight!":

* ''{{Series/Merlin}}'', as of "The Coming of Arthur: Part 2". [[spoiler: The (technically still unnamed) sword that Merlin cast into the Lake of Avalon in the Season 1 episode "Excalibur" because it was too dangerous to use is retrieved by Freya (from the Season 2 episode "The Lady of the Lake") to defeat the undead army. And afterwards, since it's still too dangeous and it's been shown to be retrievable from the lake, Merlin takes it into the depths of the forest and drives it into a stone so it ''definitely'' can't be used again.]] Well, for now at least.

* Played with in Valerio Massimo Manfredi's historical fantasy, The Last Legion, in which "Excalibur" is actually the unnamed sword of Julius Ceasar. Following the battle at the novel's climax, the child-Emperor Romulas Augustus throws the sword so that it embeds itself in a stone in the middle of a lake. As if there were any confusion over the connection, the film of the book makes it even more obvious by the name Excalibur being derived from a partially obscured inscription, "E*** S*** Calibur***"

* In the Infocom game ''ArthurTheQuestForExcalibur'', an usurper sinks the sword in the stone in a lake and swaps it with a fake that he can pull out to demonstrate that he's the true king. When the player wins the game, the Lady in the Lake parts the waters to reveal the real stone, sword included, and THEN Arthur pulls the sword out. Which sort of fulfills both legends, but not in the way most people picture it.

** Which is actually a plot point-Arthur ''doesn't'' have Excalibur, but he'd very much like to. What he has is Excalibur's scabbard, which has it's own magical properties quite independent of the sword. [[spoiler: The reason Arthur doesn't have Excalibur, and Caliburn is able to transform into Excalibur at the end of the game, is because for some reason or another that doesn't make a whole lot of sense, Caliburn is Excalibur, minus the swords carried by Gawain, Percival, and Lancelot.]]

* Parodied by ''BlazingDragons'': it is one sword, but its name is an amalgam of both--"Excaliburn"--which is also a [[ThemeNaming a play on how everyone's names are related to firing or burning]].

* Parodied by ''BlazingDragons'': it one sword, but its name is the exact same as this trope (is it the TropeNamer?), which is also a [[ThemeNaming a play on how everyone's names are related to firing or burning]].

Portrayals of KingArthur's sword {{Excalibur}} as the "Sword in the Stone". This is not the way the ArthurianLegend usually goes: Excalibur was the sword given to Arthur by the [[EmpoweringLakeLady Lady of the Lake]]. The one embedded in rock was nothing special (in most versions), except that it signified the right of the King to rule.

* Excalibur in ''SoulEater'' mixes both swords in regards to it location: It impales a rock inside a remote, watery cave inhabited by fairies, and legends claim only a 'true hero' can pull it from its resting place (which turns out to be untrue). Nothing is presently known about Excalibur's history (and therefore whether or not Arthur possessed another sword before it), apart from the fact that his [[MemeticMutation legend began in the 12th century, from United King he's looking for him, or that he's going to California]].

* In ''SoulEater'' Excalibur can be obtained by a "true hero" if they pull it out of the pedestal it can be found him. Although in a twist [[spoiler: any meister can pull him out and claim him as their [[LivingWeapon partner]], but he's so insanely annoying and demanding (expecting his wielder to follow 1000 rules, including listening to him ramble for 5 hours every day) almost no one can put up with him]].

* In ''TheDresdenFiles'', Harry does some research on Michael Carpenter and his sword and discovers that Michael is a descendant of King Arthur. When he's explaining this to another character, he makes a mention that Michael's sword is Excalibur, which King Arthur pulled from a stone.

* Played straight then subverted in ''{{Gargoyles}}''; when KingArthur is resurrected he finds that Excalibur is no longer with him. A prophecy states that the old King will receive the sword; the problem is that Macbeth believes he could be the King in question. When the sword is apparently found in the stone, Macbeth attempts to use it but finds that it's a fake. Arthur, more GenreSavvy, breaks the statue the stone is on, and finds real sword was inside the statue's eye.

* ''{{CastlevaniaSorrow Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow}}'' has a sword called Excalibur which is ''still in the stone''. So you go around swinging a sword with a giant rock at the end of it.

* ''{{CastlevaniaSorrow|Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow}}'' has a sword called Excalibur which is ''still in the stone''. So you go around swinging a sword with a giant rock at the end of it.

* ''{{CastlevaniaSorrow|Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow'' has a sword called Excalibur which is ''still in the stone''. So you go around swinging a sword with a giant rock at the end of it.

** This same twist is used in {{Magicka}}.

* ''{{Castlevania}}: Aria of Sorrow'' has a sword called Excalibur which is ''still in the stone''. So you go around swinging a sword with a giant rock at the end of it.

* ''{{Merlin}}'', as of "The Coming of Arthur: Part 2". [[spoiler: The (technically still unnamed) sword that Merlin cast into the Lake of Avalon in the Season 1 episode "Excalibur" because it was too dangerous to use is retrieved by Freya (from the Season 2 episode "The Lady of the Lake") to defeat the undead army. And afterwards, since it's still too dangeous and it's been shown to be retrievable from the lake, Merlin takes it into the depths of the forest and drives it into a stone so it ''definitely'' can't be used again.]] Well, for now at least.

[[AC:{{film}}]]

* ''{{Merlin}}'', as of "The Coming of Arthur: Part 2". [[spoiler: The (technically still unnamed) sword that Merlin cast into the Lake of Avalon in the Season 1 episode "Excalibur" because it was too dangerous to use is retrieved by Freya (from the Season 2 episode "The Lady of the Lake") to defeat the undead army. And afterwards, since it's still too dangeous and it's been shown to be retrievable from the lake, Merlin takes it into the depths of the forest and drives it into a stone so it ''definitely'' can't be used again.]]

* ''{{Merlin}}'', as of ''The Coming of Arthur: Part 2''.

* In ''SoulEater'' Excalibur can be obtained by a "true hero" if they pull it out of the pedestal it can be found him. Although in a twist [[spoiler: any meister can pull him out and claim him as their [[LivingWeapon partner]], but he's so insanely annoying and demanding (expecting his wielder to follow 1000 rules, including listening to him ramble for 5 hours every day) no one can put up with him]].

** The logic for this being: The player character is not actually Arthur, so he is obviously not allowed to draw the sword from the stone. . .