History Main / MasterSwordsman

* MiyamotoMusashi was considered one of the greats in RealLife.

** To be specific, Mihawk could, upon introduction, effortlessly hold off the previously unstoppable [[DualWielding tri-wielding]] Zoro with ''a three-inch dagger'', or use his main sword to chop a galleon in half from at least fifty feet away. His main sword, by the way, is a large [[WhatDoYouMeanItsNotSymbolic cross-shaped affair]] that he uses on [[PsychoForHire whatever he feels like]]. The world government effectively pays him to only use it on other pirates.

** Super Sentai has other contenders as well, considering that sword is one of the series's sginature weapon:

** Charles-Geneviève-Louis-Auguste-André-Thimothée d'Éon de Beaumont (the real one) defeated the Chevalier de Saint George: keep in mind that Saint George was then considered the best swordsman of Europe while Éon was nearly 60 years old AND wearing a dress.

* German swordsman Johannes Liechtenauer had a similar reputation to Musashi in Europe, though his fame waned as the sword fell out of use, until he was almost completely forgotten to history, unlike Musashi. He and his surviving ''Fechtbücher'' are generally remembered only by niche western martial arts enthusiasts.

* Don Jerónimo Sánchez de Carranza and Gérard Thibault d'Anvers.

* Shiba Takeru and Fuwa Juzo from ''SamuraiSentaiShinkenger''. Understandably, [[BloodKnight Juzo]] sees Takeru as a ''worthyopponent''

* Kyuuzou and Kambei from [[Seven Samurai]]

* Shiba Takeru and Fuwa Juzo from [[Samurai Sentai Shinkenger]]. Understandably, [[Blood knight Juzo]] sees Takeru as a [[worthy opponent]]

* ''ThePrincessBride'' features ''two'' master swordsmen in the Man in Black and Inigo Montoya. [[IAmNotLeftHanded Neither of which are left handed.]]

* ''{{Feng Shui}}'', with the right Schticks, can create a character like this. The Leaping Sword fu path in particular is based on Wuxia and specializes in high-flying swordplay.

* There is an ancient order of Mantids in ''ShadowsOfTheApt'' known as the [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Weaponsmasters]]. While many of them prefer the [[ImprobableWeaponUser Claw]] (an ElegantWeaponForAMoreCivilizedAge), there're a good number of rapier specialists- including [[spoiler:Tynisa]], by the end of the second book.

** All true, except he is Italian, moreover he was right-handed but his father, a champion himself and his first master, teached him to [[IAmNotLeftHanded fence left-handed]] to surprise his opponents.

** Keep in mind as well that a single attack in D&D doesn't nessecarily mean just one swing, either.

* Since it's based on Wuxia, several classes in FengShui are considered this.

* How has Link from ''TheLegendofZelda'' not been mentioned? I mean come on, his sword is even ''called'' the ''Master Sword!''

* What, no love for [[Zorro]]? In The Curse of Capistrano, he easily is the best swordsman in the area, and latter works only cement his status as a Master Swordsman.

** Jaime Lannister is widely regarded as the best swordsman of his own time.

** And in 4th Edition, the Kensei is a Paragon Path that fighters can take, focusing on a chosen weapon (usually a sword or some other heavy blade) and kicking serious ass with it, though not to the ludicrous extent of the kit version. And the fighter gets to keep his armor.

** Ditto with Thomas of Hookton, from the ''GrailQuest'' series also by Bernard Cromwell- [[{{ImplausibleAimingPowers}} brilliant archer]], but give him a sword, and he'll likely just brute-force his way past the oposition the same as Sharpe (one book has Thomas doing horrible/cool/horribly-cool things to people with a Scimitar, which is explicity described in the book as being designed for crude, unskilled hacking).
** It was actually a falchion, not a scimitar but the end result is the same.

* In ''CodexAlera'', any Knight-level [[ExtraOredinary metalcrafter]] is one of these, with the most powerful crafters being unbelievably capable swordsmen with ImplausibleFencingPowers.