History Main / StormOfBlades

* In ''VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening'', the knights of the first Feroxi outpost use this tactic with their lances. Their attack misses due to Sumia's [[JustInTime quick rescue]].
* In ''VideoGame/FoodFantasy'', Zongzi's power skill is called Shooting Swords, which rains swords made of energy onto the enemy.
* In ''[[VideoGame/GundamVsSeries Gundam Extreme Vs.]]'', the [[FinalBoss Extreme Gundam Tachyon Phase]] gains an attack when it's down to about half its HP where it summons energy swords which seek out the player and attempt to impale them ''en masse''. This tends to leave one open for its [[{{BFS}} Tachyon Slicer]] attacks.
* This pops up every now and again in ''Franchise/KingdomHearts'':

* Erza of ''Manga/FairyTail'' can do this by summoning lots of swords with her [[UnlimitedWardrobe Re-quip]] magic. She threatened to use this against Evergreen, who promptly gave in. If she has enough time to set it up, she can even launch ''200'' swords at once, each set to hit a target across an entire town.
* In ''Manga/GetBackers,'' PsychoForHire Akabane can do this with the many scalpels he has stored within his body.
* In ''Literature/HaruhiSuzumiya'', this is used by [[spoiler:Ryoko Asakura]] in a reality-warping attempt to [[spoiler:kill Kyon]]. Stopped when [[spoiler:Yuki Nagato]] pulls a BigDamnHeroes moment ''[[TakingTheBullet as a human shield]]''. And then proceeds to kick [[spoiler:Ryoko]]'s ass ten ways to Tuesday.

* In ''Manga/MagiLabyrinthOfMagic'', Dunya Musta'sim using her Extrema Magic she can conjure a massive number of swords that rain down upon her enemies.

* When he decides to get serious, Mifune of ''Manga/SoulEater'' takes his box of swords and throws them up into the air ''en masse'', which rain down and cover the area in swords to use in attacks. He calls it ''mugen itto-ryu'', or "infinite one-sword style." He's also got a special attack that uses a 13-blade combination, and when he wants to show he's [[LetsGetDangerous serious]], brings ''two'' sword boxes.

* Dunya Musta'sim in the manga/anime ''Manga/MagiLabyrinthOfMagic'' using her Extrema Magic she can conjure a MASSIVE number of swords that rain down upon her enemies.
* IdiotHero Jack Rakan from ''Manga/NegimaMagisterNegiMagi'' pulls this with his artifact The Hero With A Thousand Faces. Every time he uses it, expect massive amounts of win for anyone who manages to survive.

* This is Brina's main ability in ''Literature/DisAcedia''.

* ''VideoGame/DragonBlaze2000'', a HighFantasy-themed VerticalScrollingShooter, have one of Ian's power-up attacks being firing scores and scores of flying swords that homes in on his foes.

* The 'Cerulean Rain' Weapon Art in ''VideoGame/TheLastRemnant''.

* Yumiko and Guibarthez from ''Literature/ModernMagicMadeSimple''.
* When he decides to get serious, Mifune of ''Manga/SoulEater'' takes his box of swords and throws them up into the air ''en masse'', which rain down and cover the area in swords to use in attacks. He calls it ''mugen itto-ryu'', or "infinite one-sword style."
** He's also got a special attack that uses a 13-blade combination, and when he wants to show he's [[LetsGetDangerous serious]], brings ''two'' sword boxes.
* The "Million Swords of Hate" in ''Anime/RevolutionaryGirlUtena'' is an active, symbolic-yet-real representation of the fury the world has against realistic failings of any who attempt to be "The Prince". (This being ''Utena'', what exactly the symbolism represents could be argued.)

* Erza of ''Manga/FairyTail'' can do this by summoning lots of swords with her [[UnlimitedWardrobe Re-quip]] magic. She threatened to use this against Evergreen, who promptly gave in. If she has enough time to set it up, she can even launch ''200'' swords at once, each set to hit a target across an entire town.
* ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'':
** One of Kaname Tousen's shikai attacks is Benihiko, which creates hundreds of blades that rain down on his opponent.
** In Shikai or its lowest level of Bankai, Byakuya's sword forms a swirling mass of tiny blossom-like blades. Byakuya can create the form of [[FlechetteStorm tiny daggers]] or entire swords out of them, enabling him create a storm of blades whenever he likes. When the Bankai enters Senkei, it creates an arena of thousands of fully-formed swords. Although Byakuya promises not to fight Ichigo with any more than swords than his two hands can hold, when later faced with a Quincy opponent who can take on him, Zaraki and Hitsugaya at the same time, he unleashes the entire lot at Gerard's head.
* IdiotHero Jack Rakan from ''Manga/NegimaMagisterNegiMagi'' pulls this with his artifact The Hero With A Thousand Faces. Every time he uses it, expect massive amounts of win for anyone who manages to survive.

* In ''[[Literature/HaruhiSuzumiya The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya]]'', this is used by [[spoiler:Ryoko Asakura]] in a reality-warping attempt to [[spoiler:kill Kyon]]. Stopped when [[spoiler:Yuki Nagato]] pulls a BigDamnHeroes moment ''[[TakingTheBullet as a human shield]]''. And then proceeds to kick [[spoiler:Ryoko]]'s ass ten ways to Tuesday.

* Kongou uses this against Iona in episode 12 of ''Manga/ArpeggioOfBlueSteel'', after the latter somehow survived multiple torpedos shot at her, along with evading the WaveMotionGun multiple times.

* ''Manga/BlackClover'':
** Licht uses his Light Magic create countless blades of light to fire at enemies. His "Arrows of Judgment" spell forms enough through the mana stored by the Third Eye to rain down on all of the Clover Kingdom.
** Lumiere Silvamillion Clover can form multiple giant blades of light, which he used to bind the demon that attacked the kingdom and eventually kill it.

* The Black Sword Rune in ''VideoGame/SuikodenII'' has this as its ultimate attack.

* ''[[VideoGame/ExtrapowerGiantFist EXTRAPOWER Giant Fist]]'': Coma's EXTRAPOWER ability, [[DesperationAttack usable only at critical health]], opens a portal behind her and releases a flood of edged weapons that flies out in a horizontal line as tall as she is. Whatever got her to low health, odds are it's getting erased.

* Three of the most powerful enemy magic attacks in ''VideoGame/SuperMarioRPG'' are "[[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Sword Rain," "Spear Rain" and "Arrow Rain,"]] all of which are unique to the final boss fight against Smithy. During the first stage of the fight Smithy can summon lackeys that know "Sword Rain," while during the second phase of the fight Smithy can use all three attacks, but only when he morphs his head into the "Magic Head" form.

** Riku demonstrates this by shooting copies of his sword Soul Eater at the enemy with his Dark Impulse sleight in ''[[KingdomHeartsChainOfMemories Re:Chain of Memories]]''.

* ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry'':
** Dante's Lucifer weapon in ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry4''. And the blades [[EverythingIsBetterWithExplosions explode]].
** Vergil's Summoned Swords, which are made of magic.
* One of the most powerful spells in the ''VideoGame/AgeOfWonders'' series features a volley of sharp projectiles raining on the entire field. The Spell appears in the second game, but this time, it rains actual swords, that only hit enemies. It is also the most powerful spell that can be used by heroes, which means you can actually use this spell several times in a single fight.
* This is basically the whole point of the [[VideoGame/{{Warcraft}} Night Elf]] Warden's 'Fan of Knives' ability. Also shows up in ''VideoGame/WorldofWarcraft''as an ability for Rogues. It doesn't actually do all that much damage though.
* In ''VideoGame/ScottPilgrimVsTheWorldTheGame'', guess what Knives does?
* ''VideoGame/FableII'' has the Blades spell, which summons several swords that fly into the target(s).
** ''VideoGame/FableIII'' has a more powerful version by merging a spell with the blades spell
* Used for quite a few BulletHell attacks in the ''Franchise/TouhouProject'' series. Most notably, [[BattleButler Sakuya Izayoi]] uses knives, and [[NinjaMaid Yumeko]] uses ''swords''.

* In ''VideoGame/SkiesOfArcadia'', Vyse's area-effect special move is called "Rain of Swords".

* Weiss's [[LimitBreak Critical Heart]] summons up a storm of swords in ''VideoGame/ArcanaHeart 3''.
* The "Swords of Eternal Light" paladin ability from ''VideoGame/DragonFable'' allows you to call down a rain of swords of light upon your enemy.
* From ''VideoGame/KirbysReturnToDreamLand'' onwards, [[spoiler:Galacta Knight]] has gained the ability to rain down swords of HardLight as a very hard-to-avoid attack.
* One of [[spoiler: [[TrueFinalBoss Chakravartin]]'s main attacks]] from ''VideoGame/AsurasWrath'' is this.
* ''VideoGame/DarkSouls'' has the Gravelord Sword Dance, a powerful spell without stat requirements that summons and launches lots of phantasmal blades at enemies.
* Popular Chinese series, RPG xian jian qi xia zhuan, first appearance as early as 1995.
* In ''VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening'', the knights of the first Feroxi outpost use this tactic with their lances. Their attack misses due to Sumia's [[JustInTime quick rescue]].
* In ''[[VideoGame/GundamVsSeries Gundam Extreme Vs.]]'', the [[FinalBoss Extreme Gundam Tachyon Phase]] gains an attack when it's down to about half its HP where it summons energy swords which seek out the player and attempt to impale them ''en masse''. This tends to leave one open for its [[{{BFS}} Tachyon Slicer]] attacks.
* A variation appears in the ''VideoGame/{{Exile}}'' series, starting with ''Exile II'', in the form of blade walls: clouds of floating blades that could be passed through if you didn't mind taking major damage from them. Could be created directly, appear as traps, or as part of a multi-layer shielding spell which included ice and fire walls, as well as an AntiMagic cloud in the center.
* ''VideoGame/CustomRobo'' for the Gamecube features the Sword Storm gun. Firing the gun causes a swarm of blue energy swords to form above your opponent, then fall at them with impressive speed but only middling accuracy. Volume is this gun's watchword, as opposed to precision.

* In ''VideoGame/LeagueOfLegends'', Katarina's ultimate ability, "Death Lotus", makes her spin while throwing up to 10 daggers to every nearby enemy in a few seconds.
* ''VideoGame/PathOfExile'' has the Bladefall spell, which rains down volleys of ethereal blades on the targeted area. A cosmetic microtransaction that recolors the blades from green to gold was immediately nicknamed [[VisualNovel/FateStayNight Gate Of Babylon]].
* In ''VideoGame/{{Neptunia}}'', Neptune does this with [[HeroesPreferSwords energy swords]] and Vert does this with lances for some of their special attacks. {{Exaggerated|Trope}} in ''VII'', where Vert's strongest LimitBreak involves summoning and firing almost ''100'' lances at her target.

* In ''VideoGame/FoodFantasy'', Zongzi's power skill is called Shooting Swords, which rains swords made of energy onto the enemy.
* ''[[VideoGame/KingdomRush Kingdom Rush: Vengeance]]'' has the Northerners' Village level. If you have troops to block enemies on the path, the Northerner leader Arkuz will command his men to throw a storm of bladed weapons from above that deals massive damage if you don't move your troops out of the ShadowOfImpendingDoom.
* ''[[VideoGame/BloonsTowerDefense Bloons TD 5]]'' features Blade Maelstrom as the [[LimitBreak activated ability]] for the Tack Shooter. It sends out a rotating storm of blades with infinite pierce, making them great at taking down {{Zerg Rush}}es of Bloons, and it recharges a lot faster than most other abilities. ''[=BTD6=]'' adds an upgraded version, the Super Maelstrom, which shoots twice as many blades for a much longer period of time, letting it decimate even more Bloons with every use.
* One of the Silent's rare cards in ''VideoGame/SlayTheSpire'' is called Storm of Steel, which [[DiscardAndDraw discards your entire hand and replaces it with an equal number of free shivs]]. Shiv decks aim for this in general, as there are very few cards that only generate one - the Silent apparently keeps ludicrous numbers of them under her cloak, according to the card art for [[HyperspaceArsenal Infinite Blades]] (a power that produces a free shiv at the start of each turn).

* In the ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime'' episode "Rainy Day Daydream", Finn and Jake are stuck inside thanks to a [[WeirdWeather "knifestorm"]]. This phenomenon is apparently not as common as rain in the Land of Ooo, but is common enough that Jake recognizes it on sight (though 13-year-old Finn had never seen it before).

* In the ''VideoGame/ScottPilgrim'' videogame, guess what Knives does?

* ''LetsPlay/WitchCraftSMP'': The Key of the King's Law, obtainable from fighting high-powered Gaia Guardians from the Botania mod, is a golden key which summons a barrage of golden lightning bolt-shaped projectiles which explode upon impact of the target. Both Tiff and El wield this in the final battle.