| 1 | Muramasa Sengo was a swordsmith in 16th century Japan. Though an excellent swordsmith, he was said to be insanely ill-tempered, verging on just straight-up insane. This trait led to myths that swords made by him were [[{{EvilWeapon}} cursed with the same afflictions]], encouraging the wielder to fight to the death, and would, if no battle was present, turn on their owners and [[{{DrivenToSuicide}} compel them to commit suicide.]] These rumors weren't helped by the fact that Shogun UsefulNotes/TokugawaIeyasu banned Muramasa blades because many of his friends had been killed by them, and that he had accidentally cut himself badly with one (after all, history is WrittenByTheWinners). |
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| 3 | In fiction, Muramasa will usually be a rival of [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masamune Gorō Nyūdō Masamune]] (Masamune). Never mind the fact that [[ArtisticLicenseHistory they didn't live in the same time period]]. A legend regarding both swordmakers said that they held a competition to see who was better by putting one of each of their blades in a stream. Leaves floating towards the Masamune would drift safely around the blade, while the Muramasa drew leaves to the blade, whereupon they would [[AbsurdlySharpBlade slice themselves in half]]. Muramasa bragged that this was evidence of his sword's superiority since Masamune's failed to cut anything, but Masamune stated that Muramasa's blade was inferior since it cut indiscriminately without control. |
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| 5 | Muramasa's swords, which are often named after him, will usually be AlwaysChaoticEvil, [[{{EmpathicWeapon}} Empathic]], [[AxCrazy bloodthirsty]] - possibly even [[HungryWeapon absorbing blood into the blade to strengthen itself]] - or [[OurVampiresAreDifferent encouraging the host to do so by cursing them.]]) and have an ObviouslyEvil appearance aura about it (Notches, rust, bloodstains, ect.) The blades may also take near inhuman force of will to sheathe the blade once unsheathed [[DrawSwordDrawBlood until blood is drawn with it]]. In sharp contrast to the swords made by his rival, Masamune's swords can be more reliable, but [[WillfullyWeak less overpowered]]. |
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| 7 | If a work features the swords of both, expect the Muramasa (or its user) user to be evil, or at the very least, [[{{AntiHero}} morally grey]], and the Masamune (or its user) to be good ([[VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII most of the time]]). |
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| 9 | Neither are to be confused with Murasame ("Autumn Shower"), another popular name for fictional katana, which is drawn from a magic sword in ''Literature/NansouSatomiHakkenden'' or one of the protagonists in the Noh play ''[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matsukaze Matsukaze]]''. |
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| 11 | For examples of these swords in media see PublicDomainArtifact. |
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FollowingContext UsefulNotes / MuramasaAndMasamune
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