| abstract
| - In works where swordplay features, even if the setting is otherwise realistic, one will often find that Master Swordsmen will be depicted as being able to perform rather ridiculous feats with their swords. A few common variations include: 1.
* Defeating opponents with firearms by deflecting/redirecting their bullets with the blade and/or cleaving their weapons with same. May involve Spin to Deflect Stuff. 2.
* Being able to dodge bullets, close the distance and attack normally due to ridiculously high speed and agility. 3.
* Embarrassing the opponent by swiftly cutting their clothing to pieces without cutting their skin. 4.
* Attacking from a distance by slicing the air to create blades of wind, sometimes even full whirlwinds. If the setting isn't that realistic, the pretense of wind will be disposed of, and the sword will simply be able to cut things at a distance just for the hell of it. 5.
* The Diagonal Cut, applied to tougher and thicker objects than could be easily cut in reality (or even that it's implausible for a sword to be able to cut at all), or performed many more times in rapid succession than should be "normally" possible. 6.
* If the sword being used by said expert swordfighter is a BFS, pretty much the use of said BFS with anything approaching the speed and agility expected from expert swordsmen using less... exaggerated swords is quite implausible. Bonus points for pulling off a Spam Attack or two with said weapon. 7.
* Making impossibly paper-thin slices through things "so fast that it can't be seen," which then magically fall in half perfectly sliced -- despite the slice being much thinner than the actual blade itself. This trope is especially common in Anime. The perceived superiority of swords over guns is probably based on a number of factors: 1.
* Bullets can't be seen, and therefore can more easily be dismissed as popgun blasts. 2.
* In reality, guns are obviously the superior weapons. Therefore, if the hero is using a sword against a bunch of guys with guns, the odds are against him. Sure, a steel sword can easily cut a lead bullet in half... but then you'll just get hit twice. 3.
* Swords look more menacing and can create larger wounds than bullets. There is something in this. The survival rate from low caliber gunshot wounds is pretty high (10-20% mortality rate), and a sword can cause severe bloodloss faster. With multiple gunshot wounds though, probable given a gun's range, the damage increases exponentially, and swords are much slower than guns. This impression has more to do with Pretty Little Headshots and Bloodless Carnage than the damage inflicted by real bullets. 4.
* Swords are old-fashioned, and carry with them the impression of being more traditional and honorable than guns. 5.
* Skill with a sword is visually much more impressive than skill with a gun; a skilled swordsman using his talent looks like a Badass, while a skilled gunman using his talent looks pretty much the same as a rank novice -- he just points the gun and pull the trigger, with the only difference being whether the bullet hits or not. (This is averted, of course, by practitioners of Gun Fu.) 6.
* Swords are expensive, and are usable only for warfare. In order to afford a sword, you would have to be a professional, high-ranking soldier or a trained fighter, or have acquired it through some strange means (like finding it in a stone). Thus, the heroes in older stories always wield swords, while villains might wield daggers, hammers, or axes, all of which would have been more affordable. 7.
* Strength valued above the inherent power of a weapon. In a lot of fantasy and sci fi settings, people are Made of Iron, and are tough enough to resist gun shot injuries, and strength with a melee weapon is the important factor. Of course, since not a lot of people have experience with weapons, few authors realize that swords break quite easily when you hit something hard with them, or that there are many armor piercing bullets that would allow a One-Hit Kill from a mile off. 8.
* Above all, the Rule of Cool. Swordfights are viewed as exciting and honorable mortal combat, which necessarily puts the swordsman at risk; meanwhile bullets are typically a one-shot deal fired from a safe distance, and typical from hiding and cover, making them seem cowardly and dishonest-- as well as boring since they're invisible; likewise, shooting a gun doesn't seem to require a great deal of skill other than aiming it and pulling the trigger properly, compared to a lifetime of expert discipline swordsmanship (key word: seem); likewise swords can vary in quality, while most guns seem rather equal ("seem" is the key word again). Dodging and deflecting bullets allows this trope to give some dramatic value to the lone warrior's courage and skill, as well as the superiority of his weapons, against simple gun-wielding mooks. See also Katanas Are Just Better, Guns Are Worthless, and Annoying Arrows. Often a form of Charles Atlas Superpower, as the implication is that simply becoming a skilled swordsman somehow allows the laws of physics to be violated as long as you're holding a sword. For information on how real swords are formed, behave, etc, see the Useful Notes page on Swords. For the long-range version, see Improbable Aiming Skills. Examples of Type 1 - Bullet deflection/reflection
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