Who is the best fictional swordsman of all time?

[Fox12]

Pretty simple concept really, who do you think is the best swordsman in fiction? We all have our favorites. Is it Link? Aragorn? Jaime Lannister? King arthur? Maybe it's batosai, the man slayer? Or Black Swordsman era Guts? They're all bad ass, but whose ass is the most bad (what)?

Only a few rules. The characters can't have/use magic, and they can't be more than peak human. Trunks and sephiroth need not apply. Second, they can't rely on crazy weaponry, like a light saber. No Darth Vader either (he's double banned because of the magic thing, which is an honor in itself, I suppose). "Legendary" weapons, like the master sword and Excalibur are fine, so long as they can't be used as anything beyond a sword. Also, ethics are off, even if that makes no sense. Let kenshin have at it.

Otherwise, go crazy. Who do you, personally, think is the best swordsman fiction has to offer?

 

[Recusant]

It's actually not anywhere near that simple. "Swordsman" is a really, really broad category. In practical combat terms, you'd get more similarity between a .22 pistol and a sniper rifles than you'd get between certain sword types. What kind of sword are you looking for?

 

[TakerFoxx]

His name is Inigo Montoya, and God help you if you kill his father.

 

[The Madman]

I can't for the life of me remember the characters name, I believe it was something along the lines of Garrett if my memory doesn't fail me, but he was a character in one of Terry Brooks earliest Shannara series. He was pretty great. No mystical powers of anything, just an enigmatic weapons master beyond compare, I'll admit I'm always a sucker for those sorts of characters.

I've also got a soft-spot for the older veteran stereotype. The resilient old warrior who might not be nearly as fast or as strong as they once were but are yet deadlier than ever after a life's worth of battle and conflict. Some great examples of that trope being:

Spoiler: Sir Anduin Lothar from the Warcraft series

And another favourite of mine:

Spoiler: Cohen the Barbarian from the Discworld series.

Those are probably my favourites.

 

[Asita]

King Bradley (Fullmetal Alchemist)? Now, I know what you're thinking, and you're right, he does have a super power. That said, the final chapters also proved that even when without that he was an ungodly skilled swordsman, capable of going toe to toe with another of the best fighters in the series while bleeding out from a fatal wound, and even with that handicap he was good enough to make his opponent break out a new bag of tricks, and even after that he was done in not by superior skill but by an environmental effect that surprised him as he was about to deliver the killing blow...and that's as a sixty year old man who happily acknowledged himself to be noticeably past his prime and incapable of feats that his younger self could have managed.

 

[Thaluikhain]

In what way best? Coolest? Would win in a fight? You'd want to hang out with?

 

[Fox12]

In what way best? Coolest? Would win in a fight? You'd want to hang out with?

Why not all of the above? I was thinking about an actual fight, but the others are fine as well. I think Guts would win a fight with ANYONE, but Inigo Montoya? I want to party with that guy.

 

[Little Woodsman]

Hmm, so I take it that "can't be more than peak human" would rule out Goemon (who once cut a building down without appearing to move) and Tatkewaki Kuno (who once shattered a concrete statue with just the air pressure of his strikes), correct?

 

[TheArcaneThinker]

Rules are meant to be broken !
Darth Vader FTW !

Otherwise , Samurai Jack . Best fictional samurai of all time imo .

 

[Scarim Coral]

To me that would be Roronoa Zoro. Granted the only disbelief I have with him is that he carry the third sword with his teeth. Either he has extremely strong jaw or his jaw hurts alot.

Other than that, he will become the greatest swordman in the Grand Line!

 

[Katherine Kerensky]

The answer is obvious, CIAPHAS CAIN-HERO OF THE IMPERIUM!

The guy managed to spar with a chaos space marine for frak sake.

I was thinking Honor Harrington, but then you reminded me of Cain.
Plus, Honor Harrington only really had one sword fight/duel.
I need to re-read the Cain books. Was thinking about them last night.
Must be something to do with The Greater Greed.

 

[Chaos Isaac]

I'd say Jin from Samurai Champloo.

Not that' he's even the greatest in his own universe, but he's very well trained and can defeat opponents above his own grade-scale with some wit, some luck, and sometimes a last second technique meant to be used once.

But whatever, he's got some damn chops and can get better by learning more styles.

Unlike say... Roronoa Zolo, whose so useless as a swordsman he only gets better by plot convenience.

Edit: Also wow, most everyone else is like bringing up inhuman characters with magic out the ass xD

 

[Abomination]

Sarevok of Baldur's Gate (&2 ToB).

Guy was a complete machine and his laugh when he crits gave me the heebie-jeebies.

 

[Thaluikhain]

The answer is obvious, CIAPHAS CAIN-HERO OF THE IMPERIUM!

The guy managed to spar with a chaos space marine for frak sake.

Eh, lots of ordinary humans do that. Gaunt has done that lots of time, for example.

 

[404notfound]

His name is Inigo Montoya, and God help you if you kill his father.

But he's beaten in a straight up duel by Westley, therefore Inigo can't be the best.

OT: As others have mentioned; it depends what you mean by "swordsman". Sharpe (of the Sharpe novel series) could be a contender, based purely on his refusal to be beaten rather than his actual "skill" as a swordsman. The aforementioned Westley from The Princess Bride could be one of the best in terms of technique and duelling capabilities. The Bride from Kill Bill and Jaime Lannister of Game of Thrones are both up there too.

 

[The Choke]

See, he's immortal and super-strong, so I guess Benedict from Nine Princes in Amber can't count but goddamn he is awesome.

Otherwise, wouldn't, uh, Swordsman count? Didn't he train Hawkeye or something?

Oh, right, I forgot: Hiro Protagonist.

 

[Angelous Wang]

To me that would be Roronoa Zoro. Granted the only disbelief I have with him is that he carry the third sword with his teeth. Either he has extremely strong jaw or his jaw hurts alot.

Other than that, he will become the greatest swordman in the Grand Line!

Technically speaking Hawkeye Mihawk would currently be the greatest swordsman until Zoro finally defeats him.

That said even if you took away the magic from Sephiroth he is still a master swordsman, the only way Cloud beats him is with his own magical omni-slash. Sephiroth dominates him in terms of pure swordsmanship.