Who is the best fictional swordsman of all time?

[Ramzal]

In retrospect?

Spoiler

The Black Knight. Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance/Radiant Dawn.

He could barely be stopped by the strongest beings on the planet when the blessing on his armor vanished and after he got it back he became more unbeatable namely having solo'd an entire platoon of laguz, men laced in a goddess's blessing and COULD have killed Ike in the first Fire Emblem game had he not been told that Gawian had purposely crippled himself so he waited until Ike was older and more experienced to have a duel with Gawian again.

A master in sword/long/and great swords as well as extremely skilled in pole-arms, throwing Javelins and heavy anti-Calvary spears that are supposed to be used to hold up and hope for the best in large groups but he uses it like a bo-staff. He is as tall and possibly stronger than The Mountain from a song of Ice and Fire and faster on his feat than a friggen Olympic sprinter in that heavy armor.

 

[gorfias]

This doesn't seem a bad choice:

Galahad. I actually had to look him up when he beat evil Lancelot in "The Librarians". Actually, in the original Arthurian tales, Lancelot was kind of a tool. Galahad was cool. He is thought to be a gift to humanity as the greatest knight, but his real claim to fame seems not to be his skill with a sword but his purity, leading him to find the holy grail.

You could do this whole thread with a different question that would be very, very hard to answer: who is the greatest swordsman of Game of Thrones, taking into account their best years may NOT coincide with their nearest competition.

Not sure how I'd answer. Jamie Lannister, with his hand gets a big vote. But he sees in the Knight of Flowers, himself in his youth.

King arthur?

Arthur was supposed to be very, very good but due to the power of Excalibur. There have been many versions of the tales and typically, Lancelot was better. After some searching after seeing that episode of "the Librarians", arguably, the legend has it that Lancelot's son Galahad was even better. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galahad

 

[ecoho]

well kenshin did beat him so........yeah hes a great swordsman but not as good.

Yeah...because he was using the ultimate technique while Hiko wasn't, and that was the point. If Hiko really wanted to kill Kenshin, he would have used the Amakakeru Ryu no Hirameki. The difference between them is illustrated when Hiko teaches Kenshin the Kuzu Ryu Sen.

but he did and kenshin's was stronger I went and rewatched the episode kenshins ultimate technique was strong then his masters or at least faster.

 

[Rebel_Raven]

I'm gunna throw out Sekhmet/Naaza from Ronin Warriors/Yoroiden Samurai Troopers for consideration.
Yeah, he rarely, if ever wins, but he's the bad guy, and that's how anime generally works.

He bears mystic armor, and 6 swords all coated in poison that can be tailored to his needs from mind control to creating evil duplicates of people.

The big thing is that he has enough talent to move his arms so fast that he creates afterimages which can convince his foes that his 2 arms, and 2 swords have become 6 arms and 6 swords. Moreover, he attacks with enough speed to keep it convincing.
It wasn't until someone took a photo of him that the illusion of extra arms were revealed as after images. Even with his opponents knowing that, it's still a super human feat to avoid the attacks.
Moreover due to the mystic nature of his armor, and swords he can connect his 6 swords into a sectioned blade whip to lay out some devastating cuts.

 

[likalaruku]

Zorro? The 3 Musketeers? Yeah, the name implies they used muskets, but I only ever remember them using swords. Perhaps King Arthur or one of his knights (never really read it). Maybe some viking?

 

[Adam Jensen_v1legacy]

Not even a fuckin' contest

Spoiler

 

[RJ 17]

well kenshin did beat him so........yeah hes a great swordsman but not as good.

Yeah...because he was using the ultimate technique while Hiko wasn't, and that was the point. If Hiko really wanted to kill Kenshin, he would have used the Amakakeru Ryu no Hirameki. The difference between them is illustrated when Hiko teaches Kenshin the Kuzu Ryu Sen.

but he did and kenshin's was stronger I went and rewatched the episode kenshins ultimate technique was strong then his masters or at least faster.

Well go watch it again, my friend. Or here, allow me:


At 2:26, you see the 9 sword strike that is the Kuzu Ryu Sen, that's the technique that Hiko uses against Kenshin. After teaching Kenshin the Kuzu Ryu Sen and beating him in a dual in which they both use it on each other, Hiko explains that the only technique that can surpass his Kuzu Ryu Sen would be the Amakakeru Ryu no Hirameki (which is a sword-draw technique while the Kuzu Ryu Sen is a charging technique). By using his Kuzu Ryu Sen against Kenshin after saying he fully intends to kill him, it forces Kenshin to walk the line between life and death grab hold of the all-powerful Will to Live, thus enabling him to use the Amakakeru Ryu no Hirameki (which is the only technique faster than the Kuzu Ryu Sen).

He then goes on to explain that this is how it's always been, how the student finally masters the Hiten Mitsurugi style: by surpassing his master's Kuzu Ryu Sen with the only technique that's faster: the Amakakeru Ryu no Hirameki.

If they both use the same technique, Hiko will always win...as he explains after they use the Kuzu Ryu Sen against one another. They move at the same speed, but Hiko outclasses Kenshin in strength by far.

 

[Gizmo1990]

Not even a fuckin' contest

Spoiler

I am with you but the OP said no magic and lets face it he is all about the magic.

That being said I cannot think of anyone without magic due to 90% of games, books and movies that I have read, played and seen involve magic.

Aragorn. He counts right? No magic involved just really strong plot armor.

 

[Zannah]

The sword's magical, but she's not. And the swords magic only works after you hit someone and drew blood, so it pretty much counts.

 

[jurnag12]

al'Lan Mandrogoran from the Wheel of Time. A swordsman so good that he takes on a bloke who had hundreds of years of practice himself along with being in the top 5 of most powerful magic-users on the planet.

And win.

 

[ecoho]

well kenshin did beat him so........yeah hes a great swordsman but not as good.

Yeah...because he was using the ultimate technique while Hiko wasn't, and that was the point. If Hiko really wanted to kill Kenshin, he would have used the Amakakeru Ryu no Hirameki. The difference between them is illustrated when Hiko teaches Kenshin the Kuzu Ryu Sen.

but he did and kenshin's was stronger I went and rewatched the episode kenshins ultimate technique was strong then his masters or at least faster.

Well go watch it again, my friend. Or here, allow me:


At 2:26, you see the 9 sword strike that is the Kuzu Ryu Sen, that's the technique that Hiko uses against Kenshin. After teaching Kenshin the Kuzu Ryu Sen and beating him in a dual in which they both use it on each other, Hiko explains that the only technique that can surpass his Kuzu Ryu Sen would be the Amakakeru Ryu no Hirameki (which is a sword-draw technique while the Kuzu Ryu Sen is a charging technique). By using his Kuzu Ryu Sen against Kenshin after saying he fully intends to kill him, it forces Kenshin to walk the line between life and death grab hold of the all-powerful Will to Live, thus enabling him to use the Amakakeru Ryu no Hirameki (which is the only technique faster than the Kuzu Ryu Sen).

He then goes on to explain that this is how it's always been, how the student finally masters the Hiten Mitsurugi style: by surpassing his master's Kuzu Ryu Sen with the only technique that's faster: the Amakakeru Ryu no Hirameki.

If they both use the same technique, Hiko will always win...as he explains after they use the Kuzu Ryu Sen against one another. They move at the same speed, but Hiko outclasses Kenshin in strength by far.

no he says that should they both use Kuzu Ryu Sen he would win and that its his best technique, when he explains all that to kenshin he figures out that his best technique batujutsu would be the only answer at which point he straddles the line between life and death in order to create his own Amakakeru Ryu no Hirameki which is different for each successor and thus the Hiten Mitsurugi style stays strong.

in other words the two have different ultimate techniques that while different rank about the same in effectiveness with kenshin's being much faster but with less force and his master having more force but is a lot slower.

....I own the DVDs man so I just plopped in the episode.

 

[Six Ways]

Obviously Guybrush Threepwood.

 

[Demonio Penguino]

You know, this does go against the rules, but....
http://cloud-4.steampowered.com/ugc/548637903651108582/C728730457892A203BA1ACB3779FE5FC8A14F22D/506x284.resizedimage
RULES OF NATURE!
And they run when the sun comes up,
With their lives on the line!
(ALIIIIIVE!)
For a whiiiiiile,
(NO CHOIIIICE!)
Gotta follow the LAWS OF THE WIIIIIIIIIILD!

 

[dragonswarrior]

Shit, I know it's kinda obscure but over three pages of thread and no one names Brys Beddict, youngest of the Beddict brothers yet? I am dissapoint.

Also, this thread is over. Brys kicks all'y'all asses.

Spoiler: MAJOR spoilers for book 5 of The Malazan Book of the Fallen

He is a completely ordinary human, no magic, no extra species abilities, nothing. He wields an ordinary longsword. But he is so skilled he's able to go toe to toe with minor gods. At the end of the book he single handidly defeats an opponent who is A. one of the greatest swordspeople in the world at that point and B. literally cannot be killed. Brys does this by slicing every one of his opponents major tendons in the battle. And he does it so fast that no one else in the room was able to do shit about it, not Brys' allies or the other guys. *will never be able to porperly convey how badass that moment was to anyone who hasn't read MBotF*

 

[RJ 17]

no he says that should they both use Kuzu Ryu Sen he would win and that its his best technique, when he explains all that to kenshin he figures out that his best technique batujutsu would be the only answer at which point he straddles the line between life and death in order to create his own Amakakeru Ryu no Hirameki which is different for each successor and thus the Hiten Mitsurugi style stays strong.

in other words the two have different ultimate techniques that while different rank about the same in effectiveness with kenshin's being much faster but with less force and his master having more force but is a lot slower.

....I own the DVDs man so I just plopped in the episode.

I own the DVD's as well, so you don't trump me in that regards.

The Amakakeru Ryu no Hirameki is a sword-draw technique...it always has been and always will be. Go watch the episode when Kenshin uses it against Shishio and the technique's second - and far more destructive - strike is revealed. "Even if you avoid the fangs of the flying dragon, the winds that gust around it will immobilize you and cut you to shreds." Even more specifically, it cuts to Hiko at one point after the attack as he further explains: "The Amakakeru Ryu no Hirameki is a battojutsu at super god-like speeds, and all battojutsu of the Hiten Mitsurugi style have two parts to prevent any surprises."

The entire point of the technique's second strike is what makes it a truly unavoidable technique. If you don't see it coming, you'll have no chance against it. If you know about it - as Shishio did - you can try to prevent it. It's too fast to dodge, so you have to try to block. By blocking you create the vacuum and vortex effect that allows the user to spin around and strike with obscene amounts of force.

You cannot be taught the Amakakeru Ryu no Hiromeki by having it used on you (which is how Hiko taught Kenshin all of the other techniques), your will to live must guide your actions and you discover it's form for yourself. "Think about the nature of the Kuzu Ryu Sen, and the form for the Amakakeru Ryu no Hirameki should become apparent." The Kuzu Ryu Sen lands 9 strikes in a single instant, yet it's a standard charge-attack. Battojutsu - sword draw techniques - strike faster than regular charging strikes (at least in the world of Kenshin...I don't know if that's true in real life ). Since the Kuzu Ryu Sen is too fast to dodge or block all nine strikes, the only chance to beat it is to strike before it lands. This is true for every apprentice of the Hiten Mitsurugi style that wants to learn the final technique.

To clarify what Hiko was meaning when he says "The Kuzu Ryu Sen is the attack I'm best at", what he's saying is that no one else's Kusu Ryu Sen could possibly surpass his because - as he explains - he has the weight necessary for a charging attack and the upper body strength necessary for a multi-strike attack. His Kuzu Ryu Sen is perfect, but as he says: "I never said that the Kuzu Ryu Sen was the ultimate technique, you just assumed it was."

Edit: Beyond all that there's the fact that in the anime story arc involving the Christians, Kenshin is up against another person who has mastered the Hiten Mitsurugi style. During their final clash, they both use the Amakakeru Ryu no Hirameki and they both use a sword-draw technique. Kenshin, however, has a completely pure heart and spirit while his opponent did not, thus Kenshin's proves superior.

 

[Fijiman]

Rules are meant to be broken !
Darth Vader FTW !

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

I completely agree there. And thanks to you I now have a kickass new background for my phone.

 

[Thedark1owns]

al'Lan Mandrogoran from the Wheel of Time. A swordsman so good that he takes on a bloke who had hundreds of years of practice himself along with being in the top 5 of most powerful magic-users on the planet.

And win.

Thank you! I was beginning to lose faith in the Escapist community.

 

[ninja666]

I'd say Knight Artorias from Dark Souls. You don't see his true power when you meet him in the game, but consider this: When you fight him, he's near-dead, weakened, and corrupted by an evil force. Plus, he has his good hand broken, fights with his offhand (Artorias is left-handed. You can see it on the cover art portraying him. LINK [http://www.hkofferhouse.com/images/cover/ps3/Dark%20Souls%20-%20U.S%20Ver.%20%28PS3%29%20cover%20front%201.jpg]), and doesn't have a shield. Despite all that, he's still fuckin strong and kicks ass. Imagine how good he is without any of those handicaps.

 

[God'sFist]

Like can anybody deny this epic swordsman who takes on legions of robots, aliens and bounty hunters one right after the other allot of the time? Seriously he even fights himself once and still beats him. No one can defeat the great samurai who seeks to return to the past.