Who is the best fictional swordsman of all time?
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I think that the Fate/stay Night Assassin has to be up there. Dude was hella badass, and could move so fast tha he could attack from three different angles at the same time.
I dunno if this counts, but honestly, I think top swordsman would have to be the Monster Hunter, from, well, Monster hunter. dude can take down monsters so big that he's only as tall as their toenails, think how badly he could fuck up a human.
I dunno if this counts, but honestly, I think top swordsman would have to be the Monster Hunter, from, well, Monster hunter. dude can take down monsters so big that he's only as tall as their toenails, think how badly he could fuck up a human.
This is kind of a tough one because of the rules. Dante is my personal favorite for this but is discarded for being half demon, in the sense he didn't use any sort of demonic power though he still has mastered a multitude of different weapons seconds after picking them up. Sadly though he is against the rules.
In terms of mastery and style I would have to say samurai jack is the best is we measure power by feats accomplished. I mean he scares the shit out of a giant evil god for goodness sake.
Guts is probably the one I would have to put my money on in this exact scenario though. Not only is he just a regular dude but he defeats monsters, legions of men, demons, and challenges a multitude of evil demi gods, on top of that he use a whopping nothing magical until he gets the berserker armor. This guy is just so inhumanely fast and strong that he kicks that much ass.
In terms of mastery and style I would have to say samurai jack is the best is we measure power by feats accomplished. I mean he scares the shit out of a giant evil god for goodness sake.
Guts is probably the one I would have to put my money on in this exact scenario though. Not only is he just a regular dude but he defeats monsters, legions of men, demons, and challenges a multitude of evil demi gods, on top of that he use a whopping nothing magical until he gets the berserker armor. This guy is just so inhumanely fast and strong that he kicks that much ass.
The Bride from Kill Bill? Took down 'The Crazy 88' single-handedly...but that's a pretty stylised movie.
Gotta agree with you there. Although a honorable mention should be made for Whiskeyjack, who apparently was so good that it took Dassem Ultor to get past his guard.Raesvelg said:
When you narrow it down to "human level" characters, I would have to say Drizzt Do'Urden, though I'm not sure if he counts as super human.
D&Dwise, Drizzt's Drow stats aren't beyond what a human can achieve, and while he IS magical, he doesn't really use it in a fight in any capacity beyond what a human with nightvision goggles would have...
Drizzt goes into his "Battousai" mode called "The Hunter" and hunts down and murders the shit out of the Thousand Orc Army.
He's like 2 Kenshins rolled into one, dismantling his enemies with his twin scimitars, Icingdeath and Twinkle, a whirling storm of blood an death.
D&Dwise, Drizzt's Drow stats aren't beyond what a human can achieve, and while he IS magical, he doesn't really use it in a fight in any capacity beyond what a human with nightvision goggles would have...
Drizzt goes into his "Battousai" mode called "The Hunter" and hunts down and murders the shit out of the Thousand Orc Army.
He's like 2 Kenshins rolled into one, dismantling his enemies with his twin scimitars, Icingdeath and Twinkle, a whirling storm of blood an death.
I'm not super familiar with the character (indeed, I only learned about him from one of the random superpower threads), but what about the Marvel character: The Taskmaster?
He super-serumed himself in such a way that gives him the ability to instantly memorise and replicate any martial activity from projectile weapons, swordplay, close quarters combat and so on. By virtue of this he could surely match anyone in the thread if they aren't backed by magic/superpowers
He super-serumed himself in such a way that gives him the ability to instantly memorise and replicate any martial activity from projectile weapons, swordplay, close quarters combat and so on. By virtue of this he could surely match anyone in the thread if they aren't backed by magic/superpowers
Goemon from Lupin III? Every time he quickdraws his sword, something splits in half, no matter what it is. I recall he once expressed his anger by quickdrawing his blade while a shooting star flew by in the sky. The star then split in half, because anime.
Does it count when it's a comedy gimmick?
Does it count when it's a comedy gimmick?
Yaaaaay, more Malazan fans! I'd like to throw Iron Bars and Blues of the Crimson Guard into the ring. True, being Avowed, they do have a certain magic and enhanced endurance to assist them, but even without those, they're superb swordsmen. I don't think they're actually better than Dassem or Brys, but they're definitely noteworthy.Raesvelg said:
He himself said he would have died if not for Howland Reed. The fight was 6 vs. 3 in favour of Ned. Only Ned and Howland survived. Ned may be one of the most honourable and beloved characters, but he is certainly nowhere near the best swordsman. It's hard to say who the best from that series would be. To give you an idea though, Ser Barristan himself (probably one of the best) says that there is no such thing as a knight without peer. There are many greats in ASOIAF, but I wouldn't count Ned among them even though he's one of my favourite characters.Breakdown said:
OT: I'm inclined to agree with the OP. Guts takes on a hundred men by himself and he still wins. Against any other mortal being, he seems pretty much unstoppable. Then again, they throw in that whole destiny thing and demon mumbo jumbo so I don't know if he really counts. I haven't read the mange so I really don't know.
That's not a sword, it's a surfboard tied to a stick.jhoroz said:
Anyway, it's kind of a hard question because any writer can just say, 'in universe this is the best swordsman of all time' and you're done. So er. Fuck it, Aragorn. We all like Aragorn.
Guys. He said "peak-human". So all the anime characters go out of the window, because even though they don't use magic they're inhumanly powerful. Zoro, Guts, Madara etc. They're all non-human in terms of powerlevels.
If you count those, it becomes a "Whos the best comic/anime swordsman" because humans can never compete with Superman-esque characters.
I can only second many that were already mentioned: Zorro, Montoya, Samurai Jack
Ontop of that probably every 2nd japanese/chinese fighting movie protagonist. They all fight ridiculously good.
If "the force" doesn't count then i'd say the Jedis will beat most fighters, just because they basically can't lose as long as their force is big enough. So the whole Skywalker bunch comes to mind.
If you count those, it becomes a "Whos the best comic/anime swordsman" because humans can never compete with Superman-esque characters.
I can only second many that were already mentioned: Zorro, Montoya, Samurai Jack
Ontop of that probably every 2nd japanese/chinese fighting movie protagonist. They all fight ridiculously good.
If "the force" doesn't count then i'd say the Jedis will beat most fighters, just because they basically can't lose as long as their force is big enough. So the whole Skywalker bunch comes to mind.
Although my vote would also go for Lan (his ride for Demandred with the help from the Two Rivers archers and the duel are among the best I've ever read), I don't agree he won. He said it himself: "I did not come here to win, I came here to kill you". And if he didn't Sheathe the Sword, he would have actually lost.jurnag12 said:
Still, like I said, Lan gets my vote.
Shimada Toranosuke (Mifune Toshiro's character) from Sword of Doom, a great samurai film from Okomoto Kihachi in 1966. It also stars Takadai Tatsuya and has some of the coolest cinematographic sequences from the eye of Murai Hiroshi. Seriously, check this one out folks, it's great.
I think he's already been mentioned before in this thread but once again: Decado "The Ice Killer" of David Gemmell fame.
Well known as the most badass swordsman in an elite organization packed full of badasses he retired to a monastery to
spend the rest of his life in peace (after realizing he had become a monster due to his intention to seek out and kill his friend
because it would be one of the few tests left for him).
Long story short he's pulled out of retirement and ends up fighting the leader of an evil brotherhood of knights who A) can use magic to put the fear of death into people's minds and B) can read your mind while he fights so he knows what you're going to do.
Of course Decado doesn't fear death at all so that doesn't work and is so fast that the knight's mind reading doesn't help at all so he sees the blow that kills him 0.25 seconds before it does. He's one of the top 5 or so Gemmell characters in terms of power, and the strongest swordsman.
Well known as the most badass swordsman in an elite organization packed full of badasses he retired to a monastery to
spend the rest of his life in peace (after realizing he had become a monster due to his intention to seek out and kill his friend
because it would be one of the few tests left for him).
Long story short he's pulled out of retirement and ends up fighting the leader of an evil brotherhood of knights who A) can use magic to put the fear of death into people's minds and B) can read your mind while he fights so he knows what you're going to do.
Of course Decado doesn't fear death at all so that doesn't work and is so fast that the knight's mind reading doesn't help at all so he sees the blow that kills him 0.25 seconds before it does. He's one of the top 5 or so Gemmell characters in terms of power, and the strongest swordsman.
I know your post is being moronically facetious, but it actually is:someonehairy-ish said:
http://berserk.wikia.com/wiki/Dragonslayer
I never claimed Berserk portrayed swordsmanship in a realistic and practical way, but when the criteria is no magic (which plenty of people have gone and ingored anyway) I see no reason why this can't be considered as a serious candidate.
Also Guts would destroy Aragorn in a heart beat.