Mugen or Jin from Samurai Champloo... One fights to his own instinct and improve while the other fights with technique and skill... Despite being polar opposites, they are too equal to beat each other in combat...
(Everyone else said the ones I had in mind before and afterhand...)
It's been a while (by which I mean like a good 5 or 6 years) since I watched the anime, but didn't it take both of them to beat the samurai who smelled like sunflowers? And also, didn't Jin get his ass kicked pretty hard by a blind woman? Yeah, not exactly what I would consider the strongest.
The blind woman in question could actually beat both Mugan and Jin (she let Mugen kill her), but the blind warrior trope in Japanese material is often borderline superhuman having traded in their eyesight for platypus style electrolocation (Zatoichi being the obvious character in this line). She also isn't exactly using a sword either with that gigantic hooked spear type thing.
Jin killed Kagetoki one on one at the end of the series (Jin and Mugen fought him earlier taking turns, but Mugen had to leave to save Fuu, Jin lost the fight but escaped without getting killed), and he was built up as the strongest individual enemy -- this being said Jin basically won that fight with a kamikaze strategy.
Thanks for that... I was mostly drawing a blank on that blind women...
and Jin was just lucky to have made that fight after a move like that... Though the same can also be said with Mugen and the fight with the dude in the wheelchair...
To me that would be Roronoa Zoro and Dracule Mihawk from the manga/ anime One Piece. There will be a day when only one of them will be the best swordman of them all.
His power is so exaggerated that he can slice a solid metal cannonball the size of an apartment block in half and casually brush it off as a minor annoyance. He also does it while looking badass. Bascially, take all of the points that the OP gave for Kenshin Himura (change assassin to pirate hunter) and add the fact that he competantly uses three swords at once and can lift buildings.
It is shown that Mihawk is stronger (Mihawk is the most powerful swordsman alive in that universe) But c'mon, Zoro will pass him out one day.
If he's worse than somebody else, then he isn't the best yet, not to mention I recall he has some problems with his swords not being able to cut through the skin of some people due to bullshit, I'd figure a main requirement is for the person to at least be able to cut their opponent.
[http://s974.photobucket.com/user/kommando367/media/0985beb1-30e5-4cf1-8353-8741a73858ca_zpscbc565d0.jpg.html]
Vergil
The guy slices apart massive demons like a Combine Harvester shreds wheat.
[http://s974.photobucket.com/user/kommando367/media/0985beb1-30e5-4cf1-8353-8741a73858ca_zpscbc565d0.jpg.html]
Vergil
The guy slices apart massive demons like a Combine Harvester shreds wheat.
Yeah I'm just gonna wheel out my giant mancrush again and say dante / vergil too. Mostly because they both repeatedly show the uncanny ability to pick up any weapon at all and immediatly wield it like a pro, no matter how exotic the weapon. Up to and including a motorcycle. No not some kind of motorcycle-sword hybrid, an actual honest to god chopper...
I'm a little iffy on the whole "power reduced to that of a human" rule though. The superhuman speed, strength and resillience are definitely demonic so those gotta go. But the actual sword skills? Hard to say... Devil may cry isn't exactly famous for well thought out lore.
His power is so exaggerated that he can slice a solid metal cannonball the size of an apartment block in half and casually brush it off as a minor annoyance. He also does it while looking badass. Bascially, take all of the points that the OP gave for Kenshin Himura (change assassin to pirate hunter) and add the fact that he competantly uses three swords at once and can lift buildings.
It is shown that Mihawk is stronger (Mihawk is the most powerful swordsman alive in that universe) But c'mon, Zoro will pass him out one day.
EDIT: Sorry on the image, it was the smallest one of good quality I could find on Zoro post-timeskip.
I'll play devilsd advocate and post fucking Rayleigh:
Not only is he badass and the first mate of the Pirate King, but he managed to handle the entire naval force on the Sabaody Archipelago, including Admiral Kizaru, moving faster than a light man and only then actually needing his damned sword drawn to fight.
After he lets the young ones escape he manages to ditch the navy and swim from Sabaody to Amazon Lily through the calm belt, leaving a trail of Sea Kings dead in his wake because even titanic sea demons just cannot stop him badassing the place up.
After all that he doesn't even show a hint of fatigue.
Edit: Seriously though Zoro is the best genuine swordsman going, so much badass it's unreal.
Edit edit:
Honourable mentions go to my main man Admiral "Fujitora" Issho:
He gets a mention because he is an utter monster, capable of calling down meteors and vanquishing fodder into the ground itself with gravity powers, although he couldn't quite deal with a fighter of Zoro's calibre with such ease.
He's pretty much got the whole 'super human without any magical BS' thing down.
-Unless you count the Cursed Armor, but even without that he's taken down GODS.
I must concur, Guts is about as powerful as they come if you discount supernatural abilities. At one point, Guts cut down 100 enemy soldiers with a breaking weapon and multiple wounds; he had no supernatural assistance whatsoever.
Not only is Lucius the Eternal the best swordsman in the galaxy, but, even if you do manage to kill him [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheating], he simply takes over your body and continues on his orgasmic killing spree in the name of Slaanesh.
Manji's a bit of a badass. I feel he would be a pretty brutal fighter.
But in my heart I know the truth, there is only one warrior that could take all challengers. Ain't no one, no how that could beat the guaranteed quality of Maid guy
Generally I'm just a lurker, but I'm a fan of fantasy, so I know lots of powerful swordsmen and IMHO Dassem Ultor of the Malazan Book of the Fallen is the best swordsman.
Just a mortal, but capable of fighting a 300000 year old elf expy.
The number one of the Seguleh (an island full of warriors who consider three warriors a punitive army)
He was on a queeste to defeat the being who lead an army against death and then became Death.
All as a normal human being.
Words cannot describe how much I love this thread. So many disparate and worthy candidates. Bonus points for the guy who said Highlander
cubikill said:
Al Lan Mandragoran. Is just a man, no superpowers, no cheating move, just skill with a blade. He was an infant while the kingdom of Malkier fell. In his cradle you was given a sword. As other children played withe toys, he learned the blade.
OK, we're setting aside the fact that Rand has earth shattering magical powers that make him just about the most deadly living man in the world, with arcane knowledge and military genius thrown in. And the fact he twists the laws of quantum probability around himself by his very presence. And the fact that he's basically Alexander the Great crossed with Jesus, conquering the known world and then saving men from their sin and the world from oblivion. And that he's a badass in hand to hand combat or with a half dozen other weapons.
We are not however leaving aside the fact that he got with, then married, all three of these at the same time:
Yes, the trifecta: Red-head, honey-blonde, brunette (warrior princess, Queen and philosopher-seer)
Anyway, let's look at his blade skills.
He's a Blademaster, one of the tiny fraction of the elite in the world to bear that title, and whenever he fought another such he always came out on top.
He has two lifetimes of high-level swordsmanship at his disposal; one of which was centuries long and in which he completely rediscovered/reinvented the entire art from scratch.
He's essentially immune to pain and fear through nothing but sheer training and force of will.
He has an unbreakable sword which is forever hyper-sharp (we're not counting his sword made from magical fire which cuts through anything or the indestructible crystal sword which can destroy cities at a blow).
He practices fighting 6 expert swordsman surrounding him at once (something Lan, the next greatest candidate in that universe, says is impossible).
He has the most awesome tats in the history of everything!
I nominate Zato-Ichi, the Blind Swordsman. If you haven't heard of him, he's featured in 26 original run movies, a 100 episode show, and two recent remakes/updates, as well as a plethora of tributes.
1. Extremely skilled swordsman who as far as I know has not actually lost a fight, save having given up for the good of others.
2. Despite being blind has honed his other senses to near perfection.
3. Very cunning he travels as a masseur and gambler, often spending a great deal of time around his enemies before engaging them.
4. Is ruthless in battle, seeking to end a fight quickly and showing no mercy to those who would harm him.
Its always going to be some anime guy. If we aren't counting that, I guess I would say Boromir. Killed dozens of orcs while getting shot with arrows, and in the books I think he killed all of them that was attacking him, but died afterwards. Pretty fucking manly.
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