Why are swords so prevalent as weapons?

[Deleted member 25310]

Even large, oversized greatsword type weapons being favored by mercenaries like Guts, Ike, or Cloud has historical precedent.

Mercenaries word be paid based on the danger of the role in question, with charging enemy pike formations being particularly lucrative. Large swords like the Zweihander were favored for this, as they could bat aside or destroy multiple pike heads in one swing. Mercenary groups like the "Landsknechte" became famous for their use of massive swords.

I literally made this comment in one of my articles, fucking nice!

 

[thanonyx thanonyx]

I always thought it was because they were basically the "go to" weapon for a good 4500 years or so until fire arms took that crown.

 

[Waffles's iconWaffles]

Because they give range and power to the knife, arguably the first weapon you'll ever use.

There's a great legend about a Gracian prince who would always take one step forward to make up for the shortness of his blade.

 

[goregoregoregoregoregore]

Hot take: I don't like swords in media. I never found them that cool and they look so limited in what they can do unless the user is super powerful and super skilled.
Guns are way cooler and if i have to choose the supreme archetype, i would choose the pyromaniac/bomb maniac. It's so much cooler exploding stuff and destroying everything than just slicing.
But i'm still a sucker for characters that use knives
(Kaiman you beautiful dumb lizard)

 

[Strategist's icon Strategist Strategist]

Swords are overrated in military scenarios. They don't have the reach or ability to find gaps in armor of the spear or the ability to smash and bend plate/shields of the hammer, axe or mace. They are only practical in close combat scenarios and even then, you are probably better off with a sharp dagger or a rapier/estoc that can puncture plate armor. And that is without mentioning long range options such as bows/crossbows or siege weapons. They get their reputation as weapons used in duels between lightly armored opponents.

Interestingly enough, there was a resurgence in sword usage as plate armor fell out of favor. Musketeers would usually carry swords with them as secondary weapons so they could protect themselves as they reloaded or if they ran out of ammunition.

 

[Karnik]

Because we live in a patriarchal and phallocentric world, and the sword is a phallic symbol par excellence; in fact, its sheath, already in Ancient Rome, was called "vagina". The name of the female organ derives from this, and not the other way around. This is history, linguistic etymology, not opinion. ?

 

[goregoregoregoregoregore]

Because we live in a patriarchal and phallocentric world, and the sword is a phallic symbol par excellence; in fact, its sheath, already in Ancient Rome, was called "vagina". The name of the female organ derives from this, and not the other way around. This is history, linguistic etymology, not opinion. ?

I can't believe Freud himself returned from the dead and started posting in a retro games forum, can you psychoanalyze me?

 

[RanmyakuIchi's icon RanmyakuIchi RanmyakuIchi]

I can't believe Freud himself returned from the dead and started posting in a retro games forum, can you psychoanalyze me?

He's actually not wrong

 

[goregoregoregoregoregore]

He's actually not wrong

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New meaning for Cock And Ball Torture, i see i see

 

[Don Patch]

Stab-in-the-dark with this, ?...
In human history, people have spent more time slicing each other up than we have blowing each other up. So, games that involve or allude to combat involving either human or humanoid figures draws from that.

Possibly also a sort of phallic fixation or allusion. That's not uncommon. That's also the case with firearms in games. Even intentionally (See Quake ?).

 

[Num]

Hot take: I don't like swords in media. I never found them that cool and they look so limited in what they can do unless the user is super powerful and super skilled.
Guns are way cooler and if i have to choose the supreme archetype, i would choose the pyromaniac/bomb maniac. It's so much cooler exploding stuff and destroying everything than just slicing.
But i'm still a sucker for characters that use knives
(Kaiman you beautiful dumb lizard)
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most people would agree with you. but i find the extreme accessibility of firearms is what makes it inherently less interesting than melee weapons like swords. theres much less individual expression in guns the sword is a true extension of its wielder. theres a romance to melee combat that firearms simply lack, they tell a story. guns are just simply efficient theres something impersonal about them. its like the difference between handwriting a letter and carrying it through the mail to someone vs just typing up an email and sending it. theres still an appeal to that some of my favorite stories rely on that "impersonal" aspect to them. it just has doesnt have as much variety so in a direct competition between the two id pick the one with more flavors to choose from. katanagatari for example written by nisiosin is all about the philosophy of what being a sword means, stretched into the abstract essentially playing into identity. it would be hard and fundementally more shallow to do the same with firearms due to the loose connection they have to the weilder. when a weapon is an extension of the self it carries meaning in that regard when its just a tool it doesnt. even if i can still love stories about tools at times

 

[goregoregoregoregoregore]

most people would agree with you. but i find the extreme accessibility of firearms is what makes it inherently less interesting than melee weapons like swords. theres much less individual expression in guns the sword is a true extension of its wielder. theres a romance to melee combat that firearms simply lack, they tell a story. guns are just simply efficient theres something impersonal about them. its like the difference between handwriting a letter and carrying it through the mail to someone vs just typing up an email and sending it. theres still an appeal to that some of my favorite stories rely on that "impersonal" aspect to them. it just has doesnt have as much variety so in a direct competition between the two id pick the one with more flavors to choose from. katanagatari for example written by nisiosin is all about the philosophy of what being a sword means, stretched into the abstract essentially playing into identity. it would be hard and fundementally more shallow to do the same with firearms due to the loose connection they have to the weilder. when a weapon is an extension of the self it carries meaning in that regard when its just a tool it doesnt. even if i can still love stories about tools at times

That's because the cultural aspect behind it is one of nobility, people from the elites of the past were the ones to use swords, the warriors above the peasants, the kings, the samurai, etc. I don't really like those aspects, i think the novelty of destructiveness and the reality of how life wrenching they can be is impacting to me, and this is something i share with knives as well. Knives are the scum weapons, the everyday obscure and marginalized weapon. Even today, no one think having a knife is something considered cool, it's creepy, it's addressed to criminals, psychos, dangerous creeps and not dignified warriors, and i think that's the novelty for me, how scary they are, how simple to destroy you they are.
Also, most people might rely in guns, yes, but in media and aesthetically, the majority prefer swords, as impractical they are, because of this long carried mindset of a beautiful superior weapon made to be elegant or to impose status. That's why you will see the vast majority of fictional fantasy media involve swords as the main tool, look at all the Zeldas, most part of the animes focused on fights, fantasy movies and series, be they setting on the past or setting in modern days. No one likes to talk how most Samurais would instantly prefer using guns, bows or big spears in wars, because it isn't just as a noble story this way.

 

[RanmyakuIchi's icon RanmyakuIchi RanmyakuIchi]

Keep in mind that swords were expensive and time consuming to produce relative to other weapons. It wouldn't be unusual for other weapons to be abused and replaced like a tool, while a sword would be too valuable to replace and thus a warrior would often keep and maintain only one, building a more personal connection to it.

This was especially true in culture's where good, serviceable steel was hard to come by or difficult to produce, such as Japan. Samurai had a strong connection to their swords because of this, even if the Yari, Naginata, or Yumi were preferred in an actual battle. Samurai would pass a sword on to their child or repropose a broken sword into a spear or dagger because of this value in good steel, and the katana went on to have a reverence to it not unlike a religious symbol. When I did Kendo/Iai, we had a ton of rules on Katana etiquette, many seemingly arbitrary, but again, it was like a religious item.

Now remember which country a lot of media and pop culture comes from.