You can tell a lot about a hero from the weapon they choose to bring into battle. Though all armaments are inherently designed to kill, fiction writers have applied certain rules to different weapons. The sword is the go-to weapon of legendary heroes in almost any medium, and it's taken a lot of different forms over the decades.

Even in real life, people have developed tons of different iterations of sharp metal attached to a handle. In fiction, the limiters are off, and just about anything could be a sword. Some swords come with textbooks of lore, some come with incredible powers and some are integral pieces of beloved art.

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Zorro's Rapier - The Mark of Zorro

Diego and the capitan in The Mark of Zorro

The iconic dashing masked vigilante who inspired Batman might be one of the best-known swordsmen in fictional history. Bizarrely, despite the long history of the character, his blade has no name. Zorro was created for pulp novels in 1919, and he made the leap onto the big screen the next year. He's starred in eleven full-length American films, four serials, and dozens of films produced overseas. Across all of that media, one of the most central pieces of his mythology is his propensity to leave his signature mark. His sword isn't just the weapon he uses to defeat bad guys and humiliate the cops, it's the tool with which he establishes his legend. Zorro has been tragically absent from the big screen for almost two decades, but his blade is the tool he used to carve out his status as a beloved character.

Andúril - Lord of the Rings: Return of the King

aragorn claiming the throne

There are many important magic swords in the works of J. R. R. Tolkien. Sting, the blade that was passed down the Baggins line. Glamdring, Gandalf's magic blade and Orcrist, its mate. But, Aragorn's blade has both an interesting history and a brilliant payoff for its purpose. Andúril is a blade made partially from the broken sword Narsil. Narsil was the blade that Elendil was wielding when he was killed by Sauron. The Elves reforged it into a new blade that is capable of incredible magic. It's the weapon that Aragorn uses to summon the army of the dead, stop the Corsairs, and save his wife Arwen. It swiftly becomes Aragorn's primary weapon as he takes his mantle as king. It's his connection to his ancestry and his most important weapon. It represents both the generational change of the realm and the personal change in Aragorn's journey. Andúril received something of an upgrade in the films, and that change made it far more interesting.

The Six-Fingered Sword - The Princess Bride

inigo-montoya-princess-bride Cropped

Inigo Montoya isn't the main character of Rob Reiner's beloved 1987 fantasy action film, but he's easily the most regularly quoted. Who hasn't heard "My name is Inigo Montoya, you killed my father, prepare to die" a thousand times in or out of context? Inigo spends the film pursuing the six-fingered man who slayed his dad. That man commissioned Mr. Montoya to make him a sword that would fit his unique condition, then murdered him in cold blood when he asked to be paid. The blade in question is seen by most as the best sword in the land, but Inigo seeks only to use it for vengeance. That vengeance leaves him with the blade that resulted in his father's death, but the blade now carries a new legacy. It's the sword of the new Dread Pirate Roberts. That's a sword with a story worth remembering.

The Last Hattori Hanzō Sword - Kill Bill

The Bride fighting the Crazy 88s in Kill Bill Volume 1

Despite the importance, symbolism, and iconography of Beatrix Kiddo's katana, she doesn't actually kill most of her targets with it. She kills Vernita Green with a kitchen knife, Buck and Elle both die from the same snake's venom, and she takes out Bill bare-handed. However, the most iconic scene in either film is almost entirely dependent on her Hanzō sword. Named after history's most famous ninja, Hattori Hanzō is the finest swordsmith who ever lived. He retired decades before the story begins, but he returns to arm the person seeking to eliminate a former student. It's the tool of her revenge in a more symbolic sense. It's also one of the coolest samurai swords ever put to film.

Luke's Lightsaber - Star Wars

Luke Skywalker in Star Wars The Last Jedi

Hard to imagine anything more memorable than the glowing blue blade that has been appearing in films for 45 years. Sword fights are the essential language of the Star Wars franchise. There are plenty of full-scale army battles and aerial dogfights, but the sword fight is the truest expression of conflict in these films. Whether it's the honorable duel of the early days of the modern complex combat scenes, there's nothing more iconic than the lightsaber. From the first time Luke ignited his father's old weapon, lightsabers have been burned into our minds forever.

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