Are Swords REALLY Good for Super Strong Characters? 

Play War Thunder now through my link, and get a massive, free bonus pack including vehicles, boosters and more: playwt.link/skallagrim2023 So what type of weapon do you think makes the most sense for characters with superhuman strength?

Maybe we're focusing on the wrong thing here. Perhaps the benefit of super-strength isn't being able to wield a massive weapon, but being able to move normally in massive armor.

Something that messes with this is the square cube law. You can’t just scale things up proportionally and have them work the same.

My take is simple: If your character is strong enough to sling around a slab of steel that has to weigh at least 40 pounds, you could probably go ahead and use an obscenely high draw-weight warbow and have the power of a modern sniper rifle.

Swords are kinda unique in that regard. With any other weapon be it spear or axe or a mace if you encounter armored opponent you're encouraged to just strike harder. With the sword you can't transfer strength to power with same ratio, so it's more nimble weapon for striking weak spots and finding gaps in the armor. So with swords i guess agility would be more important than strength. If you're strong just take something that's heavier on the other end.

I love that you brought up the Kanabo, because it's immediately where my mind went at the start of the video. Fun fact, some japanese folklore stories involve Oni (demons/ogres) with giant kanabo made of solid iron. Very fitting!

So you need a character with superhuman strength with superhuman mass and a weapon made from supernatural alloy on a world with supernatural physics. Seems doable.

I had never considered the durability of regular materials when thinking about using weapons with super strength. That's an interesting point to think about. And like others have said, I definitely think a warbow would be an excellent choice for super strength. Doesn't even necessarily have to be more powerful than the strongest bows we already have, more strength would mean drawing it more easily and consistently without getting tired as quickly.

Even in our LARP adventures we have barbarians that claim extreme strength (most of them really look like it too), they regularly prefer hammers, axes and siege weapons, swords are just not part of their fighting style.

😄 The tetsubo is one of my favorite melee weapons. Somehow, despite the bulk, the samurai of Japan were very effective using the tetsubo, and it was considered a "samurai weapon".

I would argue that giant swords like Guts’s dragon slayer are just slabs of metal, so practically hammers already, just also with an . . . “Edge”.

If you could swing a giant piece of metal like a tiny one because you're super strong, go for the big one everytime! LOL

If anyone wants a semi-realistic demonstration, I recommend Rurouni Kenshin. The character Sanosuke has a massive sword and Kenshin's fight with him is awesome.

Skal, it would be AWESOME if you did a colab with one of those strongest man competitors. You could actually test how some weapons are handled by someone considerably stronger and heavier than the average soldier. "Strongest man vs average Joe on a zombie apocalipse". Best regards

If you had a real life character with 5 or 6 times human strength the ideal weapon would be a 4 foot long round section 28mm diameter spring steel rod with a hand guard. What else would you ever need? Enemies need their brains on the *inside* of their skulls to function.

Well, to be fair: Weapons ins Monster Hunter are meant to cut monsters that have skin that regular metal has difficulty cutting through. As such they are also created from tougher materials that can withstand superhuman strenght

My favorite is when the relatively small person with superhuman strength uses a giant weapon, and they actually use the fact it weighs almost as much as them to their advantage. Like in Monster Hunter, when you use your entire body as a fulcrum to pivot the weapon and follow the momentum into a sort of cartwheel to build up more power.

counter point: if you shape a giant sword "properly" it basically IS a big metal club with a wedge on the front. Very durable and yet focuses the impact more than a simple round object. think of a hexagon shape, but slightly elongated. It also carries more mass than an axe, because the entire length is thick. which might be desirable if you are really strong. its also more durable than an axe, which isn't all one piece, but rather is mounted to a thin pole. also, you get a nice huge metal shield. and finally, cutting area is nice and long so if someone closes the gap on you. (passing where the tip of the axe would want to land) you still can hit them with a nice hard edge.

Skallagrim, have you ever seen the new compressed wood that a American University custom made? They used a chemical process, compressed it, has the strength of steel, light as wood. It's pretty amazing, you can pre-form it into the shape you want. Imagine the Kanabo with a more reasonable thinner hand grip that was as strong as a Steel Rod. You could probably hollow out the base of the Kanabo to include some Silicone or Rubber Shock Absorbers so you feel next to no reverberation on impact.

That War Thunder sponsorship is rather unexpected.....but welcome from a channel like this

This video was actually pretty interesting. I’m writing a sci fi universe and within it there are for simplicity sake, supersoldiers. I decided that despite having enhanced strength instead of carrying larger weapons they’d carry heavy combat hatchets. I always thought it was more practical for an operative than carrying a sword, but now there’s some decent science behind why I chose wisely.

The whole superhuman mass/density thing was actually a thing in Azarinth Healer, a story in which the main character winds up fist fighting with things several, many, all the times larger than her own human body, some of her ability gains makes her body more dense (her strength increasing to compensate) so she can put more oomph behind her punches and not get knocked around like a leaf in a hurricane.

The cube square law was well covered already, but I have to point out that there is no level of strength that will overcome inertia and mass. Even if you were strong enough that you felt the same resistance from a war hammer that a normal person does an arming sword, the hammer would still not move in the same ways as a sword will, you would have to counterweight the head to move the center of mass to the same distance from the hand.

The way I imagine the magic of Thor's hammer to work is that those who are worthy are not impacted by the weight/density of the hammer. To everyone else the hammer is absurdly heavy and hits with extreme force while the user doesn't even notice the weight. Which also makes sense why characters who are not worthy but extremely strong can lift the hammer.

What I really like about Cloud is how he swings his entire body with the sword. Super strong or not that heavy sword is gonna move you, so he just moves with it.

Something like the buster sword is probably more of a blunt weapon than a cutting weapon, it wouldn't really need a sharp edge at all. It's also a very unbalanced weapon, so it'd require a lot of mass on the users part in order to wield it. It'd probably make more sense in the hands of Barret than it does Cloud. It's the sort of weapon I could see in the hands of Warhammer 40k soldiers, because they all have massive bodies and armor. Smaller characters though, would need something more balanced.

What if instead of Super Strength the weight of the weapon itself only felt lower / weightless while in the hands of it's wielder? Kind of like Thor's Mjolnir. How different would the physics applied be when swung around effortlessly?

When you mention how even with lots of strength the sword will still get damaged reminded me of a panel from Berserk. _"Damn Guts you sure know how to make a blacksmith cry."_ Hanarr

Zweihanders & Claymore Swords aside, one has to wonder: when Edge becomes Wedge with such mass & weight backing it, does Slash damage become Blunt Force damage instead? I was reminded of that episode of Modern Rogue where they were introduced to Montante. I can see how it could be used for Area Denial, but Fight Choreography in most depictions are rarely like that.

I had the same conclusion before with kanabō, as it is basically made specifically for that purpose. I'd like to add that super strength doesn't just fall on the category of just having strong major muscles, durability and heavier body. It's simply stronger physiques overall, including grip strength. So, about the issue with the handle, wouldn't be an issue for someone with super strength. The person, depending on the situation, could just grip the handle so hard that his/her fingers would dig into the handle itself.

This was a great short take on an interesting topic. Would love a follow up video that goes deeper into what category or types of weapons would work better.

The light novel/manga all you need is kill actually talks about this. They use giant axes in tandom with mech suits to fight the alien monsters. The weight of the axe head and the leverage it gives is about the most efficient way to crack the aliens exoskeleton.

The one case where I wrote a character with an oversized weapon was the greatest Geomancer (think Earth Bender) of the world, who used giant warhammer that looked more like an anvil on a stick, and the reason he could wield it was not just super strength, but him using his earth magic to root himself at key moments so he doesn't slip, has more mass and can impart more force into his swings. It's not a weapon meant against ordinary people though, he only uses it as basically a melee version of artillery. He uses it to break walls and fortifications, use his magic through it and his team sets up superhuman enemies for a combo attack in which he is the finisher, the one who only needs to land a single blow to bash a monster's brains in. If he fights in a regular battle he just chucks it at someone and goes into fisticuffs except his arms/hands are covered in stone and he hits like a truck.

I always had the mental picture of something like Clouds sword working, but completely differently than portrayed. Guy has superhuman strength, so he can lift it, sure, but momentum and the conservation thereof is still a thing. He can lift it, slam it down, but full swings would carry the user through to a ridiculous degree. Super strength doesn't mean much when the follow-through literally takes you off your feet, lol. I'm imagining a mix of swinging a giant meat cleaver, but getting taken along for the ride like MCU Thor gets pulled around by Mjolnir.

My counter: it would just shift how we look at weapons. Swords/rapiers function like daggers now, and great swords/maces/axes act like swords and ultra great swords like great swords. Daggers end up in a super odd place since they would be so outclassed by length. Basically, how nimble and quick you can just shifts up.

I like the idea that a superhuman with a large sword would use the momentum of it to their advantage. Like literally having th fact that’s winging the sword would drag them as their fighting style

its also worth taking into account what the enemy of the user happens to be. if their using super human strength to fight lions a sword may be more valid then say a club, while an elephant in comparison a club may be more useful to disable/ stun the enemy were a sword may struggle to pierce the hide. and while it seems to be 60% giant swords 40% giant clubs out of the fantasy I've read out of all the novels, light novels, manga, and comics I've read, I can only think of 1 character that used a giant axe

I think it's always going to depend on context because "giant sword" can mean a lot of things. It could be argued that your "realistic armor-slayer" is a giant sword, but it seemed to work pretty well, albeit on the limits of what WOULD work. Then you could go up to something like the Buster Sword, & then up to something like Monster Slayer, theoretically infinitely. Then there may be various types of magic or superpowers at play. THEN we have to consider what the weapon is being used on. If you're fighting a dragon, maybe it does kind of make sense to have an edged weapon because maybe, as hard as it is to cut through, it's easier to make it bleed than the alternatives. AND THEN there are other uses to consider, like the fact that Cloud is seen using his swords as impromptu shields. So, the answer to "Are Swords REALLY Good for Super Strong Characters?" is always going to be "it depends." To be fair, it's not like super strong characters are never shown using clubs, axes, etc. It does kind of make sense that different characters might choose different weapons for different reasons even if we ignore factors like sentimentality. And Jesus, this paragraph is about as chunky as the Buster Sword.

Another huge question is how much a sword would actually benefit from a super-strong user. At a certain level of strength, you'll cut right through your target, and being any stronger would not increase the effectiveness of the cut - you can't really chop a dragon MORE in half. A strong user might be able to make the weapon more nimble, like Skall said, but I think there's a cap on how nimble you could be with a sword, too.

I feel that giant swords for super strong characters can make sense. Depending on the things its being used for. Take for example, Monster Hunter. Where people are fighting giant monsters. Giant monsters presumably will have a thick layer of fat to retain heat, this fat can help protect against blunt trauma from something like a kanabo or mace. But a sword, with its edge and tip will have the potential to cut into that fat layer, or be thrust through it. Of course, even in this scenario, you'll likely end up ruining the blade when you hit bone. But that's a problem for AFTER you've taken out the giant monster by cutting deep enough to hit bone in the first place. Not to mention, the issue of damage will crop up among many weapon types when factoring in the power of super strength. Spears, axes, polearms, picks etc. These can also be easily damage with high power. But unlike a sword that has a lot of edge, especially if it's double edged (Though few depictions of colossal swords are), such weapons can be rendered useless by damage if the head breaks off. However, when fighting things that aren't giant monsters, like other super strong humans or giant robots... Swords would be terrible and you'd be wanting your kanabo or quarterstaff made out of solid unobtanium.

Out of big swords, I wish rhomphaias and bills were more popular (yes, the bill is more known as a polearm, but there are 12th-13th century depictions of greatsword-esque bills).

For some reason I like the idea of a super-powered human with a really heavy sword doing a wicked long draw or push cut. He traps you with a sword that’s basically just too heavy for you to even shift on your own and then just casually cuts through you like a sausage.

Man, I love the kanabo. Always wanted to see it given some love in animation or video games, I always feel like you could do a lot of fun things with it. Have some 8 foot giant start dealing out massive, slow swings only to start using the weight to pick up momentum and turn into walking freight train barreling through a crowd of people.

I love the backdrop on this one, just a lot of beautiful pieces, The jian, short messer, long messer, skalchion etc...

This reminded me of a modern fantasy series I read which people with superhuman strength might use swords, but they basically had to develop alternatives to how they are used to prevent their strength from just destroying the swords in use. ie, they dont use static blocks because it will ruin the sword pretty much immediately.

I love realistic style really large weapons. For sparring, I want to make a really big zweihander, but big in the sense of length and reach over mass and width. I think a superhuman melee weapon with large REACH would be terrifying, and if it didn't have the big big mass, it would be so quick.

I like to think that "swords" like Cloud's Breaker Blade or Gut's Dragonslayer just have sword like elements as decoration and are more just gigantic clubs.

Funny thing is, is that when I wrote characters and technical info for my things, the characters are in posession of enhancements that enhance them. Thing is, is that armor apart (which btw allows to wear heavier armor), their general preferred state of weaponry are hammers and axes and other weapons that take advantage of the brute force. Especially given the opposite end has a spike that, considering physics, allows to concentrate A LOT of strength in a single point, shattering the point of impact and devastating whatever is hit. While they will be outclassed by a far faster swordsman, it is no denying that it is a very hard situation. Especially if your opponent can crack your ribs with a kick, punch, or hold you in place while they skewer their target with a knife or sword. They take preference in weapons and fighting styles that end with one or two precise blows to the target. Hell, if they use swords, they use normal-sized ones given strength also means increased swing speed and movement speed of the muscles, allowing to operate the weapon faster, more precise, and harder.

Even just someone being able to wield a greatsword much like a longsword in terms of recovery speed would be huge, which is where I think this scenario would make sense. If you go to an extreme though, it's not quite the same. As said, once you get to the point where the force you're applying risks breaking the sword...might be time to consider a different weapon. Edit: Also, if you have materials that are heavier and stronger than steel, that shifts the dynamic further.

I've been following exoskeleton tech for years. There have been a lot of advances. If perfected, and combined with ballistic armor, a "mech" suit should be possible. If so, a "giant melee weapon" would be a logical choice for a backup weapon should ammo run out or the gun gets damaged. All conjecture at this point, though.

The classic representation of Heracles/Hercules as a huge guy with a big stick pretty much summarizes what the optimal weapon for a superhuman would be. Like, why would you even need something sharp at that point?

I Never thought about that in order to withstand the force a superhuman swings with your have to essentially make a blunt sword or the edge would get damaged. Now Swords like the Dragonslayer or the Buster sword actually make more sense as they are just a Raw hunk of iron with a very steep edge

Giant Swords plus super strong character equals the equivalent of a battleship running over a fishing boat.

The thing is, with super strength, anything becomes a weapon. At 5 times human average, a sword is still viable (provided you're still going up against biologicals), as the forces generated are still within the tolerance of steel, just more maintenance needed. At 10X, you would need something more robust than steel, or you would have to make adjustments to the sword, making it thicker, more robust. At twenty times, you're talking about slicing through a human longways with a butter knife with the forces involved being more than enough to shatter swords NOT made of magical materials, or the sword would have to have the blade profile of a wood cutters axe, and weigh as much Mike Tyson. At a strength multiplication of 50, as baseball bat cuts through flesh just as easily as a sword, just not as cleanly. Once you get to a hundred or more times the strength of a man, there really isn't any point carrying anything other than a thick, sturdy, club analog like a steel kanebo, or a war club made of tungsten. Once you get to Hulk or Superman levels of strength, where they can just grab telephone poles and swing them around like sticks, and they're literally throwing mountains at each other, there really is no point in anything other than improvised weapons because the materials needed to survive the swing alone, much less the impact regardless of whether they miss or not, would be mind boggling. Basically only the strongest of fictional materials MIGHT survive.

I figure the real advantage with super strength when using a sword is that you could more easily counteract leverage against you (weak part of the blade vs strong of your opponent) and surprise them by pushing against them in situations where you shouldn't be able to (i.e.: where they would normally have the mechanical advantage) by simply being way stronger. That would definitely make sparing very different for both fighters. Then again, if you are that much stronger than your opponent... you could probably just reach them with your weapon faster than they can and if they do try to deflect, again, you could overpower the mechanical advantage (and hopefully your weapon survives that!).

I've long thought some kind of studded club or mace would be the ideal. Seems easier to scale up a bludgeon if the weight isn't an object than to scale up something more subject to structural failures.

FINALLY!!! I've been waiting for Skall to talk about Kanabo's for years.

This is always fun to think about. Even when I have no background in the sword arts. So Cloud with his Buster Sword... I've always personally viewed the Buster Sword as more of a blade shaped bludgeon or splitting wedge than a cutting implement that he also uses as a shield. The art always varies... it appears to roughly a half-inch thick slab of metal (likely steel as it has been shown to rust) with wedge grind from anywhere from 1/4 to 1/2 the width of the blade. The art is pretty consistent that the Buster Sword also has a very build up area (not you can call it a guard) roughly twice the width of the blade before transitioning to the stick handle. (Not sure how much this would shift the balance.) I'd need to do another viewing of the films or fight scenes... but I mostly remember him using a lot overhead chops. Basically raise it up and guide it down. (Been years since I viewed anything FF7 related though.) I really really need to find it again... but my favorite depiction of a ridiculous large Sword being used was from an Anime with the sword being as large as the tiny female character using it. She obviously had the superhuman strength to pick it up... but they played around alot with the mass of the thing. She would basically get it moving and then let it drag her around as part of the fighting style she used. Pretty improbable I'm sure...but still amusing in it did sorta seem to take physics into play.

Fun video. You should explore this topic further. For instance, with super strength comes the need for more weight in order to get full use out of their maneuverability and striking power under normal gravity. They would likely need boots of excess width in order to avoid sinking into the ground while jumping. Weighted cloaks Full metal weighted staves with various ball, club, or mace ends... You get the idea. Thanks again and I hope you have a good day/night =)

Very fascinating video, and not something I'd considered before! I guess giant weapons really only make sense in universes where everything can basically be explained by magic or chakra or whatever else lol. This video is really great through, and it reminds me a lot of the type of conversations I had with my friends back in highschool lol. Thanks for the great content!

"What is a sword? A miserable little pile of steel." OMG you kill me, Dracula.

Easily one of the coolest looking weapons in my book. Ever since my childhood when I first saw a huge character swinging around a tetsubo in an old asian mmo or pictures of samurai using them, I thought it was just such a simple yet elegant, well made and sturdy weapon. Sure european warhammers and such are cool too, but they have more of a technical air to them rathen than just brutish strength. Like with a mace you hit a knight on the head and he falls down crumbling, mounted samurai would probably launch each other with this beast.

Hey skall this might be a weird comment but your ad read for this vid was so perfect, so concise and direct, no fluff. Didn't feel like I needed to skip or speed through it at all

Man, I love your fantasy wepons' videos. That's the kind of shit I usually think and start talking about with my friends (tho the only weapon knowledge I have is from common sense and watching your videos, which is way less than you actually have). Always fun to watch!

You also need to remember, the people who used swords, axes or other impact or cutting weapons. Generally where stronger, because they practiced with it. Me and my father used to cut fire wood with a bow saw, and split it with an axe or splitting maul. So we where pretty strong at one time. But that was years ago. Lets take the Scottish Claymore for example. These where big swords, and they where given to the biggest guy in the clan. But he was backed up by two guys using shields/Targes, and one handed weapons. So you need to take that into your thoughts.

Seriously though, if you want to check out sword forms for large weapons, check out Bagua saber forms. =D

This is really great video! I don't remember any other SwordTuber talking about impracticality of swords in the hands of super power individual. And the wall with swords displayed looks awesome! You finally have your home to do that! Cheers!

I love your videos a great deal. I'd like to hear your thoughts on the reasons these weapons are even produced. I've noticed in a lot of these big weapons are made to fight giant monsters. So I guess what I'm saying is, how would we fight against Giant Monsters? Seeing as Giant Weapons are an illogical approach due to physics.

makes me think the "realistic" super strength sword would be like sephiroth's, basically the same in most ways except length, utilizing super strength to increase range while maintaining the weapon's overall power...if that makes any sense.

Loved the Symphony of the Night, "What is a man?" joke

I like your background with the presentation of the swords

If I was absurdly strong I’d probably use a club or something, love the vid Skal!

I was thinking how nice your background looked until I realised, these are all yours, it's actually real ^^

Looking great, Skallagrim! Wonderful video as usual.

Hey there I love your content Can't wait for the next halloween video this year where you talk about how to fight various monsters Do you have any information about unconventional weapons or tools that do a good job as one? Like chains, scythes, hammers,etc

thanks for such a good explanation as the whole time im leading into my thoughts as you make them happen if that makes sense. you were one step ahead. very good. have a great day

yooo i hadn't been seeing your videos for a while, glad to see ya pop back up on my home page dude! Cheers from Vancouver ⚔

See, there are some materials which CAN hold the needed sharpness without damage upon impact. Some examples: -Adamantium -Vibranium -Orichalcum(depending on where you import it from) -Sea Prism Stone -Adam Tree Wood -Dragon Bone -Mithril -Carbon Nanotubes -Plasma in a containment field -Ancient swords from dead heroes (the current owners of these swords aren't keen on us taking material samples for analysis) -Stuff you can buy from the average merchant within a mile of a final boss's castle -Nth Metal -Tinfoil, if an RPG hero is using it and we're not in Fire Emblem

You make that Kanabo look light! Being that it’s thick oak and studded with solid iron or steel, it’s definitely not as light as you make it seem. Someone’s been training haha nice

I love the theme. Those sort of questions are what attracted me in Shadiversity Channel. I think a bit like @grungeknuckle5577 in that matter, perhaps the armour is being neglected. Not just because all things being equal is preferable to have armour than not to have armour, also because armour is the potential solution for your problem of not having weight enough to swing your stick. It can potentially solve your problem of not have weight enough to do anything you want to do, actually. You only have to go to your blacksmith and ask him for what he has been trying to not give you: a lot of weight. I believe you stepped in a huge distinction and didn't explored it much (because your focus was swords versus war-hammers). A character who has extra-strengh and extra-weight to match is very different from his equivalent who has just the extra-strengh and normal weight. Character A is a lot less idyllic. If that's modern setting, with 20 times your weight you probably cannot use most public elevators. If it is medieval I am not sure if you will ride a bull, a rhinoceros, or if you must travel in a carriage designed specially for you. But I would suppose you are not ridding a normal horse. If your condition is hereditary, you must be a nobleman (how could you not ?) so you probably don't have difficulty to find people to build those carriages, special boats, and furniture. However, that still has a limit. If instead of 20 times stronger and heavier you happen to be 2.000.000 times stronger and heavier, that would probably limit your life more than a little. You would only be able to walk is very solid ground, and would have to think twice before each step, so to speak. While a character who has only the strength and no extra weight would only get advantages (and all advantages the other fellow was, if we consider the armour trick works) and no problems. This fellow would even be able to swim like a normal person. Climb things like a Robert Howard's Cimmerian, probably. Since we understand neither of those characters are braking from the impact of those heavy war hammers against things, I suppose they have some extra resistance to impact. If that's correct, then the B fellow should be able to pull that nice trick insects can do. The one where they fall from any high and don't take any damage. Given to air resistance setting a limit to how fast things can fall, and that velocity in their case being only enough to cause a impact bellow the impact they can take. So, for B, the strongest he can be the better. While A would want to avoid excess.

I'd say the general assumption is that when you have super strong characters, they might be going up against super tough targets (especially if they're even bigger than you), at which point the force concentration that a blade may offer over just blunt force may come into play again. If you fight a dragon 20 times your size, your kanabo may not do much even if oversized and super-strengthened. However, if you use your super big sword to slice through its tendons, that will still work. Blades an points just generally scale better into larger targets because blunt force always needs to be proportional to the size of the target lest it just gets absorbed by soft tissue. To take a book example: In Terry Pratchett's "The Wee Free Men" there is a gaelic inspired fae folk called the Nac Mac Feegle. Covered in blue tatoos and red hair, this belligerent bunch of drunks stands at only six inches tall whilst boasting the strength to carry the weight of an adult man. Due to the scottish inspiration they're drawn from, they're all using Claymore style greatswords as long as they themselves stand tall. And now think about it: With all their strength, do you think they could hurt a person using a club scaled to their proportions? It would be like the equivalent of a strong adult man trying to knock you out by smacking you with a chop stick. And even if they used a metal one, it's a matter of leverage: It would bounce them off you because you are heavier than them. At the same time, you know that a six-inch blade absolutely can kill a man, easily. People have been stabbed to death with pocket knives shorter than this.

it all depends. Mass and inertia need to be accounted for. IF the character has an ability that lets them increase their own mass and/or sick to the ground... then sure, swing massive weapons around

The game with my favorite giant sword combat is the first Darksiders. A giant sword really suits a character like War. And the Chaoseater looks sick too. He even uses cuts, slashes, AND thrusts. You know, versatility. Which is an advantage with swords. It annoys me when games just have giant swords be used as clubs. [cough] [cough] Ludwig’s Holy Blade [cough]

What I generally think of when I think super strength wielding a sword is basically just someone using a claymore or zwiehander in the same manner as a normal person would use a longsword or arming sword.

Awesome seeing the That Works Falchion again...ahhh what a beautiful sword ❤

Makes me ponder what the evolutionary sweet-spot dynamics might be doing in this: If humans had developed in dinosaur size, then archaic melee warfare might not have been feasible because material properties are a constant, so weapons like swords, maces, axes made out of metal and wood wouldn't be robust enough to hurt people. The swing alone could make metal bend and the hit would shatter it. Maybe the easiest example is a katana made out of spring steel. Simply upscale it and it would probably bend from gravity alone when extended. Reinforce it to make it thicker and its own weight would make it bend during movements. This also works the other way round: Imagine a Chinese sword made out of that really floppy spring steel or what it is. Now scale that down for a mouse. Suddenly it is a very rigid sword. P.S.: Did you see my comments on your personal troubles videos?

Interesting. Thankyou for sharing

Love the uploads!!

Also magic. There are two main ways to increase damage with a magic sword. Either you make a normal sword and use magic for extra cutting power Or you make a massive sword, and use magic to help with the balance. (this is adressed for example in Exalted, where magic swords need to be powered by the user's energy, and so in the hands of 'ordinary' humans they are just awkward chunks of metal.)

I'd like to note one particular aspect of giant swords that generally goes ignored: defensive value. If you look at those massive swords, such as Cloud Strife's "Buster sword," you're looking at what amounts to a "propeller blade with a handle." Where the flat of the blade is a foot or more in width. At that point you're looking at something that can serve as a functional shield... or should I say, a dueling shield? We look at Talhoffer's fight manuals, as well as other sources, and we see the dueling shields in use. Where warriors fight with spear, sword, and giant shields whose rims were often edges, spiked, or even covered in attractively curved (but undeniably functional) hooked shapes. And in many of the pictures we see the warriors armed with ONLY the shields, wielding them in both hands as they attempt to kill each other... with the shields.

I do work on a fantasy/scifi with a bloodline of people with super human strength. What I concluded is that the human natural provess is projectile weapons, Darts, stones, slings. With superhuman strength you could accelerate stone or lead peaces that penetrate almost anything. All that not requires fiction materials. Also I have a few idea for melee. Like thin threads of metal so if he manages to make a hook around your arm or head, with super strength will cut those off easily.

To me, the problem with giant swords and super strength is that it doesn't matter if you cut someone's arm off or head off with a giant sword and super strength, or with a normal sword and normal strength. Either way, they're down an arm or a head. Essentially, there's a point that you reach relatively soon where adding more strength/mass into the equation doesn't actually really increase the damage you're inflicting, as no or minimal additional energy is being transferred and you're already past the point of 'will I cut through this?'. Even if you assume the target has enhanced durability this issue still exists- all you're doing is shifting the point beyond which more strength is redundant. Blunt weapons, on the other hand, keep transferring that additional energy from the swing for much further into the realm of super strength and super size, so they make much more effective use of it.

I mean context is something that matters here, yes while characters like Cloud or Guts would probably be better off with say weapons that bash rather than slice. You can tell by their opponents they need both a measure of speed and strength to overcome obstacles. And it helps that their iconic swords don't break easily. Plus I feel like a sword exudes more main protagonist energy than a mace or axe, blame fire emblem if you want but when writing a character I feel like a mace or axe just tells us the character is really strong. A sword however tells us that not only is a character strong but they have precision when it comes to their work, even if what they are wielding is a rather unwieldy hunk of metal. I mean this trope dates back to Seigfried and Seigurd who wielded Balmug and Gram and they were far from the most dainty weapons a person could use. I guess narrative in this case at least fictional narrative matters, as much as we make fun of the east romanticising the sword the truth is we do it as well in our fiction, I mean when was the last time we heard of a strong protagonist wielding a spear or an axe or a big hammer ya know.

I think media like Berserk and Monster Hunter justify using giant swords better than most others. Hunters need giant swords because they fight inhumanly large and powerful creatures. Creatures so large and durable that using typical ranged weapons might as well just be a death by a thousand cuts for an animal that will rapidly close the distance anyway, and your chance of killing it in one shot are nil. Same problem with appropriately sized weapons like Sword 'n shield and Dual Blades, basically like trying to kill a rhino with a pocket knife. In Berserk they outright show why Guts doesn't use normal sized swords. For one, he's going up against inhuman opponents as well, many of which also have powers like regeneration or super durability. He was custom made an appropriate sized longsword by his friend Godo the Blacksmith, but it snapped in half when he first tested it against a demon, and it did little to slow the creature down. But the Dragonslayer was both heavy enough to do serious damage despite being very dull, and durable enough to not snap under the weight of his attacks. Guts even uses the wide blade as a shield sometimes. I think the biggest hurdle to cross is an in-universe justification that stays consistent. In MH its a hunting tool that has stuck around because it worked, in Berserk its literally the only weapon that can stand up to fighting monsters larger than humans.

One of the things I really like about Berserk is that they made it so that Guts actually gets pulled around by his sword somewhat and gave him a background as a child soldier forced to use an adult sized sword. It's still a bit silly that he even considered dragging around the dragon slayer and they took liberties with the laws of physics but they didn't pretend that physics don't exist.

Superhuman strength would make any normal weapon snap or bend. I think the most practical weapon would be something like a roman cestus. Kind of an armored glove though I've seen historical examples that were cast in one piece. Basically a mace you wear over the hand.

Awesome I've got the super human weight part now just need to wait for that strength

Keep in mind that it greatly depends whether the extra strength comes with extra maximum muscle contraction rate under low load. The real question here is where the power band in the force/speed curve lies for a given individual with super strength. If their power band is at a higher speed than normal, they will probably go with fairly normal-sized but reinforced weapons and take advantage of super speed. If they are JUST strong but cannot move their muscles faster than normal, THEN it makes sense to use larger than normal weapons.

Contacted Matt Easton already in response to his "obscure filipino weapons" video on the panabas (arguably not obscure at all, but I have a long filipino martial arts background). Haven't heard from him so figured I'd reach out to more people about a very obscure weapon called the talonason. Supposedly it originated in ww2. Basically filipino and filipino-american guerillas would construct improvised weapons out of broken japanese swords. After fighting with those improvised weapons through the war, they kept the aspects they liked about these weapons, but had smiths forge longer versions of the sword to better fight against the long japanese bayonets and swords. The talonason has a 36" clip point blade, no guard, and a 6" handle that can be used either one handed or 2. It also has a scabbard that is split on the side 1/4 the way down to allow the blade to be drawn early without needing to clear the full length of the scabbard. A video of a talonason which is still used in the bahala na arnis escrima of Leo Giron (a ww2 combat veteran that claims to have used them in the war) can be seen here starting at 12:30. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-O1ckk0vciQs.html The unique scabbard can be seen around 12:55

Makes me think about weapons for dragon/monster hunting. Big things that take two or three people to wield.