The remake of FF7 has a short scene where Cloud tries to swing his sword indoors but his blade gets caught on a door frame because of how big it is, I think it was a nice recognition of how there are moments where the size of his sword can be a disadvantage
And... in other scene Tifa just knocks a bunch of gas cisterns off middle air. Seems Cloud's only advantage is he has a shield, everything else isn't impossible with enough of EXP.
It also implies that Cloud is mindful of this problem, the only reason the sword got stuck in that scene is because he was shaken and unfocus. Meaning that in battle where he’s focused he knows how to work around wielding giant swords.
I was so happy when that happened. I clapped and cheered. The game seems to strike a wonderful balance between being self-aware and taking itself seriously.
9:30 This is the exact philosophy behind the Dragonslayer from Berserk. He simply needs that much mass behind his blade to be able to cut through the enormous beasts that he fights.
But that philosophy doesn't make sense, seeing as the sword wasn't initially made for Guts and it was called the Dragonslayer, because it was literally meant for slaying dragons. Guts found the Dragonslayer and even Godot (the blacksmith that made the sword) was surprised that Guts could wield the sword at his size and age. The "enormous beasts" theory is okay to explain why it was a practical weapon to use for the purpose Guts used it for, but it doesn't explain how he wielded it or the convenience of why he found it in the first place.
@@vandalgod1134 Well clearly you haven't read or watched Berserk but the gist of it is that Guts is just obscenely strong and is of large stature so that's really how he's able to use it, as far as finding it, plot convenience. Doesn't need to be an explanation for everything that exists in universe, when you start looking for things to make sense you've lost the point of fiction.
@@vandalgod1134 he trains at a very early age with swords way bigger than his size In the Golden Age Arc he already had a really big sword, in fact he gains a even bigger sword than that one later. The Dragonslayer is just a step up on what he previously used
@@vandalgod1134 have you read berserk? Guts was literally born out of a corpse and survived that's already proof he's superhuman not to mention he trained with a sword as huge as his won body at the age of 6 he also went to war at 8 years old basically his body with already super toughness and strength got accustomed to throwing his body around with such huge weapon in fact when his sword broke during the battle for doldrey he got a new one which is even bigger then his previous swords later taking the biggest one of them all which is the dragonslayer a sword no man can handle its literally a sharpened steel slab
Another benefit for Cloud having a really wide blade is that he lives in a world where people frequently bring swords and fists to gun fights. Having a blade that wide helps with blocking direct bullets fired at him, which is shown in the remake a few times.
@@JechtNH Agreed. Not even heavily wounded, just knocked out. In story it is said that a heavily wounded character was barely kept stable until brought to a medic by CONSTANTLY casting on them a healing spell. I'm gonna guess you know who I meant, but for those that don't I left it like that.
Bikini armour could be justified in a world where armour is practically useless, Like a world where all the weapons just negate armour. Sadly Most bikini armour designs are bad, with a lot of them being uncomfortable or very detrimental to the user with a lot of bikini armour being crotch destroyers because at the end of the day there not designed with actual use in mind but for viewing pleasure if you get my drift. I think bikini armour would be less of a issue if we got more actually GOOD designs for them.
Would love to have seen this discussion with Guts as a reference instead of Cloud, since Berserk portrays the giant sword as having a lot of weight and there being a big difference between Guts fighting human opponents - who must utilize tactics and the environment to contend with his superhuman strength and sword - and fighting hellish demons, and makes the sword relevant thematically to the fiction, rather than just being aesthetic.
Not just that, I love how through Gut's history, he's only ever trained with weapons that are out of his size proportions. He grew up training with an adult sized sword and was comfortable with it.
More sensible in general. Cloud fights robots and monsters with magical orbs socketed into gear, Guts also got a repeating wrist crossbow. I've only seen the series, rarely read manga.
It's funny to me when people are discussing about guy with big sword characters that they always reference Cloud as an example even though Guts popularized the trope first.
@@clothar23 Zack actually did share the sentiment if you think about it in the actual story of the game he only used it against angeal like he asked, and to protect his friends (which is the only time angeal used the sword)
I believe your problem here is the usage of the term "sword". "That thing was too big to be called a sword. Too big, too thick, too heavy, and too rough, it was more like a large hunk of iron."
@Mitchell I like that one, "Battle Guillotine". Especially after I googled the shape of guillotine blades, the Buster Sword is definitely at least inspired from them. ....huh they deleted their comment
He has an entire scene in the new game where he kneels behind it and places it at an angle to deflect gunfire. Extended media has also had it used that way repeatedly.
@@oktaymeyt Can't seem to find a link that isn't an hour long but he does it several times, when he encounters the first walker in the game he blocks with the flat. The one mentioned is likely during the mission for Jessie where he gets caught with fire from 3 sides and hunkers down. In the animation "Last order" to keep cloud safe Zack puts him against a wall and sticks the sword in the ground in front of him. Likely others as well.
@@oktaymeyt ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-G0WrcIRCChM.html At 19:40 he blocks with the flat well entering the area before running, then at 40:54 he get's pinned down blocking for several seconds likely trying not to expose the people behind him. At 41:10 he blocks a close range shotgun blast before trying to block at 41:25 but it ends up being a chain meant to subdue him. Might have missed a few he seems to block more and dodge less when he's protecting people.
@@Tacticaviator7 There is a video about weird weebo communities,and altright attraction from cabernacle, yeah its political, but probably good going about anime weebs and military overall.
@@BigDaddyWes Anime became a lot more mainstreamy not that mainstream but extremely common. Add anime can be really mature relecant content to whatever else, why wouldnt anyone use anime avatars. That tiger, is inspited by media to, so anime, can be as influencal.
The Buster Sword, according to official sources, is made from unrefined steel. In the Final Fantasy series there is also a very valuable metal with extreme properties called Mythril, from which Mythril Saber is made from, a recurring weapon in the series. But yeah, the Buster Sword would technicaly have a very weak spot at the handle.
Could be reinforced with other metals, the buster sword cut through pieces of a falling sky scraper like it was nothing, in fact it cut with enough force to set things like concrete and metal on fire.
In the remake, Cloud actually doesn’t get shot a lot due to a combination of poor aim, fast movements and the Buster Sword being wide enough to block the gunfire.
This maybe isn’t the point but I think “super strength” is a misleading name. Because Skal is right if your muscles had the ability to exert superhuman force but the rest of you wasn’t able to endure that stress you would rip yourself apart. I think something like “enhanced physicality” is maybe more accurate and wholistic. Especially for someone like cloud who is also clearly more dexterous and mobile that a normal person as well.
Yes. There have been instances in where some individuals have been granted temporary giant boosts to strength in dire situations thanks to adrenaline. This allowed them to pull off some crazy feats in that moment but their body payed for it afterwards. The anime character named Shizuo from Durarara!! Is kind of based on this.
Cloud is literally bathed in mako look at death battles analysis of cloud the dude would have to be able to bench 15 tons to move that sword and move like he does
@@fabiovarra3698 I think Deku's self destruction is actually understated. If you were able to harness enough strength to literally change the weather with a punch in real life, I think it's safe to say you wouldn't have an arm afterwards. His arms only half explode, because you can't just make your protagonist a double-amputee after the first fight. All of the humans in MHA have some sort of super-durability though, Bakugo doesn't do nearly as much damage as he should when he punches people. Even a small explosion can do serious damage when detonated close to a human face, and his explosions aren't exactly 'small'.
This is how the great Bo Jackson ended his sports career. Used his incredible strength to try to pull his leg free from a tackler who was holding onto his foot/ankle and ended up pulling his hip out of socket, then relocating it himself on the field. Doing so severed the blood vessels that supply the joint causing a rapid and complete necrosis of his hip joint cartilage.
Cloud does indeed use his sword in the Advent Children movie to deflect shots while on his motorbike. I think he does that in the Remake as well, in the Midgar Express parts when you block.
I haven't played the Remake in a while but doesn't Cloud's Operator Mode have higher mobility and his secondary mode give him Auto Parry against any melee enemies? I'm just not sure about Parrying ranged enemies I can't exactly remember that but I know melee enemies were definitely a thing.
"Super strength just comes with super toughness. It's a prerequisite, otherwise you'd be breaking yourself. You'd be pulling your joints out of their sockets, ripping tendons, breaking bones. Etc. You need the toughness to deal with it." Izuku Midoriya with his crippled super strength arms: .........
There's actually a good reason for this. If you pay attention, the damage done to midoriya is based in the bones, joints, and skin. His muscles are perfectly fine with the power used. Now our brains naturally restrict our strength to prevent us from hurting ourselves unless it's an emergency. Now if you went through a drastic change in strength, your mind will miscalculate this value causing a minor version of what midoriya did to himself. It wasn't a matter of durability but muscle control that was the problem. If he continued his workout routine and steadily worked up to the new strength, he wouldn't have had that problem.
@@bookworm3696 Well yeah, the whole issue was he didn't really have the time, but he definitely made an effort and it made it somewhat bearable. He still deals with the issue but he's also still shown doing workouts. Just not as often 'cause it's not as relevant and supposed to be implied.
Guts is 2m tall and he is ripped and bulky as fuck, he weighs at the very least 250 pounds that dragonslayer is bigger than he is and it’s made fully out of iron, that shit is at least 400 pounds. Guts is a fucking menace.
The thing about "small framed guys" is that if you do proper stretches in addition to muscle building exercises, your muscles are going to look smaller than they are. This will also make your limbs longer, which.... *gestures at Cloud's legs*
In the animated short, Last Order, Zack puts an unconscious Cloud into a little alcove and plants the buster sword in front of him to protect him from incoming gunfire while Zack himself stealthily takes out a number of soldiers with just his hands.
I liked the nod they added to the end of that scene regarding the weapon's weight, the few survivors were trying to get Cloud but couldn't budge the sword, then Zack comes up and effortlessly pulls it out with one hand.
@@Solais1019 too bad in remake the sword's weight feels a bit more inconsistent. As Leslie (a dude who got knocked out by one punch from Corneo) could easily pick it up
@@jlit5215 Leslie is actually pretty strong my friend. He was a bodyguard for very notorious criminals and likely has been training his body to take the Don out for a while.
Would 500 1 pound coins even be that much? Maybe if it was 500 in small change, even then, probably less than 500 pounds of lead/steel in a weight set.
@@kauske They only said that so the punchline came out smoother. Because saying, "i use coins instead", wouldn't be as funny. It's funnier if you see he meant pounds as in money the whole time.
Previously: "That sword is a totally ridiculous idea and he could never use it. He should just use a normal Zweihander." Now, though: "That sword is a totally ridiculous idea. He should just use a normal Zweihander."
@@Effect-Without-Cause tbh the buster sword wouldn't either, cutting weapons are not designed to fight against solid metal. If this spider robot can withstand bullets, it is basically impossible that any sword of any human size could do anything to it, or you'd just be better off with a giant hammer.
@@rmg480 meh, depends on the bullets used. a giant sword hitting edge on wielded by a super soldier may be able to deliver more force per square inch, or just enough force overall to crush and crumple things. And withstanding doesnt mean its immune, merely that it resists it and needs to be worn down if you really want to get through... kind of like a boss fight, hint hint
Well the remake did actually acknowledge the issue of the space needed to swing the buster sword. Cloud tried to draw it and it clanged on a doorframe. It was quite amusing.
I see another possibility : being this big, as you said, it can be used as a shield, but that doesn't mean it's got to weigh as much as we think. Two possibilities : first, the majority of the sword is made of an other material that could also absorb shocks, like titanium, while the edge is still steel. Second possibility : the sword is partially hollow, greatly reducing the weight, while maintening the "shield" aspect. Anyway, being lighter would also reduce the stress on the weak point. Btw, the guard and the handle seem to be made appart from the blade, maybe that helps too.
I always figured the second possibility. FF7 has fantasy AND sci fi elements, so it wouldn't be ridiculous to think the sword is actually a hollow latticework of some ultra resilient fantasy metal to allow for its size
When Man At Arms made the Buster Sword, the main body was made of aluminium and the edge was steel. It was still too heavy, but maybe if it'd been hollow, it would've worked
In a aov based when cloud was still in soldier he uses the buster sword as a shield to safe guard and soldier member from the team he was sent there to extract
When the ancients wrote fantasy, they also gave the hero, Goliath, an ennormously heavy sword, and they describe its weight as about 5 kg. So, for the people who knew what swords are, 5kg weight is an extreme.
I may be wrong here (former theology scholar turned agnostic but it's been a while since college) but I don't think the weight of Goliath's sword was ever given. The word in the hebrew text for the weapon he wore slung between his shoulders isn't well defined and isn't used much elsewhere in the text. When David draws fallen Goliath's sword later to chop off his head a different word is used meaning either he carried two swords along with the very impressive spear and shield mentioned as part of his kit, or more likely, he had the spear as his primary weapon, a sword as a side arm, and the weapon slung between his shoulders was a javelin or atlatl or something the hebrew writer wasn't equipped with the words to describe. Another thing to consider is that it's mentioned that the sword is made of bronze which would limit the size due to the limitations of the metal. At any rate, years later when David was a fugitive on the run he picks up Goliath's sword from the temple at Nob and makes the comment "there is none like it" so he must have thought it was pretty cool. The more impressive part of Goliath's kit that is described is his spear of which it is said the iron head alone weighed roughly 6.5kg. Significantly, Iron weapons at the time would be much more rare and expensive than bronze which is why it is described in such detail and also why it's likely that it was his main squeeze on the field. Given the weight of the head perhaps some kind of sword staff or pole arm weapon that would have been very exotic at the time and absolutely terrifying for the opposing army.
@@o0shivashakti0o yes, your are quite correct. I've remembered the weight, but somehow I confused the spear with the sword. The sword weight is not mentioned, it is just mentioned that Goliath carried it, along with a spear, a javelin and some 50kg armor.
I think that the sword was a normally sized one for Goliath, wich was a giant. It became a buster sword in the hand of David or Galahad((wich i think owned David's sword in at least a version).
I mean cloud is good and all, nut a more realistic giant sword weilder would probably be the greatsword hunters from monster hunter. They too have super strength (you have to do some digging but lore said the hunters were basically descended from super soldiers from some long past war) buy they are by no means animesqe in how they weild them. They have the same type of deep stance to swing it and the few combos you can chain into usually are momentum fueled or heavy smashes. I'd highly recommend watching a few vids on their moveset to give you a better idea
Also something a bunch of people miss with Monster Hunter is that the weapons used by hunters are not meant for human vs human combat, but are mentioned to be specificly for hunting monsters, which lets you get away with more silly designs in terms of both weapon and armor (still dun excuse some of the more insane designs but still...), as the monsters wont be as tacticaly inclined as another human would be.
Just to add on to this, the hunters also seem to be pretty heavy themselves considering how they move. This would mean they could do so much easier than average folk. Even with the super strength, you can tell the weapons are pretty heavy. For example, its a known fact by greatsword players that you need to incorporate rolls into your playstyle because swings that stop have your hunter having to lift the weapon again, so you roll to get into your stance a tad quicker, and of course move out of the way of death.
Guts from Berserk does the same fighting way before the FF7 remake. The big difference is that he continues to preserve the momentum of his attacks till there's no enemy. (Even using his arm cannon for additional spinning) Heck, Guts also uses the ground to do the "finger flick"-like attack with his sword.
It was made in the Playstation Era, wanted to depict a huge sword so you easier to follow movement and makes with crude 3D graphics and because of said limitations... they had to make a massive wedge and they never changed because it became iconic.
@@VVabsa Also this: You know Sephiroth's Masamune? Someone in Japan also wielded a sword of that same length, during the Sengoku period. Sometimes on foot, sometimes on horseback. Look up Makara Naotaka, and his sword, the Taroutachi.
Something I like is that this is not the first time you've gone back and thought about your points and changed your mind. I appreciate people who can do this
The thing with oversized swords is that almost every downside can be countered by some sort of internal fantasy element. This doesn't make up for stupid design choices like every single daedric weapon from Skyrim, but it does make up for things like the buster sword. If it's made of fantasy metal it can be both incredibly heavy and literally unbreakable, and Cloud is canonically superhuman. As previously discussed he is definitely limited in how he can use it, but all of the things that make it impossible to wield have been circumvented by the medium. A better question is what's the best buster sword design? Many different depictions of it, which one is the best?
Gravity may also follow different rules. Look at Dungeons and Dragons 5e RAW for example, you can be a ant falling from the skies or a sumo wrestler skydiving with no parachute and both will only take 20d6 damage tops, the damage is going to be the same if falling from the same distance and both will fall at the exact same speed.
I believe the original buster sword design would be the best for cutting due to not having grooves to get caught on bone and jagged pieces of metal and seeming slightly thinner however putting materia in its slots would probably require a press and might damage the sword. The crisis core design is probably not as good of a cutter due to the fancy grooves however its redesigned materia slots seems to include a latch which would make materia installation a breeze. Even if the crisis core design does not have a latch the extra material would make press fitting materia less likely to damage the sword. The remake design is a combination of the original and crisis core designs having a similar profile, guard, and handle to the original with the fancy grooved blade of crisis core minus the thicker materia slots. The design while looking great and feeling like a HD buster sword loses the cutting benefits of the original's simplicity and the improved materia slots of the crisis core design.
The "can be used as a shield" argument is very valid. The buster sword is used like that sometimes FF. I remember a scene in the anime FF7 Last Order, there is a scene where Zack and passed out Cloud are surrender by guys with guns. Zack then puts Cloud in a corner, plants the Buster sword in front of him. Zack goes on to punch the guys with his faster-than-bullets-mako-insfused body while you see the buster sword protecting Cloud from bullets.
@@insertname3977 I remember watching some youtuber testing out a real life sized buster sword by shooting it with different weapons. He first used hand gun and all it did was left small little dents in the sword then he used shotguns and pretty much the same thing. Then he used a 50.cal sniper rifle at a pretty close range and the bullet still could not pass through the metal but it left a large dent in the sword.
Great point on "lifting" versus controlling. Years ago a friend took me to the local Renaissance Fair, it was fun, even better were all the "sword guys" showing off their replicas. For a couple of years I had been working as a tree trimmer, hand climbing trees and holding a 15 pound Stihl 032 chain saw all day, every day, usually at full extension, working biceps, triceps and wrist. Sword Guy- "Here's how you use a sword..." (waves a 4 lbs wall hanger over an arc of about 90 degrees with a slow and lazy "whoosh" Me- "Wow, that seems heavy. Can I try? (I wrist-flick the 4 lbs wall hanger over an arc of 270 degrees, get around 8' reach and get a great whip-crack "sst thp" sound. Me- "Big sword, not everyone can swing them." The girl working the cash register laughed so hard she snorted her latte out her nose.
Well yeah. The guy could find a way to make pretty much anything connect to male genitalia one way or another, so he had something to say about basically everything...
The thing that also really makes specifically cloud more doable is to look at what he is fighting. Gigantic robots, super enhanced humans that could survive bomb shell droppings and force fields. You need a heavy impact to do any dmg on many of the enemy's. A normal weapon would be useless (at least without the super strength) to do anything more then scratch these targets.
One fair criticism Skal said in his first video is that speed adds more force than weight, so, hypothetically, Cloud with a lighter, more maneurable, blade, could dish more damage... if the sword can survive the impact. The buster sword has the mass to survive a lot of impacts (except for the handle), but a lighter, magically enhanced sword made of a super alloy would be just better at dishing damage. Ultima Weapon is probably just that, a very very light weapon with the size of the Buster Sword (besides all the magical enhancements of a legendary sword, of course). That said, with Cloud's fighting style, and the fact that he faces guns, yeah, the Buster Sword makes sense.
I used to think the design would be impractical in a fantasy setting as well. Then I saw Black Clover, where Asta has a giant and wide sword, and one of the things it can do is deflect magic attacks back at the opponent like a baseball bat if it hits the spell with the flat; then I realized, "A narrower sword wouldn't be able to do _that."_
@@erinfinn2273 To be fair, they have foresight and the blaster shots they have to deflect are usually smaller than the surface area of their lightsabers.
Black clover aldo has him freakishly strong and use it as blunt weapon mostly, black clover really makes him use that size well. In a lot of settings is less thought into it. Inuyasha is nice there, with demons, and nice swords and sangos boomerang. The bat function is nice too. And aster earned hiscfreakish build.
@@marocat4749 True, but his extreme strength is something a lot of stories do. I was just pointing that the huge sword can do something that it wouldn't be able to do if it had been more practically-sized. It being blunt is usually presented more as a weakness; it can cut clean through (and nullify thanks to anti-magic) all magical attacks, but if someone uses magic to hurl a real object at him, he's in trouble, as happened in his fight with Vetto.
Yeah he does use the flat side as a shield, look at him guarding attacks in the game, and certain action cutscenes. He also sometimes slams the sword into the ground, while gripping the handle spinning his body around the blade. Using the moment to rip the sword back out of the ground and into a attack.
Damn. Thanks for bringing this up. I've had this exact opinion on huge weapons. But i'm not an expert. Just an rpg/weponry lover. I've HUGE issues with the handle of the buster sword, as much as i have with de Dragons Slayer from guts. But there's also a difference in the purpose for the existence of a weapon. You don't need something huge to kill a human. BUT monsters that appear in berserk and stuff like that do require some different weight behind. More than muscle. Thanks for the content. Love your work.
man, seeing you talking about oversized weaponry in this light is really interesting. it reminds of a pattern you constantly see in writing, where an idea or element of a story becomes popular and used more and more often, until eventually those elements get deconstructed by later stories, saying how they're impractical or somewhat silly compared what would happen in the real world, leading into more and more works deconstructing the original idea. until eventually some writers come along, and create versions of the idea or element in story, but this version looks over all the deconstructions of the idea but still plays it out more along the lines of the original idea, though taking into account the aspects that were deconstructed previously. this is a reconstruction. this reconstruction may becomes the new normal version of the original idea, or maybe it becomes its own alternate version separate from the original idea. this version may go on to inspire new ideas or new deconstructions and the cycle continues. because the reason you take something apart, the reason to deconstruct something and point out its flaws or problems, is so it can be put back together better than before. over the years, i've seen more and more people being interested in more realistic versions of medieval weaponry and armor, and people attempting to lean towards more realistic uses of these weapons with HEMA being a more well known thing to look to for how these weapons were used. and i feel live ive seen in increase in more practical real world inspired designs appearing in media, though of course the original over the top version still exist, and maybe its just me being drawn into more things that use real world reference rather than it being more common. so its really interesting to see people step back, look over the original criticisms of over the top sword designs in fantasy settings, and be like "well actually, this could still work, just not in the way we originally saw it, and with some differences or better justifications." and now using that line of thinking to be able to create somewhat practical versions of the over the top idea that's still true to the original. that's reconstruction! its like this: Original: protagonist wields massive over-the-top sword and uses it no different from a normal sword. Deconstruction: Protagonist attempts to wield a massive over-the-top sword but can barely lift it let alone swing it and if its used at all its not used with finesse its just a big weight, and our protagonist either dies or just loses and tries something more practical next time. Reconstruction: Protagonist gains some kind of advantage, like an Exosuit that takes the brunt of the strain from lifting it, or the magical ability to carry something as if it weighs a quarter of its actual weight, and now can wield the massive over-the-top sword in battle like a normal sword. you could go even further and say its still not like a normal sword, its only swung with the speed and/or finesse kinda similar to how you'd use a normal one, but it might be kinda cumbersome, and is more like a metal bludgeon that's edge maybe can cut things but that's not where the damage comes from, cause even if it weighs less to him it doesn't weigh less to what he's hitting. this is just overall really interesting to see and think about all this stuff. great video! TLDR: Over the top massive fantasy swords have officially been deconstructed and criticized so much, we're now responding to that and reconstructing them. which is just all sorts of fun.
Im pretty sure when a character has super strength, super toughness is included aswell. It’s part of having super strength. They’re not 2 separate features
Glad to see you take another look at this one. Its one thing to point out the unrealistic flaws in a design like this (like the handle/grip, absolutely), but discounting it entirely does you no service. Side note: Cloud DOES deflect blows with the flat of the blade, just like you surmised. Its basically a pavise and a stupidly big sword in one.
5:28 I'm gonna have to need the sauce for the upper right pic please? (edit) never mind its art by Daeho Cha over on Artstation website took a screenshot, cropped, saved, dragged the image to chrome tab, right click and search. Took less than 10 mins Thought it was from an anime Carry on lads
I can definitely respect the change in stance, no pun intended. There will always have to be some suspension of disbelief when it comes to giant swords like the buster sword, for exactly the reason you said. Even if you have the strength, skill, and durability to use and withstand the forces you are putting your body through to wield such a weapon, the main weakness of the weapon will always be at the top of the handle. Without something boosting the weapons durability, be it magic or some futuristic alloy, it is just not a practical choice, even if it is physically and theoretically possible.
At the end of the ff7 remake they showed avg citizens caruing steel beams on their own no issue, and a small group could pick up and carry a large billboard, it really illustrates that the in game strength levels even among normal people are a universe apart from ours.
I wrote a story a long time ago where the main character got a giant sword, but the weight could be reduced or increased and it could also be telekinetically manipulated.
If you can bench 500 lb your muscles will be to big to wield a sword properly Arnold had to cut down his training to make Conan because he couldn’t use the sword as his muscles were to big
One of the main things people tend to either forget, ignore, or just plain old not consider about the giant anime swords trope is the concept of readability, or profile, in game design. Profile allows you to easily identify what it is you are looking at even if you can only see its outline; without intricate knowledge about its finer details. The developers commentary for Team Fortress 2 highlights this as the driving force behind making the Team look like they do. This design theory also explains why JRPG weapons (though, spoilers, it isn't exclusive to JRPGs) are generally so large and disproportionate, combined with them being a transitional artifact from the pixelated era. Back in older Final Fantasy titles, weapons were very large compared to the character sprites, but that didn't matter much because of the super deformed art style and the technological limitations at the time, even if it's now a legitimate art style. It also ties back in to that readability concept. It was sort of novel to have the weapon sprite change to reflect what weapon was equipped, and as they became more mechanically relevant than being a bigger damage stick than its predecessors, it became important to keep the weapon disproportionately large so you could easily read what it was from a distance. After Final Fantasy VII, the weapons, for a time, became more reasonably sized as the series took a more realistic style; the Gunblades' default models in Final Fantasy VIII are reasonably sized (at least until the Twin Lance and Punishment models), and Steiner's two-handed swords in FFIX are almost too small. Trying to explain or justify the physical mechanics working or not working is basically a moot point because of the context that surrounds the original content and game design in general.
She's an OC by ( Daeho Cha ) also known as ( Ake ) and ( CherryLich ). The original Pixiv is apparently down, but it should be easy to find on Booru sites like Sankaku and Gelbooru with that info.
i love how you changed your opinion glad to hear that. i could explain all the Enhancement details of Cloud as its better explained in the Prequel Crisis Core that would be a long comment
As I know that the very big sword at 1:43 was a paradeschwert, it never was used in battle, it was made only for pageant reasons. (my favorite paradeschwert was made by a sawfishes saw and looks like an insane fantasy weapon.)
Its always nice seeing something in a neutral perspective instead of using hipster glasses. Like once you hated katanas because a lot of people praise them to be "the best" sword.
About the super toughness part... I mean in fantasy setting we're talking about people that survive getting smacked around by beasts weighing tons and taking negligible damage from bullets and rockets... I guess the super toughness is a given. Recently started playing monster hunter and if you question certain mechanics realistically (greatsword doing more damage the closer to the handle the blade hits something for example) it just doesn't hold up. But monster anatomy analysis (hitzones with differing damage) seem like an interesting thing to think about.
The only fantasy great sword i could see being wielded by a human would be guts's pre dragon slayer sword. Its the same length as a zweilhander but almost twice as wide and thick, so the human would probably have to be a monster and there would already be a more practical weapons for someone like that.
Commented under another video, I've entertained the idea of exotroopers using junked helicopter rotors as swords. That has a lot of the characteristics of a giant sword, but some major differences. It would still be relatively narrow, for example. It also has a smooth edge for airflow, with the mass focused on the leading edge. A question I never got into was whether it could generate actual lift. Clearly, experimentation is in order...
But wouldnt it drag him around, when He cuts upwards? Because then the force would Go in a direction, where His stands couldnt do that much anymore I think
The weight of his superdense body would convert upward linear momentum into backward rotational momentum, which would become a downward force through the back leg of his wide stance into the ground.
Wielding the Buster Blade and the strange array of other oversized swords that appear in front of Cloud as a shield does happen, he usually takes a stance where he holds the back of the blade by the heel of his hand, so that its pushed into his palm on impact, while his main hand continues to hold the handle such that the blade takes a diagonal coverage of his front
I believe I said something similar to this way back on the original video, I'm not sure. But based on the experience I have playing around with a 35-lbs buster sword replica, everything you stated with countering the forces with your leg and core strength is definitely correct and extremely important. I used the sword for a workout that I did twice a week over quarantine last year and did hundreds of swings on those days, so I can point out some things based on that - I'm not a swordsman by any means though, I'm just a nerdy weightlifter. 1. Grip strength ends up being the limiting factor more than anything else. The torque placed on the hands is tremendous, so despite the fact that I weigh 220 lbs and can do multiple sets of dozens of pullups, leg raises, and rows all in the same back workout, the forces imparted by the sword when performing and controlling swings is far more extreme. Your tendons in your forearms definitely get sore quickly as well, and the day after I managed 460 swings total I could barely close my hands. The more fatigued your grip is, the harder the weapon is to control, and your grip will fatigue long before the rest of your body - maybe not if you're a climber. 2. Your shoulders prevent you from being able to do certain angles of cuts. The deltoids are very small muscles, so even an overhead pressing specialist like myself who has managed a 275 lbs press can't even begin to swing the weapon in a, I guess reverse cross cut? If you wield the sword with your right hand forward and try to cut from the left side to the right. That's nearly impossible because all of the torque will be placed on your leading arm's mid deltoid, and a 150-lbs torque from the sword is definitely not going to be doable for the overwhelming majority of people, even when you have your entire torso and your following hand's biceps and deltoids to attempt to help. So a horizontal cut or overhand cut from that direction can be locked down quite easily, but from what I can tell every other angle seems to be fine - though the telegraphing of the swings is going to be very obvious. 3. Your core has no choice but to be overwhelmingly strong. If you have a weak core all around in terms of stabilizing weights and preventing rotational forces, then the sword will probably be impossible to handle. Because I do so many compound lifts and direct core training in the gym, I'm able to handle the weapon decently in regards to this, but my friends who were more sedentary than myself who tried to even lift the sword may as well have been trying to pick up Mjolnir. An athlete who trains their core should be fine here, but I can easily see this type of weapon throwing someone's back out of causing a hernia if their core is weak. 4. You don't need to be overly muscular to use the weapon if you know the technique. In my gym there are powerlifters who can rep out my max squat for reps with ease while being upwards of 50 lbs lighter than me. When you train your nervous system to activate more muscle fibers at once, and become more efficient at a movement over time, you can actually look deceptively weak while still having immense explosive strength. The same goes for the sword as well, because in order to get the thing moving you almost have no choice but to train for explosiveness. You can make the workout harder by moving the weapon slower, but for functional training - as functional as training with a slab of steel can be - you may as well train to move the thing fast like you'd need to in a fight. You can actually swing the weapon surprisingly quickly and even get to where you can swing it with one hand, albeit while looking pretty clumsy, once you have the trick down. And the trick is: 5. Your calves are where all the power comes from. Like you mentioned, your legs and core are much stronger than your arms and upper body, so they play a key role in preventing you from throwing yourself off of your feet. But the part of the body that most lifters neglect is also where the overwhelming majority of the power comes from. Your calves are surprisingly strong for their size - you literally do a calf press every single time you take a step when walking or running. So if you take those muscles and force them to impart all of their strength explosively in one go, then practice transferring all of the energy up the kinetic chain through your legs, core, and arms, then you'll actually move the weapon far faster than you would ever expect yourself to be able to. This is probably really obvious to any historical swordsmanship practitioner but from the viewpoint of someone who just lifts for fun and experiments on their body with different training methods, this discovery was amazing because it allowed me to use the strength I'd built up in a far more efficient manner. Overhand swings are shockingly fast at the start of a workout because of this, with the foot placed behind you serving to blast the weapon upward to be guided and pulled back down by the abs and arms, then stopped - if so desired - by your grip strength. I don't know how fast I can swing the thing but I can say with confidence that the force of the swing is far superior to hoisting the thing up and dropping it slowly. 6. Lastly, the weapon would be useless on wet surfaces. As you said, and as I discovered by playing around, the force of the swings has to be cancelled and countered by your legs or you'll throw yourself, even with just 35 lbs. But if the ground is wet and soft, of even if you swing the weapon hard enough to impart force into the earth to a sufficient degree through your feet, then the dirt will give out under you. Your bodyweight plus the force of the sword swing can literally pulverize the ground even when dry - there's a couple spots in my back yard where the grass is dead and the dirt is compacted due to the force of all the swings transferring down through my feet with every swing I did. So keeping that in mind, the one thing that I will say 100% is impossible is to use such a weapon in combat in the rain. I don't care how strong your legs are, if the ground is muddy or slippery and you swing the sword with full force, you're going to slip. There are scenes in Berserk where Guts swings the 300+ lbs Dragonslayer while standing on a wet surface that I actually do chuckle at now because I know he'd definitely be skating across the ground after that. Overall I'd say that if a school were to start up where people studied using the things effectively, then there would definitely be some interesting progress made on using these sorts of weapons properly. I was able to figure these things out just on my own, so I'd imagine some HEMA or Kendo practitioners could make a lot of progress on finding a somewhat efficient way to use these swords. I think that the one key difference would be that, while most swords are treated as an extension of one's arm, a sword of this mass would need to be treated as though you're fighting alongside another entire body. To that end, someone using these weapons would probably need to be skilled in unarmed martial arts, mixing punches and kicks between huge swings of the blade, allowing them to keep their momentum flowing from foot to fist to blade. The cardiovascular endurance needed to do this would be tremendous though. And we're in an age of guns and bombs so such a novelty would need to have quite a dedicated group to bother developing it at this point in time, but I'm sure it would be amazing to see.
Probably skall, as he seems to be the one with the most actual swordfighting practice (and recent) of them all with HEMA. Metatron quit kendo a while ago, and arguably kendo is not as useful as HEMA for actual swordfighting. I'm unsure about Shad's resume on swordfighting, but I don't recall him actually practicing HEMA, or at least not consistently.
@@rmg480 Shad has the most diverse martial arts resume of the 3, he just started without weapons. Ignore the dad bod and Shad is extremely strong, just check how he handles warbows. But the real answer to this question is Matt Easton lmao
In youtube there is a video of a guy wielding the berserk sword in real life and showing what you were saying about the cloud's combo or trying to apply the momentum to wield the sword and actually do something not just let it fall. You should check it if you have time. It's a 1:37 minutes long. Really helpful this video
A lot of the time when Cloud uses it to shield himself he'd hold it side ways in front of him and lowers his head so he can block the likes of gun fire. I think another thing to note is Cloud essentially having the ability to fly and so in a way he can make his own momentum in a battle which he likely uses to help with maneuverability.
Not a big fan of spin moves myself I think they looks mostly ridiculous, but what do you think about rotational moves to preserve momentum against non humanoid opponents that will not have the intelligence to "punish" you for turning your back?
I think the FF7 remake actually does that. with smarter enemies like the turks etc actually blocking and punishing you for overdoing the spin stuff, but monsters being easy targets.
@@prismaticc_abyss Why? You were talking about whether or not spinning moves would be practical for a big sword, and I'm pointing out some moves that had spinning to an extent, were there to retain momentum, and were practical.
lmao, you should check out durarara purely for the fact it does exactly what you said in the end. The mc's power of super strength literally tears his body apart repeatedly whenever he uses. It's not a big part of the story but fun coincidence with what you said, of course you can always yt the scene as well. Anyways I had disagreed with that video precisely for the previous reasons of magic and super strength comes with super toughness. But your knowledge of blade design and practicality is always top notch.
"With super strength, you also need super toughness". Interesting enough, there is a show that actually explores that: My Hero Academia. One of the main weakness of the protagonist early on is that he recieves a superhuman strength super power, but his body cannot handle that, so everytime he uses it, he ends up badly hurt. I thought that was neat.
I could see you reaching a max swing speed but still having so much more strength, so you just add mass which increases momentum, or particularly the energy striking the target. The mass of a hammer with the edge of a sword I guess.
Dont forget that Cloud also uses his custom Fusion sword which is a sword that is as big as heavy as his Buster sword but he can break it apart into smaller swords that he could use to be more practical in combat
I think some of your old videos hyper analyzed fantasy weapons like "this could never work in the real world" but yes, we know that. This video was great because you take into account that *this mechanic* or whatever is a fantasy mechanic and doesn't apply to our world while still recognizing what they're doing right, like talking about Cloud's stance being "appropriate" for the type of weapon
This make me remember how in Soul Calibur 3 one of the costume clases was barbarian, and its weapons was a geat swords, similar to Claud but not quite. Remember how the moveset use a lot of the momentum of the weapons to connect other attacks, specially kicks and back swings. Stacks where pretty broad, but if a real person would do them doubt a body can totally stop that momentum.
Monster hunter and the great sword weapon gives great examples on how a heavy weapon can be used and manipulated. Hunters aren't by any means super human like cloud, but much stronger than average. A lot of weapons in monster hunter games really put detail into how the weapons are used and how they effect your character. I wonder if Skallagrim looked into MH at all as a fantasy setting.
The leg analysis is spot on. Legs do a lot more for us than move us from point a to point b. For example, during a tug-of-war contest your upperbody strength is barely a factor. The three main factors are grip, friction to the ground, and how much you can push off of the ground. The force of pressing is transferred upward to the rest of your body and through the rope to give you an the force you need to win. This is basic physics. I know you mentioned the "keyboard warrior" part as a jab at people who talk big. I can't do it now, but back when I was in my highschool weightlifting class (it was for football players,) and fit, I was able to leg press 500-700 lb easily and 1k lb twice before tiring our. I basically followed Zack's squat exercise and was constantly doing squats when standing still in that class. Zack did several hundred squats a day. Super old spoilers but Zack "gave" cloud that sword, but Cloud wasn't able to instantly use the sword. Zack got the sword from Angeal, and used a normal sword before he got that inherited blade. Angeal was also bio enhanced and all muscle. Btw, I only weighed 112lb back then, almost all my muscle mass was in my legs though. I also kept roughly 70lb weights distributed across my entire body on all day. 10lb per leg and a 50lb vest... It's been 10 years since then and I currently weigh 127 lb, but it's mostly fat and some muscle since I haven't been physically active since that class ended.
