Buster Sword The Buster Sword is a weapon that first appeared in " Final Fantasy VII " and has since appeared in several other games in the series . It is Cloud Strife ' s trademark weapon , and was wielded before him by Zack Fair and Angeal Hewley . The Buster Sword serves as an iconic image for Cloud and " Final Fantasy VII " due to its massive size and is wielded by Cloud in most of his appearances . Design . The Buster Sword is classified as an enormous broadsword . From tip to handle , it is approximately five to six feet long , with a single - edged large blade approximately one foot wide . In Cloud ' s " Final Fantasy VII " artwork , the blade is a lighter color on the bladed edge , while the rest of the blade is dark gray , and the handguard appears to be bolted or riveted into place . There are two holes near the handguard , variably said to be Materia slots , or where Cloud clips the sword onto his back . This design of the Buster Sword is used in most spin - off appearances . In the " Kingdom Hearts " series , Cloud wields a Buster Sword of this design wrapped in bandages . In " Compilation of Final Fantasy VII " releases , namely " " and " Crisis Core - Final Fantasy VII - " , the Buster Sword has a more detailed design . The handguard is colored gold and has swirl designs , the part of the blade bearing the two holes is raised slightly and sectioned off from the rest of the blade , and there are etchings engraved on the blade near the handguard . In " " , this design is used with additional gold coloring along the raised section around the slots . Appearances . " Compilation of Final Fantasy VII " . " Final Fantasy VII " . The Buster Sword is Cloud ' s default weapon . It is unique in that it cannot be sold or thrown due to Cloud using it in cutscenes and minigame s . The Buster Sword has a base power of 18 and a base accuracy of 96 % . It has two linked Materia slots . On the title screen , the Buster Sword appears suspended over the ground surrounded by a black background . Buster Sword also represents the Weapon is Broken handicap on the Battle Square handicap reels . In the PlayStation 4 remake , of the original and the " Compilation of Final Fantasy VII " version . It has the thinner blade seen in the " Compilation " , along with the more defined linked materia slots , while it has the original ' s hilt , which seems to a clasping of metal wrapped around the more intricate , gold hilt on the " Compilation " version . " " . Sometime after " Final Fantasy VII " , Cloud places the Buster Sword on the cliff where Zack had his last stand as a memorial . The sword rusts and becomes covered in dirt . In place of the Buster Sword Cloud wields the Fusion Swords , which take on the silhouette of the Buster Sword when connected . During the ending of " Advent Children Complete " , Cloud moves the polished Buster Sword to the Sector 5 Church . " Before Crisis - Final Fantasy VII - " . When the Player Turk is infiltrating Icicle base with Zack , the latter wields the Buster Sword . " Crisis Core - Final Fantasy VII - " . The Buster Sword ' s origins are revealed with Angeal Hewley as its original owner , whose father had the blade forged when Angeal joined SOLDIER . His parents borrowed the money for the sword , and Angeal ' s father worked as much as he could to pay back the debt , eventually falling ill and passing away . Angeal cares for the sword in his father ' s memory , using it as little as possible to avoid it being damaged , instead fighting with a standard SOLDIER sword . Angeal eventually entrusts the Buster Sword to Zack as a symbol of passing on his honor and dreams . Zack uses the blade more frequently than Angeal , but swings to hit with the blunt edge . When Zack is gunned down outside Midgar , he passes on the Buster Sword to Cloud , naming him his living legacy and proof of his life . " Final Fantasy VII G - Bike " . Cloud brandished the Buster Sword in this remake of the motorcycle minigame from " Final Fantasy VII " . While riding the Hardy - Daytona , Cloud attacked enemies with his Buster Sword . It used the design seen in the " Compilation " with the ornamental base . " Final Fantasy IX " . A weapon similar to the Buster Sword can be found in a weapon shop in Lindblum . If Zidane inspects it , he will give a reference to " a guy with spiky hair " who wielded a sword like it . " Final Fantasy X " . The Buster Sword is a dummied out weapon for Tidus . It exists in the game ' s internal data , but can only be obtained by hacking . Behaving in a similar manner to Angeal and Zack , Tidus attacks with the sword ' s blunt edge . " Final Fantasy XII " . Gilgamesh uses a fake Buster Sword , along with many other iconic swords from other " Final Fantasy " games . The kanji character on the sword means " replica " , or " fake " , and has four slots instead of two . The fake Buster Sword can be used by player characters via hacking methods . " " . The is a greatsword - type weapon available to Lightning through . It raises Strength by 360 points and by 12 % . " Final Fantasy XIV " . The Braver and Blade Dance Limit Breaks feature a Buster Sword made of light . " Final Fantasy Tactics Advance " . The Buster Sword is a sword - class weapon wielded by the Soldier , Warrior , and Dragoon classes . It has 35 power , 5 defense , and teaches the ability Mindbreak to Soldiers and Warriors , and Wyrmtamer to Dragoons . The returns as a weapon for the Soldier , Warrior , and Dragoon jobs , as well as the new Spellblade job . It no longer teaches Wyrmtamer to Dragoons , but teaches Blood Price to Spellblades . " Dissidia Final Fantasy " ( 2008 ) . The Buster Sword is Cloud ' s weapon in his normal outfit . Bartz uses the Buster Sword during some of his moves when he mimics Cloud . The Buster Sword is also an equippable weapon usable by Cloud obtained in Destiny Odyssey VII - 1 . It is a level 1 Greatsword that gives + 4 ATK . " Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy " . The Buster Sword is used by Cloud in both his default and " Steady Light " outfits . It also appears in Cloud ' s downloadable costume , his " Kingdom Hearts " look , where it takes on the wrapped appearance it has in " Kingdom Hearts " . Bartz still wields the blade in his mimicked moveset , but due to changes in his moveset he only uses it in one move as opposed to the original two . As in " Dissidia " , it is also an exclusive weapon for Cloud , and can found in his chapter of the 013 story . Its stats have been increased to Attack + 22 and Defense - 2 . " Theatrhythm Final Fantasy " and " Theatrhythm Final Fantasy Curtain Call " . Cloud wields the Buster Sword in his character model . " World of Final Fantasy " . Cloud appears wielding his Buster Sword . " Final Fantasy Trading Card Game " . Buster Sword appears as a weapon , requiring three Thunder CP to use , and one Thunder and one Shine CP to remove it from the equipped character and return it to the hand . When a Forward equipped with the Buster Sword is moved to the Break Zone from the field , Buster Sword allows the player to select a Forward on the field with a lower cost than the original Forward equipped with the Buster Sword , and equip the Buster Sword to the new Forward . Non - " Final Fantasy " guest appearances . " Kingdom Hearts " series . Cloud wields the Buster Sword wrapped in bandages in all of his appearances in the " Kingdom Hearts " series , except " Kingdom Hearts II " where he wields a wrapped Fusion Sword in its stead . The Keyblade is based on the Buster Sword , and is a long , heavy , metal weapon based upon long reach and powerful attacks with two holes near the hilt . It is won by defeating Cloud in the Olympus Coliseum , and appears in " Kingdom Hearts " , " Kingdom Hearts : Chain of Memories " , " Kingdom Hearts Re : Chain of Memories " , and " Kingdom Hearts Re : coded " . Both Cloud and Zack can wield the Buster Sword during Arcade Mode , and it is obtainable as equipment for the character Koji Masuda during Quest Mode , appearing as a monster drop from Floors 10 - 12 of the Forsaken Dungeon . " Super Smash Bros . for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U " . Cloud wields his iconic Buster Sword in his appearance as a DLC character in " Super Smash Bros . " for the WiiU and Nintendo 3DS . It can also be equipped by the Nintendo character Kirby when copying Cloud , Kirby uses it to perform the move Blade Beam against opponents . Other media . Games . A weapon called the Buster Sword appears in the " Monster Hunter " game series . While it more greatly resembles a cleaver , it bears the same overall design . The Buster Sword appears in the online game " Fallen Sword " . There is a sword that appears in the sandbox game " Terraria " called the Breaker Blade that resembles the Buster Sword and its name serves as wordplay of that of the Buster Sword . There is a Buster Sword at the Weapon Rack in " Pocket God " . The Buster Sword can be unlocked and subsequently eaten in the mobile game " Hungry Oni " . The item description " A spiky haired guy carried something similar " , reflects the reference to " Final Fantasy IX " . The Buster Sword appeared in " Puzzle & Dragons " as part of the " Final Fantasy " collaboration . The Buster Sword makes a cameo in the indie game " Evoland " , though it is called the Legendary Sword . It is obtained at the end of the second dungeon . The Buster Sword can be found in " Just Cause 3 " as an Easter Egg , stuck to the side of a snowy mountain . Television . The Buster Sword is inside Finn and Jake ' s brother Jermaine ' s house in season 6 episode 33 of the Cartoon Network show " Adventure Time " . Jake tries to use the sword to fight invading demons , but he finds the sword too heavy to wield . Fandom . In the Epilogue of " 8 - Bit Theater " , when Fighter and Black Mage realize they are lost , the Buster Sword is seen along with the Revolver in " Akbar ' s Not Useless Tools " shop . Non - specific appearances . Since the Buster Sword is Cloud ' s default sword , he uses it as his weapon in almost all of his spin - off appearances , including " " , the " Itadaki Street " series , and " Chocobo Racing " . In " Theatrhythm Final Fantasy Curtain Call " , Cloud and Zack both wield the Buster Sword , Cloud ' s based on its " Final Fantasy VII " design and Zack ' s on its " Compilation " design . Creation and development . In the earliest concept sketches ( see Gallery ) Cloud ' s sword was smaller and thinner and had a single slot used to attach the weapon to a stud on Cloud ' s back . The handle had a hanging chain similar to Squall ' s Revolver in " Final Fantasy VIII " . A magnet on the suspender on Cloud ' s back was used to hold the sword in place . In " The Reunion Files " for " Final Fantasy VII : Advent Children " , Tetsuya Nomura stated his original vision of the Buster Sword was unrefined steel , and he referred to it as " the Giant Kitchen Knife " . Having stated that Cloud ' s imagery was based on the samurai martial artist luminary Musashi Miyamoto , the size and design of the Buster Sword is reminiscent of the oar carved suburito waster sword used by him in his only and final duel against rival Sasaki Kojiro , and in contrast to their rival ' s weapons , as Musashi believed that swords like nodachi were unwieldly and left one open due to its use . In an early version of Cloud ' s official poster ( the finalized version of this image was used as the cover art for " Final Fantasy VII " in North America ) that was used in Square ' s ( now deleted ) original " Final Fantasy VII " website , and also used as a promo shot for early magazine articles on " Final Fantasy VII " , a " beta " version of the Buster Sword can be seen . Here the Buster Sword has only one slot instead of two , the proportions are different and the slot takes up a larger percentage of the sword ' s width , the sword ' s sharp edge is held to the opposite side , and in proportion to Cloud the early Buster Sword looks longer . In early footage of " Final Fantasy VII : Advent Children " , before the Fusion Swords were designed , Cloud was shown fighting Kadaj wielding the Buster Sword that had the swirl design on the handguard , but not the blade etchings . The fight is identical to a portion of their battle in the completed film , albeit slowed down considerably . Merchandise . The Buster Sword has appeared as Cloud ' s weapon in numerous merchandise of him . In 1997 the first " Final Fantasy VII " action figures manufactured by Bandai were released , and Cloud ' s figure comes with two weapons : Buster Sword and Hardedge . The Buster Sword in this set is uniformly gray , without the lighter colored edge as seen in the game . Cloud also wields the Buster Sword in all cold cast resin statues crafted by Kotobukiya . Buster Sword has also appeared in Final Fantasy Trading Arts figures with both Cloud and Zack . Cloud has the plain version while Zack ' s Buster Sword has cracks on the surface . The Zack figurine was released before " Advent Children : Final Fantasy VII " and " Crisis Core - Final Fantasy VII - " , so the Buster Sword is still the original version without the more ornamental base . Cloud ' s " Dissidia Final Fantasy " Trading Arts figure also has the original Buster Sword , because that ' s the one he wields in that game . " Crisis Core - Final Fantasy VII - " Limited Edition PSP . A limited edition PSP Slim was released along with " Crisis Core - Final Fantasy VII - " in Japan : the console bundled with the game , as well as a Buster Sword wrist strap . 77 , 777 units were available and all sold in one day . A similar bundle was also released in Europe , but lacked the Buster Sword wrist strap . " Final Fantasy Play Arts Action Figures " . In 2007 Square Enix released " Final Fantasy VII " Play Arts figures . Cloud ' s comes with the Buster Sword . Its design is that from the original artwork , rather than the updated design from the " Compilation of Final Fantasy VII " . The deluxe set that comes with Cloud and the Hardy - Daytona also includes the Buster Sword . In 2009 Square Enix released " Crisis Core - Final Fantasy VII - " Play Arts figures , Zack ' s figure including the Buster Sword . Unlike the Buster Sword in the " Final Fantasy VII " Play Arts figures released two years earlier , the Buster Sword Zack carries is the updated design from the " Compilation of Final Fantasy VII " . Also in 2009 Square Enix released Cloud and Sephiroth as " Kingdom Hearts " Play Arts figures , Cloud ' s including a bandaged version of the Buster Sword . Etymology . The word " buster " means a person who breaks up something , e . g . crime busters , or something big or unusual for its kind . It derives from the verb " bust " . The term " buster sword " may also be a corruption of the term " bastard sword " , used to describe two - handed large swords in 17th century Europe . It may also be a reference to the supposed rain - making device " cloudbuster " , created by Wilhelm Reich .