Kanshou and Bakuya

are "married" twin swords representing , crafted by the blacksmith of Wu during the of China. They were crafted more for the sake of crafting, as if questioning the meaning of the swordsmith, than for any real idea behind their creation. They were created without vanity, and lack a sense of purpose found in other swords. They contain no fighting spirit to defeat others nor a competitive spirit to beat other weapons, and they contain neither the desire to be famous nor the faith to accomplish great deeds.
Upon receiving orders from the King of Wu to forge an imperial sword, Gān Jiàng could not think of ways to forge swords that fit such orders. While he was extremely frustrated and desperate, his wife, , upon seeing this situation, decided to gamble her own life. The sacrificing of human lives is absolutely necessary in order to forge items reaching the realm of Gods, so Bakuya hurled herself into the furnace in front of the husband she loved and used her own life to help the Essence of Five Mountains and the Metal of Six Heroes meld. Kanshou forged the two swords in grief. He kept the Yang sword, named "Gān Jiàng", and he only handed over the Yin Sword, "Mò Yé", to the king when it came time to present them. The king was furious upon discovering the deception, and he had Gān Jiàng killed.
Their quality and ability as swords is high due to being made with the best materials and a human sacrifice, and they have shamanistic and ritual aspects as enchanted weapons. The quality of the grips is more important in the practical use of the swords than the ornamental value, and they are noted as being quite big and heavy. They are identical in shape with the only difference being their color. Kanshou (Gān Jiàng), the black Yang sword, is covered in a hexagonal pattern, and Bakuya (Mò Yé), the white Yin sword, has less of the shine of a polished metal in its ore than it has the haze of a cloud. While the story of their creation has survived into the modern day, there is no mention of what kind of swords they actually were, and even their shape is a mystery. The assumption is that they were cast swords, as was common in their time period. The only known description of the swords simply says that Kanshou had a black tortoise shell pattern and Bakuya had a white wave pattern.
The original versions of the swords that reached the realm of the Gods due to human sacrifice are extremely strong anti-monster weapons, capable of easily cutting down creatures like the Gorgon form of Medusa and the extradimensional evil god summoned by Gilles de Rais in a single strike.
==Variations==
===Kanshou and Bakuya (Trace)===
EMIYA encounters the swords at some point during his lifetime and added them to the numerous weapons recorded and stored in Unlimited Blade Works. Archer additionally crafted spells of warding all over the swords' blades. They are his favored weapons to project, having become his symbols after wielding them all his life. He and Shirou Emiya find the craftsmanship of the blades to be extremely captivating and beautiful, and the swords suit their natural style of fighting. Despite not having a wielder in the legends, they are still Noble Phantasms crafted by the blacksmith.
Li Shuwen instantly recognizes them as fakes but at the same time, admires them as if the original swordsmith has returned as a Heroic Spirit.
They are rather low ranking compared to other Noble Phantasms, but the dual-wielding style, their experience, and their tracing time makes them very reliable. The main ability of the swords is their strong bond with each other, which not only allows them to attract each other, but it is also said they will return to their owner even if events cause them to be lost. If one is thrown while the other is held, the thrown sword will return to the wielder much like a boomerang. This works well with projection, allowing an already projected sword to identify a new projection as its partner sword. When both are wielded, the wielder's Magic Resistance and physical resistance improve, and their rank as both weapons and Noble Phantasms increases.
===Kanshou and Bakuya Overedge===
EMIYA can utilize reinforcement magecraft to completely transform the blades into longswords, referred to as . It is unknown exactly what effects are provided through the reinforcement, but he did utilize them at some point in the battle against Berserker in the Fate route of the visual novel.
===Kanshou and Bakuya (Handguns)===
EMIYA Alter, through unknown methods, modified Kanshou and Bakuya to function as bayoneted handguns, which he is able to trace and use in battle. It is with them he is able to use his Noble Phantasm, Unlimited Lost Works. He also shows the capability to transform them back into actual blades vaguely similar to the original swords, along with connecting them at their pommels to create a dual-bladed melee staff as well as lacking their Yin and Yang centers.
==Triple-Linked Crane Wings==
 is an "exquisite technique" utilized by EMIYA, the culmination of his usage of the swords and the "true meaning behind Kanshou and Bakuya."Fate/stay night- Heaven's Feel route - Day 15: limited. - Bad Ending 38: Sparks Liner High It is said to be a "fatal attack" used to get him through his numerous battles, relying on the married swords' attraction to one another, consecutive projections, and keeping the basic technique, symbolized by the chanted poem. The user projects three sets of Kanshou and Bakuya, executing an unavoidable combination through throwing and slashing maneuvers. Each blade is lethal and the multiple attacks are meant to prohibit escape or defense.Fate/kaleid liner PRISMA☆ILLYA 3rei!! - Volume 6 The only ways to defeat it are with an omni-directional defense, or by ignoring the damage to make a suicidal assault on the user.
<tabber>
English=
Spirit and technique, flawless and firm
Our strength rips the mountains
Our swords split the water
Our names reach the imperial villa
The two of us cannot hold the heavens together.
|-|
Romanji= 
 Shingi, muketsu ni shite banjaku
 Chikara, yama wo nuki
 Tsurugi, mizu wo wakatsu
 Seimei, rikyuu ni todoki
 Warera, tomo ni ten wo idakazu
|-|
Kanji=
鶴翼欠落不
心技泰山至
心技黄河渡
唯名別天納
両雄共命別
|-|
Spoken by Shirou (English)=
Crane wings (Spirit and technique), without opening (flawless and firm)
Spirit and technique (Strength), reaching the mountain (pierce the mountain)
Spirit and technique (Sword), crossing the Yellow River (split the water)
Name (Fame), ending in a different heaven (reaching the imperial villa)
Two rivals / Two great men (We), sharing a life (cannot embrace heavens together) 
|-|
Spoken by Shirou (Kanji)=
「―――鶴翼（しんぎ）、欠落ヲ不ラズ（むけつにしてばんじゃく）」
「―――心技（ちから）、泰山ニ至リ（やまをぬき）」
「―――心技（つるぎ）、黄河ヲ渡ル（みずをわかつ）」
―――唯名（せいめい）、別天ニ納メ（りきゅうにとどき）。
―――両雄（われら）、共ニ命ヲ別ツ（ともにてんをいだかず）……！
</tabber>
===Archer===
In EMIYA's version, the first pair is thrown at the enemy with the purpose of being deflected, while the second is prepared for close range combat. While the enemy is off guard, he slashes with the second pair, and the thrown pair returns and hits the enemy from behind. Finally, the third pair is modified into Overedge and he performs the final strike with them.
No Name's version begins with a pair of thrown swords that strike the enemy, followed by an overhead slash, and then finishing with a dashing double slash.
In Fate/EXTELLA, No Name's version involves throwing a pair at the opponent that then returns the same way back to him, after which he throws them again with another pair so that there are altogether four swords, followed by a jumping attack with Overedge.
===Shirou===
Shirou's version used to defeat Saber Alter begins with a thrown pair aimed at the neck, coinciding with the first line of the chant, that is deflected by the enemy, and then closes in for close combat with a second pair. The thrown Bakuya returns from behind to attack the enemy and he immediately strikes with the Kanshou in his hand. Directly afterward, the thrown Kanshou returns and he uses the Bakuya in his hand to attack as well, coinciding with the second and third lines. Saber managed to block all four attacks, but the result left her defenses completely open. He then projects the final pair without any reinforcement to slash the enemy's open defense in a downward X-motion, coinciding with the final two lines. It is essentially a methodical strategy at rendering the opponent defenseless.
===Kuro===
Kuro's version begins with her throwing two pairs of Kanshou and Bakuya that encircle the enemy. She then makes use of her teleportation in conjunction with the technique, making her attack difficult to predict even with one's Eye of the Mind. During the Grand Orders and against Bazett in Fate/kaleid liner PRISMA☆ILLYA, she teleports behind the enemy and slashes with a regular pair of swords,Fate/kaleid liner PRISMA☆ILLYA 2wei! - Chapter 16: "The hands that protected" while she teleports under the platform Angelica is standing on and pierces through it with a pair of Overedge swords when using the technique in conjunction with Shirou's own Triple-Linked Crane Wings.Fate/kaleid liner PRISMA☆ILLYA 3rei!! - Chapter 23.2: "Twin Swords and Two People" Bazett manages to take the slashes from the thrown swords head-on with minor injury, counterattacking against Kuro, while Angelica is caught off-guard and struck, allowing Shirou to defeat her.
===Shirou (PRISMA☆ILLYA)===
Shirou's version begins with two thrown pairs that surround the opponent. He then creates an Overedge pair and performs an overhead downward slash. Upon combining the technique with Kuro against Angelica, all of their attacks are rendered useless by Flash Air, but Kuro manages to surprise her from below.
===First Lady (Black Bird Scissorhands)===
 is the name of the variation utilized by First Lady when inside Chloe von Einzbern's body. It does not differ visibly from Chloe's version.
==Development==
Hirokazu Koyama is the weapon designer for Kanshou and Bakuya.
The design for Overedge comes from the animated version of the fight between Archer and Berserker, and was created by the art director of the anime, Koyama Toshihisa. Nasu Kinoko fell in love with the dangerous look of the swords, and applied them to Archer's version of the attack in the reference material.Character Material - Kanshou and Bakuya Overedge, p.053
==References==
vi:Can Tương và Mạc Tà
Category:Noble Phantasms
Category:Unclassified Noble Phantasms
Category:Unknown rank Noble Phantasms
Category:C- rank Noble Phantasms
Category:Swords
Category:Firearms
Category:Noble Phantasms introduced in Fate/stay night
Category:Noble Phantasms in Unlimited Blade Works