Sword

A **sword** is a long-edged weapon used in different forms by various civilizations.

## Strengths and Weaknesses

A sword fundamentally consists of a blade, with one or two edges for striking and cutting, a point for thrusting, and a hilt for gripping. Swords are a very commonly used weapon in the world of One Piece. Many people wield swords, but there are those who train hard, and learn to use swords exceptionally well. These people are known as swordsmen.

A sword's blade serves its primary function, most are designed for cutting, blocking other bladed weapons or thrusting, although not all swords rely on being able to cut a wound to be lethal, a few are also designed with small indents in them to help fight other melee weapons. A swords weakness is its quality and its lack of range, as well as the fact that unlike other weapons they relied more on the skills of the one who used them. A sword does not always deal a lethal blow as depending on the sword type and fighting style they sometimes could not have enough force put behind them to do such a thing. They can also be used in conjunction with Sword Magic produced by Mages, allowing them to enhance their cutting power and show greater diversity in melee combat.

## Types of Swords

Within both series, a great variety of swords are used, depending on the user's personal preferences.

### Katana

The **katana** (literally meaning "backsword") is a type of sword. It is a single-edged, curved blade. All katana fall under the category of **daito** (literally meaning "long sword").

Zoro's Wado Ichimonji is a katana. High-ranking Marines, mainly Vice Admirals, use a katana or swords that greatly resemble them. There are other characters who wield katana of gigantic proportions in comparison to their own sizes (also known as "zanbato"), such as Squard.

### Kogatana

The **kogatana** (literally meaning "little backsword") is a very small version of a katana. It is more like a hand-sized knife.

### Nodachi

The **nodachi** (literally meaning "field sword"), sometimes referred as **odachi** (literally meaning "great sword") is a large two-handed sword. Its cutting capability and range exceed that of a katana, due to its weight and size.

The Captain of the Heart Pirates, Trafalgar Law, wields one of these, to be used in combination with his Devil Fruit powers. Shiliew, captain of the Blackbeard Pirates' second ship, also wields one.

### Dadao

The **dadao** (Chinese for "big knife") is a variation of the **dao** sword. It features a curved, broad blade designed mainly for chopping, with the end of the blade consisting of two angles connected by a straight or slightly curved edge.

### Cutlass

A **cutlass** is a short, thick saber, with a slightly curved blade sharpened on the cutting edge, and a hilt often featuring a solid cupped or basket-shaped guard.

Many low-ranking Marine soldiers and pirates are shown to be wielding one of these. Hatchan wields six cutlasses, each weighing over 300 kg.

### Saber

A **saber** is a type of sword with a single edge blade with a large hand guard. Its blade is usually (but not always) curved of variable length. Unlike a cutlass, the saber is longer and thinner in design.

Sabers are often seen being used by background characters. The most notable use of one is by Shanks, who seems to favor them over other sword types. His saber seems to be larger than a normal one. Another notable saber would be Funkfreed, Spandam's sword that can turn into an elephant, with the weapon in question having a few elephant traits like tusks and a tail when turning back into its original saber form. Vista also employs two sabers in combat. Vice Admiral Onigumo uses eight of these in combination with his presumably spider-based Devil Fruit, rather than the Vice Admirals' traditional weapon of choice, the katana.

### Shikomizue

A **shikomizue** (literally meaning "prepared cane") is a sword normally concealed inside a cane or walking stick.

Brook uses a shikomizue as the main weapon for his sword style. Brook named the blade Soul Solid after the timeskip due to his new ability to imbue his spectral energy into it. Issho wields a shikomizue that doubles as a walking stick for him, and like Brook, he tends to channel his Devil Fruit powers through it — in his case, gravitation forces.

## Classified Swords

While there are a large variety of swords in terms of shapes and attributes, they are also classified by their qualities. The three known classifications are as:

* **Meito** (literally meaning "Famed Blade"): A sword that has gained its own fame, that people would recognize it upon seeing it.
* **Kokuto** (literally meaning "Black Blade"): A sword that possess a black-colored blade. **Yoru** and Shusui are both Kokuto.
* **Yoto** (literally meaning "Cursed Blade"): A sword that carries a curse and brings misfortune to its wielders; can be overpowered if the user's luck is superior. All three of Kitetsu's creations, Kikoku is one of the Yoto.