History Main / WoodenKatanasAreEvenBetter

* It's amazing what Gintoki from ''Manga/{{Gintama}}'' can do with Lake Touya, his curry-scented, totally replaceable wooden sword (made from the wood of a 10,000 year old diamond tree, albeit) that he purchased off of an infomercial.
** Likewise, Shinpachi once defeated an enemy wielding a beam saber.

Sometimes they have the [[NerfArm impossible cutting power of the steel versions]], but usually these are more about the [[TheManMakesTheWeapon skill of the wielder]] than anything else, especially if he is so skilled that he can ''[[ScissorsCutsRock make]]'' a wooden sword cut as well as a steel one. Sometimes it's actually because the wielder is a TechnicalPacifist.

Sub-trope of ArchaicWeaponForAnAdvancedAge. Compare CarryABigStick, RockBeatsLaser, GoodOldFisticuffs, KineticWeaponsAreJustBetter.

Sometimes they have the [[NerfArm impossible cutting power of the steel versions]], but usually these are more about the [[TheManMakesTheWeapon skill of the wielder]] than anything else, especially if he is so skilled that he can ''make'' a wooden sword cut as well as a steel one. Sometimes it's actually because the wielder is a TechnicalPacifist.

For those familiar with Japanese culture, KatanasAreJustBetter. For those who live in Japan, Wooden Katanas Are Even Better. Ever since UsefulNotes/MiyamotoMusashi defeated Sasaki Kojirou with a bokken, the wooden sword has become a symbol for the ultimate swordsman.

* ''Series/GameOfThrones'' has MasterSwordsman Syrio Forel use a wooden sword to knock down several armored enemies. Deconstructed in that, when a halfway-competent swordsman comes at him, the sword [[RealityEnsues breaks]].

-->-- '''[[http://www.cs.utah.edu/~duongsaa/more_htm/jk_100animeRules.htm The 100 Rules of Anime]]''': ''#41 The Law of [[SesquipedalianLoquaciousness Xylolaceration.]]''

* ''TabletopGame/YuGiOh!'':
** There's a card called Broken Bamboo Sword, which does nothing when equip to a monster. But, when you upgrade it with another card, it becomes a "Soul Devouring Bamboo Sword", which kicks ass.
** The Golden Bamboo Sword, which lets you draw two cards if you have the Broken Bamboo Sword.

[[quoteright:350:[[LightNovel/MahouSensou https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/bokuten_6123.png]]]]

* ''LightNovel/MahouSensou'' provides the page image. Takeshi Nanase is skilled enough to parry and beat up enemies holding real swords using a bamboo sword.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/MiraculousLadybug'' episode "Oni-chan", an enraged Kagami manages to chop down a tree with a bokken. However, the bokken doesn't survive the experience either.

In Japanese, the term "bokuto" ("wood sword"), is more common and more specific to a single-edged sword. This word may also be read "bokuta" or "kigatana". The "ken" in "bokken" refers more generally to a blade, especially double-edged blades, (but, yes, this is the "ken" in "kendo").

* As his name might imply, [=KendoMan=] from the fourth game of the ''VideoGame/MegaManBattleNetwork'' series uses a shinai as his weapon of choice, and it hurts just as much as most of the actual swords do. Justified, however, as the games take place inside computers, and swords don't do damage by cutting, they do damage simply because they're programmed to, making his weapon no different from any other melee weapon.

* ''ComicBook/TalesOfTheJedi'': [=Then-Jedi=] and eventual Sith Lord Exar Kun fought a duel against his master who was using a wooden cane. He needed ''two'' lightsabers to finally beat the guy. Lightsabers can cut through ''metal armor''.

* [=Then-Jedi=] and eventual Sith Lord Exar Kun fought a duel against his master who was using a wooden cane. He needed ''two'' lightsabers to finally beat the guy. Lightsabers can cut through ''metal armor''.

* In the opening of ''Film/RoyalWarriors'', Michelle Yip (played by Michelle Yeoh), near a cultural parade in Tokyo, beats up a group of thugs (armed with ''real'' machetes) using a bokken she retrieved from the festival.

* Suzuka from ''Manga/OutlawStar'' also has a wooden sword, which might as well be a lightsabre considering how she uses it to cut or block almost anything, including cutting a bus in half, standing in front of it, straight down the middle, causing it to separate and go past her, one half on each side. In this case the blade's just a conduit for her KiAttacks, and she was able to take down several armed combatants by using her sword fighting moves while using an ordinary lead pipe. Basically, if Suzuka has it in her hands, she can use it to slice ANYTHING in half. Suzuka claims this to be "[[CharlesAtlasSuperpower a simple feat of strength]]", but nobody else in the series (even ones with SuperStrength exceeding her own) shows the ability to make clean slices using dull objects.
* In ''Manga/RealBoutHighSchool'', Samurai Girl Ryoko Mitsurugi's skill with her wooden sword has to be seen to be believed. And that was ''before'' she figured out she could use KiAttacks.

* In ''Manga/AmazingFantasy'', the Prowler carries around a shinai and her M.O. is to LeaveNoWitnesses, implying that she's bludgeoned them to death with it assuming she didn't use her wrist-mounted pellet and dart guns.

* ''WebComic/TowerOfGod'': In a variant that amounts to about the same thing, when MasterSwordsman Hatz loses his beloved katana, he starts fighting with a random hollow metal pipe. Of course, [[SupernaturalMartialArts he reinforces it with Shinsoo]].

* ''WebComic/TowerOfGod'': In a variant that amounts to about the same thing, when MasterSwordsman Hatsu loses his beloved katana, he starts fighting with a random hollow metal pipe. Of course, [[SupernaturalMartialArts he reinforces it with Shinsoo]].

Sometimes they have the [[NerfArm impossible cutting power of the steel versions]], but usually these are more about the [[TheManMakesTheWeapon skill of the wielder]] than anything else. Sometimes it's actually because the wielder is a TechnicalPacifist.

* In ''VideoGame/TalesOfSymphonia'', DualWielding wooden katanas are Lloyd Irving's starting weapons, and if you advance to a certain point of the game without unequipping them, you'll get a special title for Lloyd.

** In the first ''VideoGame/SamuraiWarriors'' game, Date Masamune also battles with a pair of bokken. In later editions, though, he wields a cutlass and a pair of handguns.

* You can purchase a bokuto from the Gold Saucer in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIV''. Whether it's "better" is zig-zagged; on the one hand, it's a level-1 weapon, with the appropriate low stats, and is incredibly weak when used on its own, especially considering the class it's used with starts at level 50 and the katana you're given upon unlocking the class deals eight times as much damage. On the other, this is because it's not ''supposed'' to be used on its own; rather, you're meant to use a glamour prism to make a higher-level weapon look like it, at which point you can effortlessly cut down {{magitek}} monstrosities and demons from another dimension with it.

** Another Taiga likes this trick at well, being the sensei of a kendo dojo. It's said that in terms of stylistic skill, this Taiga is actually ''very'' good. However, she's a goofball and while her shinai is jokingly claimed to be a demonic blade, she has [[{{Muggles}} zero magical ability]] so no super powers.

* UsefulNotes/MiyamotoMusashi himself is an example of how potentially deadly a bokken can be; tales of his exploits often indicate that he has employed wooden swords to lethal effect. The most famous example of this is his use of a bokken against his rival, Sasaki Kojirou, in their fight on Ganryuu island that he carved from a spare oar on the boat he rode in on the way over. This is an example of tactical brilliance as Musashi deliberately carved his weapon to be slightly longer than Kojirou's infamous "drying pole" (Sasaki was usually using a ''[[EveryJapaneseSwordIsAKatana nodachi]]'' — a sword that was considerably longer than the average katana) in order to overcome Kojirou's reach advantage.

** This is a common training method in swordsmanship worldwide. Learning to wield significantly heavier versions of the weapon you're being trained in means that real fights will be ''easier'' than training, because all your extra strength will be used to actually deal damage, rather than simply hold your weapon up.

* ''VideoGame/MetalGearRisingRevengeance'' has an unlockable wooden sword that initially deals as much damage as a fully-upgraded default blade and has a chance to knock-out enemies, resulting in a higher "no kills" rating.

** Shirou, from the same series, uses a bokken or a shinai near the beginning of some routes (before upgrading to projected weaponry, generally the scimitars [[DualWielding Kanshou and Bakuya]]) with the added justification of [[FunctionalMagic Strengthening Magic]].
*** And even strengthened, his bokken quickly break due to Kuzuki's [[CharlesAtlasSuperpower sheer martial arts skills]].

* UsefulNotes/MiyamotoMusashi himself is an example of how potentially deadly a bokken can be, tales of his exploits often indicate that he has employed wooden swords to lethal effect. The most famous example of this is his use of a bokken against his rival, Sasaki Kojirou, in their fight on Ganryuu island that he carved from a spare oar on the boat he rode in on the way over. This is an example of tactical brilliance as Musashi deliberately carved his weapon to be slightly longer than Kojirou's infamous "drying pole" (Sasaki was usually using a ''[[EveryJapaneseSwordIsAKatana nodachi]]'' — a sword that was considerably longer than the average katana) in order to overcome Kojirou's reach advantage.

* Some wooden katanas have an advantage in being lighter than most other weapons. This allows the user to move quicker and strike faster/more strategic. However, there are ''different'' types and sizes of bokkens, optimized for different training styles and techniques, and some of them weighing almost as much as real swords.

* Here is a demonstration of a Bokken cutting bamboo. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Z6pVCfACjE
** Also another demonstration on one slicing through a newspaper https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VnUPzn8RimY