Basic Trope: Katanas are considered superior to other swords.
- Straight: Alice's katana is hailed as the best sword around.
- Exaggerated:
- Alice's katana can cut a bronze statue in half, something she cannot seem to do with any other sword.
- Alice's ability to wipe out an entire army singlehandedly is directly attributed to the fact that she's the only character in the franchise who wields a katana.
- Downplayed:
- Alice's katana is admired for its craftsmanship, but is treated equivalent to other swords in practical use.
- Alice goes through a variety of Eastern and Western swords during her quest, finding quality craftsmanship and items Better Off Sold alike in both camps. But her Infinity +1 Sword is a Masamune katana.
- Justified:
- Alice's katana was made by a supremely talented smith using the finest materials available.
- Alice uses a katana because she was trained to become a samurai.
- Alice was scavenging for weapons and that katana is the only bladed weapon she could find (or maybe the only weapon she could find, period).
- Alice is a master if iaijutsu, a technique that can only be performed with a katana.
- Inverted: Alice's katana is unable to cut through the same things Bob's claymore, Charlie's saber and Diana's rapier can.
- Subverted:
- Alice's looks like she was beating claymore-wielding Bob, but he was just holding back. After that the fight is more even.
- Bob thinks Alice is so deadly because of her foreign katana, and steals it. So Alice trounces Bob with his old claymore instead.
- Although the best swords are curved and Japanese they are tachi.
- Double Subverted:
- But Alice was holding back too.
- Bob then turns the tide and wins a Curb-Stomp Battle with Alice's katana.
- Parodied:
- Alice likes to file her nails with a katana and cook with one too.
- The 7 foot tall Flash Wakamono looks on in disgust as everyone thinks that his BFS is a Katana just because it's Japanese.Flash: God fuckin' dammit! It's a NODACHI, an' it's WAY bigger than a fuckin' Katana! LEARN YER FACTS NEXT TIME Y'FUCKING AIRHEADS!!
- Zig-Zagged:
- Alice is a katana collector, and her pieces vary wildly in quality and cutting power.
- Alice's katana is imbued with a magical spirit that can make the weapon supernaturally powerful ... when the spirit is properly placated.
- Whether katanas are better is situational. While they are faster, they perform worse against well-armored opponents.
- Averted: Alice's katana is treated as just another sword.
- Enforced: "But claymores and sabers are boring, and everyone knows that the Japanese make better weapons."
- Lampshaded: "Alice has become a lot more badass ever since she picked up her katana."
- Invoked: "I've been thinking about picking up a new sword, probably a katana. I hear they can cut through tanks."
- Exploited: Everyone knows katanas can slice and dice through armies of mooks, and Alice uses this knowledge to frighten off said mooks and avoid needing to fight at all.
- Defied:
- Alice decides to get a scimitar or kris instead.
- Show Ultimate Blacksmith Angus the Masamune katana, and he'll take it as a challenge to his art. This will start a Chain of Deals quest, culminating with him forging Durandal, a claymore that serves as the true Infinity +1 Sword.
- Discussed: "Katanas Are Just Better, okay? They can cut anything!"
- Conversed: "I wish I had a katana like the one Alice has."
- Deconstructed:
- Alice spends a hefty amount of money on a katana, fully expecting it to be better than Bob's claymore and Charlie's saber, but is dismayed when she finds out that their much cheaper swords are just as capable of doing any job her katana can do.
- Alice's katana is powerful, but she becomes overreliant on it and cannot fight effectively if she is disarmed.
- Alice's katana is powerful, but she is untrained in its use, and she gets her ass kicked when she runs into someone competent.
- Reconstructed:
- Alice bought a replica under the impression it was a genuine katana. Once she gets her hands on a real one, it turns out to be the superior sword after all.
- Alice trains with her 'lesser' swords as well as her katana, but she also takes measures to keep from losing it.
- Played for Laughs: Upon seeing Alice has a katana, the cunning General Leopold immediately orders his claymore-wielding troops to retreat, and commissions a group of smiths to arm said troops with more katanas.
- Played for Drama: Alice is wandering around in an Alien Invasion desperately scavenging equipment. The katana looks like the best sword there is because it may be the only sword there is.
- Played for Horror: Alice spends more time using a katana during her murder spree that she does wielding any other weapon.
- Implied: Alice is The Ghost, but she's said to be the best fighter and use a katana.
- Untwisted: It's said that katanas aren't necessarily the best swords because Bob can use a claymore to greater effect than Alice can use her katana ... but:
- Bob is an expert and Alice is a novice with swords in general.
- Bob is actually using a katana that he and everybody else thinks is a mere claymore.
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