Basic Trope: A sword designed for two hands is wielded in one.
- Straight: The Big Guy Clay regularly wields his gigantic Claymore with only his left hand, even though it's too heavy for most normal people to lift.
- Exaggerated:
- Clay dual wields two BFSes, each larger than a house and twice as heavy.
- Clay holds two BFSes in one hand, one facing forwards and one facing backwards, making an improvised Double Weapon.
- Clay holds his BFS with his right and non-dominant hand, doesn't even wrap his pinky around it, and he uses the most graceful fencing movements to casually defeat his opponents (lest they actually try to use realistic fighting methods).
- Downplayed:
- The zweihander in question is only large by normal sword standards, and Clay is notably made slower and less precise with it in one hand.
- Clay wields his bastard sword exclusively with a single hand.
- Clay wields his zweihander in both hands when actually fighting, but out of combat carries it in one hand.
- Clay wields a bastard sword that weights the same that a longsword for training purposes to increase the strength of his hand and arm.
- Justified:
- Clay currently only HAS one hand.
- Clay has Super-Strength and the Required Secondary Powers to comfortably wield his BFS with one hand.
- Clay is a massive wall of friggin' muscle, if not a bonafide giant! A two-handed sword by human standards is more like a dagger to him.
- The sword is enchanted so that Only the Chosen May Wield, and Clay can only lift it at all because he is The Chosen One.
- Clay specializes in Dual Wielding, and had to settle for the two handed sword because there weren't one handed weapons available for both of his hands.
- Inverted: Clay is unusually sickly and weak and can only wield a dagger using both hands.
- Subverted:
- Clay draws and gestures with his sword one-handed, but clamps both of his hands on it when attacking with it.
- Clay carries a sword about with him one-handed, but it's an act: he's actually a Bare-Fisted Monk.
- Clay injured his arm, and has to wield his sword with his good hand until the other heals.
- Clay's sword is a wooden theatrical effigy of a zweihander.
- Double Subverted:
- When pressed, it turns out he can swing one-handed fairly effectively.
- When Clay needs to get dangerous, he uses the Sword and Fist in tandem.
- Although Clay's arm heals, he's gotten used to using it with one hand, so reworks his fighting style to fit this.
- Parodied:
- Clay is confused about the entire idea of wielding weapons two-handed, and complains that if he used both hands on one sword, he'd have to drop the other one.
- Clay's left hand that he uses to wield his sword is much more muscular than his right hand. Obvious masturbation jokes are promptly made.
- Clay effortlessly wields his BFS with one hand, but it turns out to be a very convincing fake he made in order to try and intimidate people into not wanting to fight him, and is actually useless as a weapon.
- Clay is extremely stupid and is only able to wield the sword through Achievements in Ignorance. When someone points out, "There's no way anyone could wield a sword that huge with one hand!", it immediately crashes to the ground and Clay finds himself struggling to lift it.
- Clay carries two BFSes in each hand, dual-wielding improvised double weapons. Complete with sick twirling action and acrobatics.
- Zig Zagged:
- Averted: All swords are used with the proper number of hands at all times.
- Enforced: The show is Merchandise-Driven and Clay's action figure can't hold its weapon with both hands, so he is shown using his sword with one hand.
- Lampshaded: "A normal man would be mad tae try an' hold this one handed. Fortunately, I ain't normal."
- Invoked: Clay leans to wield his sword one-handed in order to be more flexible in battle.
- Exploited:
- Clay uses his free hand to carry things, such as shields, torches, or a Damsel in Distress.
- Bob exploits the holes in Clay's fighting style caused by his insistence on using it one-handed.
- Clay uses the intimidation factor of a man badass enough to wield a two-handed sword one-handed to convince his enemies to surrender rather than fight.
- Defied: "It's called a zweihander for a REASON, dumbass! WIELD IT WITH TWO HANDS, OR I'LL BREAK THAT DAMN SWORD AND GIVE YOU A DAGGER!"
- Discussed: "What kind of monster could use that sword like that?! I mean, using that sword one handed, let alone at all!"
- Conversed: "Well, this show never pays attention to sword physics anyway, so using that one-handed is practically normal by its standards."
- Implied: we never see Clay hold it, but one of his arms is always hidden, and his sword is bigger than he is, so…
- Deconstructed: While it's impressive, Clay's sword skills are crippled by his insistence on wielding his weapon like this. One hand just does not give enough leverage or strength for the sword to be used properly, and it cannot be swung with any force or finesse. He is eventually defeated by Bob, who wields a similar sword in the proper manner.
- Reconstructed:
- Proper technique doesn't matter much when your weakest hit can destroy castles, and his unusual technique also takes many opponents by surprise.
- It's a Power Limiter, and Clay attacks properly only when met by a Worthy Opponent.
- Played For Laughs:
- Clay learned to fight like this so he could hold his scotch whiskey in his other hand.
- A running gag is made of how gobsmacked everyone is that Clay can actually hold his sword one-handed.
- Played For Drama: The loss of his hand (bonus points if it's his dominant left hand) and training to get by without it are a major part of Clay's character arc.
Back to One-Handed Zweihänder.
