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Gamers! Help with swords!

Heliotrope

Staff
Article Team
Hello gaming members of Mythic Scribes!

I'm not a gamer. I don't even own a gaming system. Sorry to say.

I have a character who is 14 years old and a "computer nerd" (please take no offence). I want this kid to be so nerdy that he hangs out at the novelty sword shop eyeing up replicas of his favourite game and movie weapons...

So, is there anyone here that nerdy? Don't be ashamed! What swords or weapons would be considered cool and collectable?
 

Devor

Fiery Keeper of the Hat
Moderator
There's some youtubevideos of people who make movie or video game weapons. But I think a lot of the "nerdiest" fantasy weapon replicas come out of anime. That's partly because it sounds more obscure to hear someone talk about anime. But also because cosplay is so much bigger in Japan, so there's a whole world of geekery there that nobody over here know or cares about.

You can find tons of anime weapons on Amazon. Try searching for variations of anime/cosplay/swords.
 

Svrtnsse

Staff
Article Team
I've got one of these hanging on my wall: Frostmourne Replica Sword (won it in a lottery).
I'd say that as far as non-anime weapons go, this is one of the most famous game-replica weapons.
Here's a page about the lore behind the weapon, for a bit of perspective: Frostmourne

There's also the Doomhammer: http://us.battle.net/wow/en/blog/6020045/doomhammer-replica-now-on-sale-5-31-2012
And you'll find the lore about that here: Doomhammer

If you want weapons of a similar calibre that do not exist as commercially available replicas, you have the following - also from the Warcraft setting:
The Ashbringer: Ashbringer

...and with slightly less lore but still well-known
Thunderfury: http://wow.gamepedia.com/Thunderfury,_Blessed_Blade_of_the_Windseeker
Ashkandi: http://wow.gamepedia.com/Ashkandi,_Greatsword_of_the_Brotherhood
Gorehowl: http://wow.gamepedia.com/Gorehowl
Video of a custom crafting of Gorehowl: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aXlBuY-S3KU
Atiesh: http://wow.gamepedia.com/Atiesh,_Greatstaff_of_the_Guardian
Twin Blades of Azzinoth: http://wow.gamepedia.com/The_Twin_Blades_of_Azzinoth
 
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CupofJoe

Myth Weaver
I find myself staring a little to long at the Bat'leth in a local Games/comic/memorabilia shop...
It will be mine. Oh yes. It will be mine. [Wayne Campbell, Wayne's World]
 
Well I wouldn't say replica weapons are limited to nerds. xD My boyfriend is one of the least "nerdy" people I've ever befriended (just a slightly offbeat guy who likes certain media but prefers physical activity compared to a group of cosplayers who refuse to go outside unless acting out favorite ships in public) but he has more replica weapons than anyone else I know. Mostly Prince Of Persia and Assassin's Creed. I'd say anything from the Dark Cloud games would be a good level of geeky obscurity, as well as different versions of the Keyblade, the Quantum Tuning Fork from Malice, a bigass Tetsusaiga, and maybe a Honedge with some high-end glass googly eyes.
 

Centinuus

Scribe
As a self proclaimed expert on the subject of being a colossal nerd, i can say that from my perspective my sword collection tends to be far more "Practical" so to speak. by that i dont mean they will ever serve a purpose other than to decorate my home more than likely, but the designed are always based on historically relevant designs as opposed to fantasy "Wall hangers" as they are called. if you want to add a certain extra dynamic to your characters nerdiness i might suggest having him partake in some of my nerdiest activities, such as forcing friends and family into sparring matches in longsword, rapier, kendo and the like and taking great pleasure in always being better than them because im one of the few people in the world that cares about being a good swordsman in 2016.
 

ThinkerX

Myth Weaver
My daughters second boyfriend (she's on number four now) was big into medieval reenactment. He and his friends were big into LARP (live action role playing) I used to see them at practice in a local part now and again.

Local hobby shop has a 'wall of swords.'

And this is small town Alaska.
 
D

Deleted member 4379

Guest
You could pick famous weapons from stories and novels like Game of Thrones or LoTR.

Excalibur, Sting, Lightbringer, etc etc

For a gamer, weapons from Halo are pretty famous. (the laser-sword-thingy)
 
C

Chessie

Guest
Hello gaming members of Mythic Scribes!

I'm not a gamer. I don't even own a gaming system. Sorry to say.

I have a character who is 14 years old and a "computer nerd" (please take no offence). I want this kid to be so nerdy that he hangs out at the novelty sword shop eyeing up replicas of his favourite game and movie weapons...

So, is there anyone here that nerdy? Don't be ashamed! What swords or weapons would be considered cool and collectable?
Renaissance Fairs are notorious for having wooden swords and other weapons for sale. One of my gal pals picked one up at our local Ren Fair this past summer. There's also gaming stores (up here we have Bosco's) that sell them. As to which ones you can collect, that depends on your taste. Personally all the sharp weapons I own are daggers (real ones) but a real nerd...just throwing this out there...would purchase a replica of the actual weapon and it would be expensive. There are zombie prep weapons which are collectable also.
 

Queshire

Auror
Speaking as a proud nerd myself, I think that a katana would be the fastest way to establish someone as lame. Does even necessarily have to be a nerd, I could easily imagine a trailer trash redneck character swinging around a katana and thinking themselves as cool.

No offense is meant to katana owners in real life. I simply speak as to how in a story it could be used to easily present a certain image to the reader.
 

Caged Maiden

Staff
Article Team
Okay, so here's what I think, and I'm not a huge geek or anything, but this is my personal observation.

I have a few geeky items. One, I made myself a Vincent Valentine Cosplay, down to the little buckles I made with aluminum sheeting, puffy paint, and model paint (because you can't buy the buckles anywhere, so you have to make them on your own), and I made the three-barrel oversized pistol, Cerberus. Yeah, kinda geeky, but it stems from my love of Final Fantasy VII. On the other hand, I have one actual sword, and it's my fencing rapier. All my fencing equipment is real and I use it often enough to keep it in good maintenance, but I'm not overly obsessed with swords, so I only have what I will actually use (so understand that as I try to weigh in on your question).

I think collectors tend to be in one of two categories (forgive me, again, personal experience only, here): either they are collecting based on a special interest, (like my Vincent Valentine stuff, because I love that game and the follow-up movie Advent Children) and their collection falls neatly within a category of some sort, say pirate swords and other themed items like flags and guns, or anime swords and related costumes or art, or Scottish swords and related equipment, etc. Alternatively, their collection is a looser one, perhaps limited only by funds and availability. As in, they could afford a second-hand Legolas bow from Museum Replicas (good site to check out for pictures of recreated fantasy and historical swords, BTW), but they couldn't afford a custom forged sword from a well-known artist who recreates fantasy novelty weapons. So it isn't maybe that they love bows, or even Legolas, but they went to a con and wanted a souvenir, and that was what was available and within their budget.

I just wanted to give you that to consider, because I think most young people I've known have fallen squarely within that second category. They're more opportunistic than grown folks who have their own money to spend on luxuries like a sword collection that decorates the wall of their man cave. ;) (the only reason my equipment doesn't decorate my house is that it feels wrong for me to suffer my people to tend my sickness...as in, mom has to keep her crap in the basement, where it belongs, not all over the bedroom wall) The exception has in the past been my arrows, which I put in a vase and stood on the mantel in my old house. It was in the den, where I had my office. I suppose if I had an actual collection of weapons, I'd want them to be neatly displayed, but as it stands, I have stuff I use, which is why I refer to the I dunno, 100-some-odd arrows and four quivers, two bow slings, the bow stand, my quiver belts, the sword, two bucklers, gorget, elbow cops and vambraces, etc. as "equipment" rather than "collection". I'm truly not collecting, so my assembled items are rather unmatched. They wouldn't look very attractive on the walls, anymore than they do when I come home from a weekend tournament and battle, and they happen to be all strewn about the place for a few days while I clean and unpack.

But I digress. I had a lot of friends who had "knife collections" and they basically would go to the novelty shops in town and drool over everything they thought looked cool (and talk a big game as though they were connoisseurs of weapons in general), but then they'd buy a cheap knife that had some unique shape or a jeweled pommel or whatever, because if was $15 and that was all they had. So, consider what he's obsessed with, is it shiny things of every sort, items from a specific historical period, a specific game, or items that have a specific shape, for example a kris blade, or katanas, or just the biggest, bulkiest fantasy swords that are completely ludicrous in weight and balance, and could never have been used in actual combat because they're more a danger to their wielder than if he just struck someone with a stick.

Sword people come in several varieties. I suppose I could be a sword person too, if I could afford the hobby :) But a couple years ago, I commissioned a sword and dagger (still haven't totally completed the deal, I'm making him a costume in return), and I expect the set to run over $1000, and they aren't even particularly special. I mean...I'd love to collect actual Renaissance firearms, but I'd probably settle for functioning replicas, because I'm not actually all that concerned with provenance and history, I just enjoy the look of old weapons that were crafted with skill and care. Ooh, I need to get off this thread, or I'll find myself buying things in the middle of the night, and then I'll be in trouble with the hubby. Don't want to have to justify why I needed another weapon, or as I call my first flintlock pistol, "fashion accessory" since I don't actually have the desire to fire a black powder pistol EVER.

Collections are fun, but it's funner to drool over what you wish you had. Hence why I haven't clicked on any of the links you folks provided, or I'd surely find something I NEEDED.
 

Heliotrope

Staff
Article Team
Ohhhh, caged maiden you really got me thinking here! "What kind of sword person is he?" That is such a good question! Does he imagine himself to be a huge barbarian Weilding a forty pound axe? Or does he see himself as a stealthy assassin elf?

Hmmmmm....
 
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