The problems with giant SWORDS

Your physics are really good. Simple 1st and 3rd Newton's laws of motion.

When you push or pull on a sword that has the same mass as you, the sword pushes/pulls you equally and oppositely (Third Law). Now the frictional force between your feet and the ground gives you an edge over the sword because the sword has to work against that in moving you, but if the sword has sufficient mass then the frictional force should easily be overridden. I especially like how you bring up that scenario too, with super griping shoes and the potential there for injury.

Also when you put a sword or anything in motion it's equally hard to get it out of motion (First Law). Not a problem with light things such as historical/practical swords, but as you brought up with a massive Sword it creates a problem with accelerating it and decelerating it effectively. I feel like in this situation you would have to make sure you have enough time to decelerate the sword before your done with the arc that way you don't over swing. Kind of like when you run from one side of a small room to the other as quick as you can. You have to make sure you give yourself enough time to decelerate before you run out of distance and crash into the wall and that may include not being able to even get to top speed. So in the scenario with wielding a massive sword, if it's too massive, you may not even be able to accelerate it to full speed out of fear you will over swing.

Super strength AND super weight…
Movie Bob, master swordsman.

Lol this was awesome. Huge fan of the original berserk anime, thank you for being so detailed as to the reasons why this actually answered allot of questions I have. 😀

reason cloud is suposed to be a fantasy super soldier since he is infused with mako energi what suposed to have strengthend and enhanced him. So the buster sword still it might not realisticly be a good weapon. Since imo a weapon should fit the task you need to do and what you have acess to, if one wants to be realistic. the buster sword is used as a shield against bullets, what make it unrealistic.

So basically, Cloud needs to start stuffing himself with big macs if he wants to be able to wield his sword before the remake releases?

You could have super strength. You just need to merge with thechnology and become a cyborg.

Could you explain about Roronoa Zoro's three sword style if it's practical and the mechanics of Don Krieg's armor and built in weapons and his rapid fire repeating shield and it can be reconfigured to a heavy spear. Both characters are from One Piece. Please.

It's made to kill horses. The Zanbato.

I believe the Dragonslayer is speculated to weigh between 400-600 pounds, which translates to about 181-272 kg. In all fairness, someone already mentioned an important story detail about Berserk in this comment section – that the Dragonslayer is considered to be an absolute absurdity in the world of Berserk. Wielding it is supposed to be impossible, and it's considered to be a joke by the blacksmith that created it. Guts takes to it because he's ridiculous – he's a mammoth of a man and has likely achieved some degree of otherworldly strength through his time spent in the Astral realm, and through killing demons.

how late are you uploading this video you say it's hot mid summer, but you uploaded this video in march?

What about the ability to supernaturally control the mass of your body? Would that serve as a valid anchor?
i.e how dbz characters fly, or how Cloud slices in mid air while levitating…

I was waiting to see Zangetsu from bleach lol

Great video, Shad! Quick question, though: What if Cloud's Buster sword or Guts' Dragon Slayer were made mostly of carbon fiber with steel edges where the blades are? Would they still be able to function to the same degree?

Time for a new drinking game, whenever you hear Shad breathe (as in the deep inhale) you take a shot.

Just use links iron boots

sooo in other words they dont only have super strength but they channel magic that cancels the weight of the sword.. or the sword is made of anime steel which is very light.. I will probably bet on the former.

What game is that? 2:00

a type of carbon fiber would be perfect for making practical fantasy sword blades. the material has been known for being extremely versatile and being able to be sharpened while also being lighter than plastic. very crazy stuff. but also expensive stuff.

wow your accent is so generic i had no idea you were a aussie too XD

Great swords for life

AAAAH IT BURNS XD literally me

Really cool video, I love seeing the logic in the weapons in games and how those would be in real life and it got me thinking. While yes you would want to extend the sword to attack, with large swords like these where you and the sword are the same weight one could develop a technique that is less of using a sword as an extension of your arm it instead is like a dance partner, where you spin the sword and you spin with it, where you direct the weight to pull you and the blade into an attack, it would be a great oddity to use but if you trained to use the sword in a way that you use its massive weight and its affect on you could work. An example of this kind of is in cloud, your stance for holding the buster sword was really close but he, rather than stick it out keeps its weight close to him maintaining balance in the center, an attack could be that you swing the sword around one way and throw a kick the other while your body spins, near the end of the spin you plant your feet and use the inertia of the sword redirect it upwards and slam it down into an opponent dealing three separate strikes and landing with the sword in a easy position to resturn to the base or center stance.

Again this would be really weird and would likely not be effective but it might work, thank you for the inspiration!!!

So.. yes, Farron Greatsword in dark souls 3 is realistic..

It’s called a buster sword

Well, materials from which fantasy swords are made can be different from the materials we use in real life. Take mythril for example, is always depicted as very resistant but light material. We don’t know for sure that the buster sword, for example, is made with the same iron we use when they have mythril, orichalcum etc.

Did this guy not know about the sword of artorias?

i disagree cause most giant swordwielders dont use strength but instead momentum of the sword like guts using his sword

one also cant summon lightning with a glass ball.
so unrealistic.

Magic

Great application of physics, but beyond that, it's fair to counter that fantasy need not be governed by the same laws of physics. Good to know there's no one irl that weighs an obscene amount and has the strength to swing 100kg swords around, but it really begs the question of what if Gorillas could use swords, especially with a lower centre of gravity.

14:04 isnt this how garen fight from league of legends lol

The act of stopping a sword or strike is in the err of doubt which has no place on the battlefield, so you wouldn't need to think so much about how to swing it around and more where its going to start and where its going to stop and all the things it can hit in between. Swords, bullets, knives, are all just flying bits of metal if they don't hit. The whole point is how you hit and what that means for who you hit and everyone that saw. All of the form in the world means nothing if an unstoppable force confronts you. You slow down a sword like that with your forward weight and have a design to have an impact that stops it, like zabuza in naruto using trees as chopping blocks for a flying guillotine. Something that also comes to mind is the way that link handles two handed weapons in Zelda BOTW. The most effective way of using these weapons for such a small guy like link is to find a pivot point and spin and basically turn himself into a lawnmower, which is weak to strikes from above but thats the nature of combat, when you over-strengthen one area you weaken another. I think body mechanics are more important than strength. Think about a discus throw. Originally soldiers would see how far they could throw their shield as a competition. The way the mechanics of that throw is designed is to maximize torquing motions of the body, not so much the strength motions of the body. While strength can help, flexibility and understanding of technique go a lot further. So understanding that the sword will cut through or at the very least knock on the ground with little effort, the wielder must simply think about how to remain balanced from the time the sword starts moving to the time it stops moving. I have swung someone my own body weight around pretty fast with little effort and was able to slow them down without them getting hurt, so strength really isn't the issue here, practicality is. Its like saying why learn kung fu to kill someone when you can just shoot them dead? Or a myriad of other methods? When does having a sword like that become an actual tool that someone would use? These are the questions i hoped you would think about and answer.

Wait, you weigh almost 100 pounds? Brush I know a skinny 12 yr old that is over 100

That beggining was the most beautiful thing I have ever seen in my life. Thank you.

Very nice video and clear explanation! And for mentioning two of my favorite swords =)