The Origins of 5 Sword Pokemon & Why Three of Them Are Ghosts

There aren't many sword Pokemon. Plenty of Pokemon have claws and horns, but a sword needs a wielder, and most Pokemon have nothing to hold one with. The few that qualify read like ghost stories. One drains people's lives away, while another is an old set of armor steeped in grudges.

See all 5 sword Pokemon in one list.

Here's every sword Pokemon:

All 5 Sword Pokemon

#475

Gallade

Gallade is the Blade Pokemon, a warrior elf with swords for elbows. The single fin on its head resembles the helmet of a murmillo, a class of Roman gladiator, or the Corinthian helmet worn by Greek hoplites, and its battle stances in various media follow the en garde position and parries of modern fencing. The blades themselves look like tonfas, wooden bars held against the forearm as batons and arm guards.

The blades extending from its elbows are sharper than the finest swords, and its swordsmanship, albeit self-taught, is astonishingly impressive. Its Sharpness ability powers up slicing moves. An ability is a passive effect that works on its own in battle.

#679

Honedge

Honedge is a sword that came alive. It is based on a fully sentient, possessed magical sword, and the Japanese idea behind it is the tsukumogami. In Japanese legends, any object left behind or forgotten by its owner becomes a tsukumogami after a while, and swords and umbrellas are the objects most often said to attack humans. Because it drains the life of whoever wields it, it may also be based on Tyrfing, a cursed sword from Norse mythology.

the blue eye on the sword's handguard is its true body. It stands 0.8 m tall and weighs 2 kg. Its No Guard ability makes every move it uses, and every move used against it, hit.

#680

Doublade

Doublade is a pair of possessed swords joined by a shield. The crossed swords and shield make it look like a coat of arms. It shares the bushido idea behind Honedge, that a katana can take the soul of the samurai who holds it and attack of its own free will.

The two swords rapidly alternate between offense and defense to bring down their prey.

#798

Kartana

Kartana is a samurai sword made of paper. It may be based on origami and samurai, and its sharp, paper-like qualities may reference paper cuts. It may also come from noshi, a ceremonial origami attached to gifts as a token of good luck, or from shikigami, paper figurines that priests use to ward off negative energy.

It is alien to this world and a danger here, but a common organism in the world where it normally lives. Its Attack of 181 is the highest of any Pokemon, and at 0.1 kg it is also among the lightest. Anyone who has had a paper cut will accept the premise. Its Beast Boost ability raises its highest stat by one stage whenever it faints another Pokemon. A stage is one step up or down in battle, and a Pokemon faints when it runs out of HP.

#937

Ceruledge

Ceruledge is a possessed suit of armor with blades for arms and fire along the edges. Its design could also come from the Spanish poem El Cantar de mio Cid, whose knight El Cid wielded two famous swords, Tizona and Colada. He is said to have won his most important battle after death, which would explain its Ghost typing.

An old set of armor steeped in grudges caused its evolution, and it cuts its enemies to pieces without mercy. Its Flash Fire ability protects it from Fire moves and then powers up its own Fire moves to 1.5× damage. Its hidden ability, Weak Armor, raises its Speed and lowers its Defense when a physical move hits it, which suits armor that is coming apart. A hidden ability is a rarer ability that only some of a species have.

Swords Turn Into Ghosts in Pokemon

Honedge, Doublade and Ceruledge are all Ghost types, which makes three of the five. The folklore behind each one treats a blade as something that can be possessed. Japanese legend says a tool forgotten by its owner can turn into a tsukumogami, and Norse myth has Tyrfing, a cursed sword. The Spanish knight behind Ceruledge's design is said to have won his most important battle after his death.

Gallade, a knight, and Kartana, a paper blade from another world, are the two that have no previous owner to haunt them.