Finally, at long last, I’m playing the video game Ghost of Tsushima. The game was a big hit last summer, but I’d never heard of it and simply didn’t get around to it…until now! I have taken on the role of Jin Sakai as he fights to retake his homeland from invaders, armed only with his family’s legendary katana blade! It’s a great game so far, so I’ve decided to turn it into a List of Six about comic book characters who are based around swords.

I don’t just mean characters who use swords. Lots of characters use swords. I mean characters who base their whole identity around swords. Maybe they’ve got a magic sword that grants them their powers. Maybe they named themselves after swords. These are characters who are super duper into swords. And not all of them are katanas. We’re just having fun with swords today!

Join me after the jump for a handful of comic book characters whose, like, whole thing is swords.

6. Faiza Hussain

I will always do everything I can to promote the fun that is Faiza Hussain. Introduced in the very short-lived Captain Britain and MI13, Faiza is a doctor who gained the ability to break down people and things at the molecular level. And that has nothing to do with swords…except that she inherited Excalibur. The Excalibur! King Arthur’s legendary blade chose Faiza and she continues to wield that weapon to this day. That comic came out in 2008! Faiza has held Excalibur for more than a decade now! She’s a true sword wielder!

5. Blade

This famous vampire hunter named himself after his swords! I don’t know about you, but I’m pretty sure vampire lore doesn’t have anything to do with swords, right? Vampires are killed by wooden stakes. Why wouldn’t he name himself “Stake”? Nope, this dude is all about swords. Killing vampires and swords. I also think they’re silver swords, speaking of which…

4. Silver Samurai

Here is a guy who definitely knows what he is all about. Kenuichio Harada is a mutant with the power to wrap tachyon fields around things. He immediately put this to use wrapping tachyons around a katana blade so that it could cut through anything. I don’t even know what else he could wrap tachyon fields around to be cooler. He went straight for swords, got himself some big, badass armor and put his foot down.

3. Black Knight

Dane Whitman is in for a big boost soon. Kit Harrington himself was cast as the Black Knight in the upcoming Eternals movie, and therefore the character is making new waves in comics. He’s based on the classic black knight idea, and he wields one heck of a mighty sword! The Ebony Blade is just as magical in Marvel as Excalibur, only it’s evil and cursed. A lot of bad voodoo involved in the Ebony Blade, but a black sword is still cool as heck.

2. Swordsman

It’s in the name! At least Hawkeye didn’t call himself “The Archer”. Swordsman straight up chose his lot in life from a young age. Did you know he got started by turning against his native Europeans to help overthrow the French government controlling Siancong, where he grew up? Then when he got betrayed and his father was killed, he ran away and joined the circus! Then became an Avenger! People mock Hawkeye for just having a bow and arrow, but Swordsman just has a sword. Not even a fancy sword, like the Ebony Blade. Just an awesome guy with a regular sword grew up to be an Avenger. Then he died/betrayed the team a bunch.

1. Katana

Speaking of regular swordfighters joining awesome superhero teams, Katana has done it all! With the help of her husband’s soul being trapped in her mystical katana blade. Fun story! She was the object of affection for two brothers, and the one she didn’t choose joined the Yakuza, received a mystical blade and killed his own brother. The Soultaker sword took the brother’s soul, and Tatsu Yamashiro used it to defeat the wicked brother. Then she used it to become a superhero! And she joined the Outsiders, and the Suicide Squad, and probably the Justice League at one point? If not, they’re missing out!

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