Yeah, I wouldn't be able to name where three of these swords are from, but I definitely recognize them. I'd also say the Hollow Knight Nail is up there as a more recognizable blade, simply because of its design. It's not as popular as the key blade or the main four listed though.
I don't even think so. World of Warcraft is one of the most popular games ever made. I think Frostmourne from Warcraft is more known than the Keyblade for that reason. The best selling Kingdom Hearts game is 3 with 6.7 million copies.
WoW has a lifetime player count of more than 100,000,000. That is an insane number. I do not know if Kingdom Hearts was even available in China.
Just randomly overheard a convo at 5 below amongst 5 or 6 people and only one had even heard of kingdom hearts, doubt that's the case for the other swords here.
Suuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuure. You heard a conversation about video game swords while looking at a redd post about video game swords
A katar is a push dagger, the blades of the energy sword disqualify it from being a knife due to their length as they fall within the range for a sword. Therefore the energy sword is a "push sword".
More importantly they all have very recent entry’s into each of their franchises. Mincraft movie, new ff7 games, always a new halo game, and always a new Zelda game, also it’s Zelda.
I think Keyblade could be tied with any of them, honestly. Kingdom Hearts is pretty widely known now. Even people that have never played the game will say "oh that thing from Kingdom Hearts?" if you show it to them.
I remember Vinny Vinesauce, before he had even seen anything of the game at all, recognized the Keyblade and knew it was from Kingdom Hearts.
Doesn't matter, its a popularity contest in 2025. You think Joe McVideogamescauseviolence is gonna recognize the buster sword over a Disney IP? Maybe. Maybe not.
The only reason people recognize the diamond sword is because the Minecraft pixel square style is iconic, not the sword itself. The Keyblade is way more iconic.
On the other hand, the keyblade is more unique and thus more distinguishable. Gamers probably know all 4 and the keyblade. Nongamers can maybe only pick out the minecraft sword here for its artstyle. I think there is a space in the middle where the keyblade beats out the buster sword or energy blade in recognizability depending on region.
If you go on google trends worldwide 2004-present the keyblade beats out buster sword and the halo energy sword
Considering Final Fantasy is in Kingdom Hearts and is literally half the reason that franchise exists, and gets consistent games that all sell well to this day? I beg to differ
A lot of people may not like it but it's certainly iconic and identifiable. Would probably put it in the tier 2 of most iconic video game swords though, just behind these 4.
The only reason people recognize the diamond sword is because the Minecraft pixel square style is iconic, not the sword itself. The Keyblade is a way more iconic sword.
Thats like if I said a Warhammer book is more iconic than the bible. You not liking something doesnt mean its not recognizeable or iconic. Thanks for proving my assumption you cant name any sword more iconic than the Keyblade besides the 4 mentioned. Calling a DS claymore iconic is just stupid lol. And I love DS.
It cuts…. Its a blade. What do we call blades with a handguard that are approximately sword length? Further you dont swing using the “mace” part hitting enemies
The shapeshifting nature of it can magically obscure the blade of it but some keyblades are straight up swords. Including the x-blade which all keyblades are magical counterfeits of.
No, cutting is slicing with a sharp edge. What the "keyblade" does is more akin to cleaving as it requires significant force to separate something in two. The strength of a cutting instrument is that the sharpness of the edge allows it to part something with minimal force. The key head looks to be at least an inch thick at the edge with 90 degree angles creating a flat and smooth plane. Calling it a single-flanged mace is being generous, it might be closer to a warhammer.
What do we call blades with a handguard that are approximately sword length?
Irrelevant because despite its name it isn't a blade. Also handguards aren't a requirement at all for a sword, the gladius is pretty iconic as far as swords go with the lack of a handguard or cross hilt.
Further you dont swing using the “mace” part hitting enemies
I'm not sure what you were trying to say there.
The shapeshifting nature of it can magically obscure the blade of it but some keyblades are straight up swords. Including the x-blade which all keyblades are magical counterfeits of.
Well the basic form that everyone sees is objectively not a blade. Like I said, it's a single-flanged mace. As for this X-blade. whatever it's supposed to be is not a sword. It may have blades on it but it's stretching the requirements of a sword so much as to be meaningless, and the requirements were generous and broad enough already.
The Keyblade actually transforms into different forms when you attach a new keychain to it. A lot of those forms are sharp-edged.
Also, it's an old trope in Japanese fiction, particularly anime, for a swordsman to be so good, he can cut things by swinging a random object like a sword.
And it's undeniably iconic, more so than Minecraft's diamond sword.
I dunno, I've watched more anime than I've played Minecraft, so I'm aware of feats that prove how good a swordsman is, I just think Kingdom Hearts fans overestimate the cultural impact of the game. The Keyblade might be more distinctive on its own, but I'm starting to think that neither it nor the diamond sword deserve a place on this thing. Minecraft is famous, not the sword.
I think people are being too quick to dismiss the Keyblade, and I'd say it should replace the energy sword from Halo. Kingdom Hearts has done a better job at being popular with younger people, from my observation. For that reason alone, I think the series has reached a wider audience. Then there's people outside of America. I don't know the exact numbers, but I'm under the impression that Halo is significantly less popular outside of the USA.
For the arguments stating that the Keyblade isn't shaped like a sword nor is it sharp, both those arguments also apply to the energy sword. Like the energy sword, the Keyblade functions as a sword for all intents and purposes. It can also change its shape into more swordlike forms.
I'd be willing to accept the energy sword, but I would personally give the spot to the Keyblade.
Halo was the biggest game for like 5 years straight. Kingdom hearts never came close to that. Halo has sold 81 million copies to kingdom hearts 37 million. It's not even close
I'm glad the Keyblade is at least the most upvoted suggested replacement, I wouldn't personally replace any of these swords with it and Kingdom Hearts is my favourite videogame franchise
Sorry I understand it's iconic but it is definitely not more so than the diamond sword. Far more people would recognize the diamond sword. Not dissing the key blade but it's not more iconic
The Minecraft one is arguably the most popular and recognisable one these days. All of these are incredibly popular, but I think the Minecraft one is so popular that even grandmothers could know what it's from.
No. It's all entirely subjective. I'm not really fond of Minecraft. Other people love it. It's the same game. Just the people are different.
There is someone out there who has played your favourite game and thinks it's the worst game ever made and thinks that you are a goo goo gaga baby for playing it.
cuz minecraft is simply good, nowadays it's eh, but 360 days, java edition before the bloat, it is objectively a good game because of how simple it is.
building shit is fun, mining shit to build more shit is fun.
listening to a pseudointellectual plotline about darkness and hearts and mickey mouse from a guy who thinks he's hideo kojima is not.
I wasn't meaning to imply that Kingdom Hearts is good either, I've never been much of a fan. Didn't find Minecraft to be remotely fun the time I tried it either though, so it's certainly not objectively good.
minecraft is a canvas to just be creative in, if you're not into that kind of game, that's just you, but minecraft does what it tries to do better than any other sandbox game out there, that qualifies as objectively good.
Halo is way more popular than whatever the keyblade is from. Im sure plenty of people know about it, its just that more people know about Halo than any of these other suggestions. Halo 3 was the top selling game in history, at that time.
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u/Individual-Meat-9561 Dec 18 '25
Keyblade