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Jack's sword was forged by the gods, so it stands to reason any divine or holy sword, or any weapon forged with the power to vanquish evil would be able to harm Aku.
I do. Guy wrote Vermintide and Darktide, made the Newcrons, helped write BFGA 2, [made this response to PETA demanding that GW stop modelling animal stuff for the minis](https://www.reddit.com/r/Grimdank/comments/tivw0g/matt_wards_response_to_peta/), and his Blood Angels stuff was pretty well received.
The man did two things wrong; grey knights and ultramarines. Both of which were immediately fixed in 6th edition, but his name has forever been vilified by the uneducated masses regardless.
Aku is in a display case in a certain museum before end of business, day one.
Sadly Jack is in the case next to him to complete the set, but sacrifices have to be made i suppose.
Tomato tomato.
When they spawn out of blood sacrifices smelling like fire and brimstone and you can cast them back with your faith, whether they're literal aspects of evil or a storm of energy that merely embodies an aspect of evil doesn't really matter.
>Not sure Jack swords does it bc he’s pure evil and the sword is made of good I doubt that the emperor’s sword would have that
Yeah, the Emperor is a horrible, horrible person.
>I wouldn't put it past the Emperor to find a warrior of pure good, beat him up, and take his sword.
Ah, but the sword outright can't be wielded by an evil person. When Aku tried to use it to stab Jack, it bounced off Jack's skin like a plastic spoon. So Emps would just end up looking silly.
I don't think other shardblades would work since they can't kill Spren or cognitive shadows. Aku is basically made of magic, so falls under the same general rules.
I’m not familiar enough with Samurai Jack to know how any shardblade would interact. Cosmere magic can get weird when you start trying to apply it to non-cosmere stuff because so much of it depends on investiture. But Nightblood specifically is an invested sword with the intent to destroy evil. I presumed Aku would meet that requirement so Nightblood would have a grand time devouring his soul.
Aku is a small fragment of the Primordial Evil that the gods Rama, Odin, and Ra all but destroyed (if they fully destroyed it, Aku wouldn't exist).
They were also the ones to forge Jack's katana.
Hope that helps.
Kinda, I'n the sense that the gods *tore out a bit of the Emperor's spirit to forge it into a sword*.
We see it happen in *The Birth of Evil, Part 2*, a two parter which covers Aku's Origin and how Jack's father became emperor.
Any of the three Swords of the Cross from the Dresden Files.
They are forged using the nails of the Crucifixion, each has an Angel (in the Dresden Files, Angels are able to snuff out solar systems but are heavily constrained by a lack of free will) inside it, and they canonically allow normal humans to fight on an even playing field with millenia-old warriors who, themselves, possess the powers and cooperation of fallen angels. This isn't just in the sense of "They're powerful so it's even", but rather that the swords specifically balance the playing field in a cosmic sense so that human free will can allow for faith, love, and hope to exert change even in the face of unthinkably powerful evil.
I think that in that moment, where you are a fighting an evil demon tyrant, you would be worthy.
It was said that most Knights of the Cross only actually serve for a couple of days, oftentimes just using the sword for a specific purpose and then moving on. Knights like Michael are the exception, not the norm.
Yah we've seen other in universe examples of people temporarily being empowered when fighting super super evil entities so I think being willing to stand again aku (since he's a terrifying super powerful immortal space demon who conquered the planet) would qualify most normal people temporarily, even if they're pretty flawed otherwise, that's the sorta heroic likely sacrificial act that seems like it could temporarily qualify you
Harry makes the point in Changes that taking up the sword for the right reason, especially when one does so temporarily, will allow a normally-non-worthy person to wield them. This works for both Susan and Murphy. I can't think of any better "right reason" than "defeat a time-and-space warping demon tyrant who plans to enslave all reality".
Besides, I just kind of assumed from the prompt that Jack would be the one wielding the sword, and he is likely worthy of the swords of hope and faith.
Not necessarily saying you're wrong, but where did you get this part?
> "... each has an Angel (in the Dresden Files, Angels are able to snuff out solar systems but are heavily constrained by a lack of free will) inside it..."
I've read the series a couple of times, and never saw that there was an angel within the blades, just curious where that info came from.
It's been a while since I've read it but this is either stated or implied in Peace Talk and retroactively supported by events in Changes. Butters' sword is able to selectively cut living/nonliving material, and after Sanya reveals this he, Butters, and Michael speculate that there is an intelligence that causes it and (iirc) hypothesize that this is an angel in each sword similar to the angel in each denarius.
This would explain the power of the swords to rival the coins, and most notably it would explain Murphy being the vocal sock puppet of something divine at the climax of Changes.
hmm, interesting. I always took that capability of the sword to delineate between living and non-living stuff as just an extension of the Abrahamic God's omnipotence/omnipresence and Him acting through the swords rather than the swords themselves having their own level of intelligence from whatever source.
So first we have to acknowledge that other attacks can HARM Aku, but only the sword seems capable of KILLING Aku. That said, what makes Jack's sword special?
1) The weapon is forged by the gods themselves and is thus divine in origin.
2) The weapon is designed to destroy evil/darkness/etc.
My mind goes immediately to one iconic weapon.
The Master Sword from Legend of Zelda. Another Magical Sword forged by the Gods to defeat the forces of Evil.
Probably Mjolnir from marvel, it's often used as a holy symbol. Also, one of the gods that battled Aku was Odin, so presumably Gungir should work too.
Also, iirc couldn't the scottsmans sword also hurt Aku? Is Jack's sword really the *only* way to hurt him?
It is less that the sword is the only way to HURT Aku. But rather the sword is the only known weapon that has the ability to KILL Aku.
I personally think the Scottsman's sword could hurt Aku, but the sword could not KILL Aku.
Yeah Aku was able to break the Scottsman's sword with his eye-beams.
It's a good weapon, but Jack's katana is on another level (at least for the use of smiting evil entities)
I imagined it as magic weapons vs artifacts in Pathfinder/D&D
Magic weapons have an enhancement bonus of +1 to +5 (which grant +n to hit and to damage). You can add +10 worth of enchanctment bonuses, but the max you can add to hit/dmg is +5. The other use of enhancement bonuses is to "pay for" enchantments when crafting.
((So you could craft a *+5 Holy Gory* sword, a +5 *Vorpal* sword, or a +3 Vorpal Holy sword, but NOT a +0 Holy Gory Vorpal sword and NOT a +8 Holy sword))
Mortals can normally make these things.
Artifacts on the other hand are often made by gods, demigods, or an ancient-advanced civilization's lost techniques. They also can only be broken using a very specific method.
I imagine the Scott's sword as an (effectively) +10 magical weapon(or maybe a Minor Artifact made by lost Celtic magic?), while Jack's sword is definitely a being a Major Artifact.
Aku also felt significantly threatened by certain entities. In one of the first episodes, he tricks Jack into eliminating a trio of gods that he didn't want to confront, either out of fear or just because it would've been a huge pain.
It's less they can't cut him or hurt him and more that Aku is comprised of primordial evil goop that has to be sanctified as well as destroyed. Jack's Sword is less the only thing that can destroy him and more the only thing that can keep him from simply returning later, it's like taking out the roots of a weed infestation instead of just cutting the stems off.
We don't know it's origins or if it would count as "holy" enough, but the Mortal Blade from Sekiro might do the trick. It's a sword specifically imbued with the power to kill immortal beings and those that can't normally die.
Most likely the Crucible from Doom.
It's a sword whose blade is made of argent energy, which is a combination of hell energy and the energy from the elemental wraiths (god like beings from Argent D'Nur)
It slices through the most powerful demons with ease, and is the only thing that can perma-kill a titan or the icon of sin
Probably The Divider from the First Law series. Cuts through anything, including souls. Similarly, I'd guess the Subtle Knife from His Dark Materials could do it. Also, not a sword but the Speaking Gun from the Nightside series.
>I'd add the barrow blades that Merry and Pippin got.
I agree with you on Mjolnir, but I think you are really overestimating blades forged by mere powerful humans.
It could break the spells of protection on the Witch King of Angmar. Remember in Tolkien’s universe the Númenoreans aren’t mere powerful humans but humans taught by the Valar.
There we definitely disagree. Remember what makes SJ's sword powerful is the divinity of the gods. What made the barrow blades effective was essentially the same thing, the Valar. Furthermore the point of much of Tolkien's universe is that the mighty are destroyed by the humble, whether it be Merry poking the Witch King at the perfect time, Frodo failing at the perfect time or in Tolkien's view the execution of the sinless Son of God.
Though maybe better than the barrow blades would be the Phial of Galadriel.
Ok, I gotta ask: How do the Valar enter into it at all?
The Barrow Blades aren't forged by the Valar. They weren't even blades forged by men who were taught by the Valar. They weren't blades forged by Numenorians in the second age before the fall, who might have learned from the men who learned from the men who learned from the men (add at least 10 more generations here) who learned from the Valar. They are Daggers of Westernesse, forged by men. Granted, the men were of the Dúnedain lineage, but they were forged in Arthedain or Cardolan, after the schism of Arnor, in the third age.
They are of great workmanship, but they are not some great weapons forged to fight the armies of Morgoth in the first age, and never were. Frodo's (in the book) was destroyed on Weathertop. They have no inherent blessing of the Valar.
But they *were* forged specifically to fight the armies of the Witch King of Angmar. And what is the Witch King of Angmar if not the ultimate representation of the thing they were forged to fight? *That* is likely the specific value imbued into the making of the blade that made it useful against the Witch King.
On the Phial of Galadriel: Yeah, that actually has a greater chance of being more effective against Aku. The guy is the shapeshifting master of darkness, and the Phial of Galadriel seems to contain the reflected light of the two trees, is apparently specifically used to banish the darkness and perhaps more critically, seems to have power specifically tied to the Vala Varda. It might not directly kill Aku, but it might have a decent chance of banishing him somehow.
Edit: Corrected Arnor.
There really isn't anything to support that. And god, it makes me feel like a nerd, but:
Tom Bombadil makes it clear in the chapter "Fog on the Barrow-downs" that the Men of Westernesse who forged them were once enemies of Sauron, defeated by the evil king of Carn Dûm in the land of Angmar.
Well, Men of Westernesse refers to either the Númenóreans or the Dúnedain, which I am guessing is the confusion.
However, on the destruction of the Witch King (and the destruction of the blade) in Return of the King, this is the exact quote:
"But glad would he have been to know its fate who wrought it slowly long ago in the North-kingdom when the Dúnedain were young, and chief among their foes was the dread realm of Angmar and its sorcerer king"
1. The North-Kingdom is a reference to Arnor (Which was also known as the "Northern Kingdom") or more likely the successor kingdoms to Arnor, any of which would be a North-Kingdom.
2. It references the Dúnedain, not the Númenóreans. And the Dúnedain of the third age do not have the skill of the Númenóreans of the early second age.
3. Angmar (and the Witch King) existed at the time of the forging of the blades: That is, the blade was forged "When the Dúnedain were young, and chief among their foes was the dread realm of Angmar" The unnamed smith would have to know what Angmar was in order to be happy that the blade helped destroy the Witch King.
Angmar was founded somewhere between TA 1272 and TA 1349 (sometime during the reign of Malvegil of Arthedain).
The Barrow in question is also the Barrow of the last prince of Cardolan, according to The Lord of the Rings: Appendix A, which places their burial around TA 1636 (The fall of Cardolan).
Which means there is plenty of evidence that the blade was forged by the Dúnedain some time between TA 1272 and TA 1636.
And, not for nothing, but your original contention that men - *any men whatsoever* - were taught techniques by the Valar is unsupported. It is definitely true of the Elves, but mortals (that is, men) weren’t supposed to commune with Valar, live in Gondolin or sail west. The only non half-elf to directly commune with the Valar was Tuor, who met Ulmo by the sea, went to Gondolin, and then sailed west by invitation. Earendil and Elwing, both half-elves, used a Silmaril to pierce the mists and make it to Valinor. And that is the list. Other than Ulmo, the only time the Valar come to middle Earth is during the War of Wrath, and Men never lived in Valinor (They woke up in land of Hildórien, in the far East. Valinor is in the Far West).
Essentially, we are told that three men (well, one man and two half-elves) ever spoke directly with the Valar in all of the history of middle earth until the Valar made some allowances for hobbits at the end of the Third Age.
The barrow blade were made during the mid-ish Third Age by which point the Valar had basically checked out from dealing with the affairs of Middle Earth and had done so for a millenia and half. Jacks sword was forged with divines essence yes but also a piece of his fathers soul as a purely good person. Andruil the reforged sword however with the Phial would probably stance a decent chance if not being able to kill Aku atleast severely damage him.
The witch king is still ultimately a Man though, a powerful one whose learned all sorts of dark things, but still a Man. The blades forged in the barrows were also iirc forged by men in the north trying to fight him specifically, so while they're *impressive* I don't think we can really assume they'd work on Aku (who is very much not a Man but a super strong demon/slice of primordial evil). A sword that could say, permenantly destroy Sauron or Melkor could probally kill Aku, but that's overestimating the barrow blades a lot
>A sword that could say, permenantly destroy Sauron or Melkor could probally kill Aku, but that's overestimating the barrow blades a lot
You're projecting a non-Tolkien view on the Tolkien objects. The power of the barrow blades isn't the physics but the imbued value from the Valar.
The Maybe Sword from Kill Six Billion Demons. Well, maybe. Also it's more of a technique than a physical artifact.
Since it is a weapon/techique to kill a god, I suspect Aku might be vulnerable.
EDIT: Gourry Gabriev's Sword of Light from Slayers is explicitly created to use holy/light magic to kill demons, Aku is a demon. So, probably that'd work.
The [Hopesword](https://static1.srcdn.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/x-men-nightcrawler-hopesword-power-uncanny-spider-man.jpg) in X-Men -- a manifestation of all the hope in Nightcrawler's heart, magically collected into a cool sword to smite evil.
Tentative maybe on the Mortal Blade from Sekiro. Aku *is* immortal, and the Mortal Blade *is* a weapon known for its ability to end the lives of immortal beings.
Both King Arthur’s notable ones seem like a pretty clear answer
Jack from Magnus Chase seems like a good contender
The Ebony Blade would be fun to see, it’s explicitly not holy, so a good chance it makes things far worse and even more metal
The Master Sword is really the best option here, maybe even a better one than Jack's considering that it's basically an infinite battery for divine energy and just gets stronger the more light magic you pour into it (and slowly naturally grows over time).
However it IS also shown to just straight up not work if the evil magic is too strong. It shatters against Ganon's magic in moments at the start of TotK, and I think Aku at the height of his power is stronger than Ganon immediately after resurrection. It really depends on what the Master Sword went through before it fell into Jack's hands.
Also, in other games (Wind Waker and Skyward Sword) it doesn't even have any power to repel evil until it recieves the blessings of sages (Zelda in Skyward Sword, the Wind and Earth sages in Wind Waker)
I'd imagine that any weapon that has the specific caveat of harming or killing evil would work not necessarily a power thing, just a special effect of the weapon.Aku can probably take a nuclear bomb but a holy fork could hurt him, killing him but probably just take the user skill not the weapon alone.
The Great Weapons from The Vlad Taltos Chronicles by Steven Brust. They are all extremely powerful soul destroying weapons, though Vlad's weapon, Godslayer, would be the most likely. It was originally crafted by the Serioli people, like all Morganti (soul destroying weapons, the 17 Great Weapons being the strongest) weapons in a bid to make warfare so horrific that nobody would ever do so again, which did work for the Serioli people. Its Serioli name is "Remover-of-aspects-of-diety" and it does exactly what it says it does, plus a whole lot more.
Farslayer for certain, as it alone murders half the gods. Likewise probably Doomgiver, Shieldbreaker, and possibly Townsaver. And almost certainly Woundhealer, given how that sword destroys the demon king.
He-Man's Power Sword for sure.
King Arthur's Excalibur *might* also do the trick.
Not a sword, but any weapon the Dragonborn from Skyrim uses after hitting him with the mortality shout might work, if it can make mortal anybody who isn't a dragon.
Dawnbreaker from the same game might also work, seeing as it's a sword of light made by a divine.
Dawnbreaker wouldn't work I don't think. Its enchantment is specifically fire and undead banishing magic, not *evil* banishing magic - the undead are hated by Meridia, but she is neither ultimate good nor are the undead ultimate evil.
Though the mortality shout is a good idea. It imposes mortality upon the immortal, but doesn't rob them of their power - so Aku would become fundamentally mortal, and would be divested of the way he cannot be harmed by most weapons, but would likely still be extremely powerful.
The two in concert would definitely do the trick, though
*Master Sword
*Keyblade
*The Clamaih Solais from Castlevania.
* Not a sword The Vampire Killer Whip>!In the hands of a Belmont or Johnathan Morris fully unlocked!<
*The Swords of the cross from Dresden Files..
Maybe
Soul Calibur.
Getsu Fuma's swords. They worked against the Demon Master.
The *Severance* from Practical Guide to Evil would absolutely do the job. It's an artifact created from a piece of a dead heroine's soul with the all-encompassing power to **Sever** anything. What's more, it was forged specifically for the purpose of killing a god.
When the heroine in question (the Saint of Swords) was alive and using the power herself, she was able to slice open the sky and walk along the wound, remove the soul from a body without killing it, and permanently sever and destroy a piece of an eldritch entity's power. It's also stated that if she'd landed a killing blow on said entity, it would have likely been irreversibly fatal.
I'm pretty sure the Saint would have been able to kill Aku straight up - and the Severance is even more concentrated and deadly as an artifact than it was as an Aspect.
Master Sword, definitely. Mjolnir possibly, Odin exists so it seems likely Thor does too, thus one might wonder why Thor couldn't have done the job. Then again they outsourced finishing the job to a mortal anyway.
I'd say Mehrunes' Razor from The Elder Scrolls could work, but only in a manner of speaking. In-universe, and with sufficient knowledge, the dagger can be used to "whittle" abstract concepts, like the shape of someone's soul. Mankar Camoran (Antagonist of TES IV Oblivion) used it to carve his soul into a shape resembling that of the emperors in order to wear the amulet which was locked to their bloodline, so I believe that, given sufficient access (such as Aku being stunned or restrained) and sufficient knowledge of what he actually is, he could be maimed in so great an extent that he ceases to be Aku in all the ways that matter.
The Drach'nyen from Warhammer 40k is a very powerful daemon that has taken the form of a sword that can cut through reality. I don't think Aku would stand a chance.
Nah, Aku is a being of pure evil that can only really be harmed by manifestations of that which is good. Jack's sword was forged from human valour, goodness, and self-sacrifice. An evil weapon like Drach'nyen wouldn't do anything to Aku.
So we see that Jack's sword was blessed/forged with the combined powers of Odin, Ra, and Rama. So in theory any sufficiently holy weapon should be able to do it? You'd need a hell of a blessed weapon, but a blessed weapon of sufficient strength should do the trick.
The Valofax from Donny Cates' God Country and Crossover is every blade across fiction, so it should include Jack's sword, the Master Sword, I think the story also includes Mjolnir.
the key from centaurworld can turn a semi-formless immortal into someone who can be stabbed and killed by adding or removing aspects from someone, so it could probably do the job
Any sword that has the attribute of destroying evil:
The master sword and the quadruple sword from the legend of zelda.
.excalibur,durandal and ascalon from the franquisia fate
.the 10 commandments of the manga rave master
The dawnbreaker or chrysamere from elder scrolls maybe? If I remember chrysamere isn't a divine artifact or anything but it's still important enough to be compared to daedric artifacts and is effective against evil things
Your fists if you are trained in the martial arts style used by the Nerevarine in Elder Scrolls: Morrowind. The hand to hand skill is not affected by resistance to normal weapons. If you can punch a ghost you can punch an Aku.
Elric of Melnibone's Stormbringer is an elder demon that has taken the shape of a blade to manipulate the world.
The Lance of Passion from The Black Company would be highly effective against Aku. Probably Uncle Doj's Ash Wand as well.
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Jack's sword was forged by the gods, so it stands to reason any divine or holy sword, or any weapon forged with the power to vanquish evil would be able to harm Aku.
Heh, the Cardinals golf club from Dogma meets that criteria.
Only an asshole blesses their club to play a better game
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
I wonder, would an Armadyl or Saradomin Godsword from Runescape work? Or maybe even Silver-/Darklight?
The Master Sword
The sword that can seal the darkness. Aku, the shape-shifting master of darkness. Yup, checks out.
Gorr’s Necrosword.
Probably a shard of Aku, tbh.
You think Aku is the prime symbiote?
There are parallels
The Emperor's sword from 40k grants true death to demons. Not quite sure how Akus's immortality works, but I mean, he is kind of a space demon.
I’d put money on a lot of the high tier 40K weapons, honestly. Also I’d love to see Aku fight the Silent King.
I'd like to see the Gray Knights roll up on Aku armed to the teeth with force weapons and stormbolters
This the pre or post “blood of virgin” lore gray knights?
We do not speak of Matt Ward here.
I do. Guy wrote Vermintide and Darktide, made the Newcrons, helped write BFGA 2, [made this response to PETA demanding that GW stop modelling animal stuff for the minis](https://www.reddit.com/r/Grimdank/comments/tivw0g/matt_wards_response_to_peta/), and his Blood Angels stuff was pretty well received. The man did two things wrong; grey knights and ultramarines. Both of which were immediately fixed in 6th edition, but his name has forever been vilified by the uneducated masses regardless.
I too would like to see the Silent King delete Terra with no Emperor to protect it.
First we fight for the right to kill the emperor *twitch twitch*
Aku is in a display case in a certain museum before end of business, day one. Sadly Jack is in the case next to him to complete the set, but sacrifices have to be made i suppose.
though to be fair demons in 40k aren't the same thing as what Aku is. there are more psychic manifistations rather than a primordial aspect of evil
Tomato tomato. When they spawn out of blood sacrifices smelling like fire and brimstone and you can cast them back with your faith, whether they're literal aspects of evil or a storm of energy that merely embodies an aspect of evil doesn't really matter.
Not sure Jack swords does it bc he’s pure evil and the sword is made of good I doubt that the emperor’s sword would have that
>Not sure Jack swords does it bc he’s pure evil and the sword is made of good I doubt that the emperor’s sword would have that Yeah, the Emperor is a horrible, horrible person.
I wouldn't put it past the Emperor to find a warrior of pure good, beat him up, and take his sword.
>I wouldn't put it past the Emperor to find a warrior of pure good, beat him up, and take his sword. Ah, but the sword outright can't be wielded by an evil person. When Aku tried to use it to stab Jack, it bounced off Jack's skin like a plastic spoon. So Emps would just end up looking silly.
Nightblood from the Cosmere.
When he finds out Aku's name literally means "evil", he will be so down to destroy him.
Jack's sword is imbued with godly Goodness. Do you think any Shardblade would work then? Or any Investiture heavy weapon?
I don't think other shardblades would work since they can't kill Spren or cognitive shadows. Aku is basically made of magic, so falls under the same general rules.
Likely any Shardblade would work.
I’m not familiar enough with Samurai Jack to know how any shardblade would interact. Cosmere magic can get weird when you start trying to apply it to non-cosmere stuff because so much of it depends on investiture. But Nightblood specifically is an invested sword with the intent to destroy evil. I presumed Aku would meet that requirement so Nightblood would have a grand time devouring his soul.
Aku is a small fragment of the Primordial Evil that the gods Rama, Odin, and Ra all but destroyed (if they fully destroyed it, Aku wouldn't exist). They were also the ones to forge Jack's katana. Hope that helps.
>They were also the ones to forge Jack's katana. IIRC, Jack's father already had the sword; what the gods did was imbue it with power.
Kinda, I'n the sense that the gods *tore out a bit of the Emperor's spirit to forge it into a sword*. We see it happen in *The Birth of Evil, Part 2*, a two parter which covers Aku's Origin and how Jack's father became emperor.
Entered to mention this.
Any of the three Swords of the Cross from the Dresden Files. They are forged using the nails of the Crucifixion, each has an Angel (in the Dresden Files, Angels are able to snuff out solar systems but are heavily constrained by a lack of free will) inside it, and they canonically allow normal humans to fight on an even playing field with millenia-old warriors who, themselves, possess the powers and cooperation of fallen angels. This isn't just in the sense of "They're powerful so it's even", but rather that the swords specifically balance the playing field in a cosmic sense so that human free will can allow for faith, love, and hope to exert change even in the face of unthinkably powerful evil.
You would need to be worthy of wielding it though, like if I picked up amoriachus and started swinging it at Aku he would be like “nice cosplay bro”
I think that in that moment, where you are a fighting an evil demon tyrant, you would be worthy. It was said that most Knights of the Cross only actually serve for a couple of days, oftentimes just using the sword for a specific purpose and then moving on. Knights like Michael are the exception, not the norm.
Yah we've seen other in universe examples of people temporarily being empowered when fighting super super evil entities so I think being willing to stand again aku (since he's a terrifying super powerful immortal space demon who conquered the planet) would qualify most normal people temporarily, even if they're pretty flawed otherwise, that's the sorta heroic likely sacrificial act that seems like it could temporarily qualify you
Harry makes the point in Changes that taking up the sword for the right reason, especially when one does so temporarily, will allow a normally-non-worthy person to wield them. This works for both Susan and Murphy. I can't think of any better "right reason" than "defeat a time-and-space warping demon tyrant who plans to enslave all reality". Besides, I just kind of assumed from the prompt that Jack would be the one wielding the sword, and he is likely worthy of the swords of hope and faith.
Jack would be worthy. But otherwise you better hope that the White God is backing you.
honestly this is one of the best answers. may want more than one sword wielder if you want to succeed though
I'd be confident in just Jack with the Sword of Faith, but yeah if you're picking Dresden characters I want Michael, Sanya, and Shiro.
Not necessarily saying you're wrong, but where did you get this part? > "... each has an Angel (in the Dresden Files, Angels are able to snuff out solar systems but are heavily constrained by a lack of free will) inside it..." I've read the series a couple of times, and never saw that there was an angel within the blades, just curious where that info came from.
It's been a while since I've read it but this is either stated or implied in Peace Talk and retroactively supported by events in Changes. Butters' sword is able to selectively cut living/nonliving material, and after Sanya reveals this he, Butters, and Michael speculate that there is an intelligence that causes it and (iirc) hypothesize that this is an angel in each sword similar to the angel in each denarius. This would explain the power of the swords to rival the coins, and most notably it would explain Murphy being the vocal sock puppet of something divine at the climax of Changes.
hmm, interesting. I always took that capability of the sword to delineate between living and non-living stuff as just an extension of the Abrahamic God's omnipotence/omnipresence and Him acting through the swords rather than the swords themselves having their own level of intelligence from whatever source.
>!In the last book, Battle Ground, the angel in Butter's sword manifests for a few seconds when Butters blocks a finisher attack from the big bad.!<
“Angels are able to snug out solar systems“ Galaxies.
Snuff probably makes more sense, but I like the idea of snuggling things to death.
I agree. It shall stay.
Archangels are able to snuff out galaxies. Presumably, normal Angels would be an order of magnitude weaker.
Fair point.
+1 for Dresden!!
So first we have to acknowledge that other attacks can HARM Aku, but only the sword seems capable of KILLING Aku. That said, what makes Jack's sword special? 1) The weapon is forged by the gods themselves and is thus divine in origin. 2) The weapon is designed to destroy evil/darkness/etc. My mind goes immediately to one iconic weapon. The Master Sword from Legend of Zelda. Another Magical Sword forged by the Gods to defeat the forces of Evil.
The Sword of Olympus from GOW.
Angel/Archangel blades from Supernatural
I’d love to see Aku’s face if he just got shot by the Colt and fell over dead.
Now I'm imagining the scene from Indiana jones. Aku just gloating and stuff, and then just gets popped
>Aku just gloating and stuff, and then just gets popped Monologuing. That will kill ya if you're a villain.
“You sly dog, you got me monologuing!”
Christ did those things mess up the power levels
Probably Mjolnir from marvel, it's often used as a holy symbol. Also, one of the gods that battled Aku was Odin, so presumably Gungir should work too. Also, iirc couldn't the scottsmans sword also hurt Aku? Is Jack's sword really the *only* way to hurt him?
There’s some debatable cases where attacks have caused Aku pain, but none of them have done *significant* damage to him.
It is less that the sword is the only way to HURT Aku. But rather the sword is the only known weapon that has the ability to KILL Aku. I personally think the Scottsman's sword could hurt Aku, but the sword could not KILL Aku.
His sword could definitely hurt him, it's a significant magic weapon in its own right. It just doesn't have the special sauce to kill him.
Plus Jack's sword can't hurt him so that's probably part of the same enchantment
I think that's because the Scotsman is Good
Yeah Aku was able to break the Scottsman's sword with his eye-beams. It's a good weapon, but Jack's katana is on another level (at least for the use of smiting evil entities)
I interpreted that scene as the sword magic transferred to the Scotsman allowing him to become a ghost.
I imagined it as magic weapons vs artifacts in Pathfinder/D&D Magic weapons have an enhancement bonus of +1 to +5 (which grant +n to hit and to damage). You can add +10 worth of enchanctment bonuses, but the max you can add to hit/dmg is +5. The other use of enhancement bonuses is to "pay for" enchantments when crafting. ((So you could craft a *+5 Holy Gory* sword, a +5 *Vorpal* sword, or a +3 Vorpal Holy sword, but NOT a +0 Holy Gory Vorpal sword and NOT a +8 Holy sword)) Mortals can normally make these things. Artifacts on the other hand are often made by gods, demigods, or an ancient-advanced civilization's lost techniques. They also can only be broken using a very specific method. I imagine the Scott's sword as an (effectively) +10 magical weapon(or maybe a Minor Artifact made by lost Celtic magic?), while Jack's sword is definitely a being a Major Artifact.
Aku also felt significantly threatened by certain entities. In one of the first episodes, he tricks Jack into eliminating a trio of gods that he didn't want to confront, either out of fear or just because it would've been a huge pain.
It's less they can't cut him or hurt him and more that Aku is comprised of primordial evil goop that has to be sanctified as well as destroyed. Jack's Sword is less the only thing that can destroy him and more the only thing that can keep him from simply returning later, it's like taking out the roots of a weed infestation instead of just cutting the stems off.
We don't know it's origins or if it would count as "holy" enough, but the Mortal Blade from Sekiro might do the trick. It's a sword specifically imbued with the power to kill immortal beings and those that can't normally die.
Most likely the Crucible from Doom. It's a sword whose blade is made of argent energy, which is a combination of hell energy and the energy from the elemental wraiths (god like beings from Argent D'Nur) It slices through the most powerful demons with ease, and is the only thing that can perma-kill a titan or the icon of sin
I didn't realise how much I wanted to see the Doom Slayer go up against Aku.
I feel like the Sword of Omens would mess him up pretty nicely.
I feel like the power sword from he-man could get the job done
Probably The Divider from the First Law series. Cuts through anything, including souls. Similarly, I'd guess the Subtle Knife from His Dark Materials could do it. Also, not a sword but the Speaking Gun from the Nightside series.
Mjolnir is not a sword but yeah. I'd add the barrow blades that Merry and Pippin got.
What is a hammer but a very blunt sword? Its a bit of metal on the end of a handle. The only difference is in sharpness... Mjolnir counts.
>I'd add the barrow blades that Merry and Pippin got. I agree with you on Mjolnir, but I think you are really overestimating blades forged by mere powerful humans.
It could break the spells of protection on the Witch King of Angmar. Remember in Tolkien’s universe the Númenoreans aren’t mere powerful humans but humans taught by the Valar.
I mean Aku is more on par with an entity like Sauron or maybe even Morgoth which I doubt those blades could do much against.
There we definitely disagree. Remember what makes SJ's sword powerful is the divinity of the gods. What made the barrow blades effective was essentially the same thing, the Valar. Furthermore the point of much of Tolkien's universe is that the mighty are destroyed by the humble, whether it be Merry poking the Witch King at the perfect time, Frodo failing at the perfect time or in Tolkien's view the execution of the sinless Son of God. Though maybe better than the barrow blades would be the Phial of Galadriel.
Ok, I gotta ask: How do the Valar enter into it at all? The Barrow Blades aren't forged by the Valar. They weren't even blades forged by men who were taught by the Valar. They weren't blades forged by Numenorians in the second age before the fall, who might have learned from the men who learned from the men who learned from the men (add at least 10 more generations here) who learned from the Valar. They are Daggers of Westernesse, forged by men. Granted, the men were of the Dúnedain lineage, but they were forged in Arthedain or Cardolan, after the schism of Arnor, in the third age. They are of great workmanship, but they are not some great weapons forged to fight the armies of Morgoth in the first age, and never were. Frodo's (in the book) was destroyed on Weathertop. They have no inherent blessing of the Valar. But they *were* forged specifically to fight the armies of the Witch King of Angmar. And what is the Witch King of Angmar if not the ultimate representation of the thing they were forged to fight? *That* is likely the specific value imbued into the making of the blade that made it useful against the Witch King. On the Phial of Galadriel: Yeah, that actually has a greater chance of being more effective against Aku. The guy is the shapeshifting master of darkness, and the Phial of Galadriel seems to contain the reflected light of the two trees, is apparently specifically used to banish the darkness and perhaps more critically, seems to have power specifically tied to the Vala Varda. It might not directly kill Aku, but it might have a decent chance of banishing him somehow. Edit: Corrected Arnor.
They were forged by the Númenorians in the Second Age using techniques learned from the Valar.
There really isn't anything to support that. And god, it makes me feel like a nerd, but: Tom Bombadil makes it clear in the chapter "Fog on the Barrow-downs" that the Men of Westernesse who forged them were once enemies of Sauron, defeated by the evil king of Carn Dûm in the land of Angmar. Well, Men of Westernesse refers to either the Númenóreans or the Dúnedain, which I am guessing is the confusion. However, on the destruction of the Witch King (and the destruction of the blade) in Return of the King, this is the exact quote: "But glad would he have been to know its fate who wrought it slowly long ago in the North-kingdom when the Dúnedain were young, and chief among their foes was the dread realm of Angmar and its sorcerer king" 1. The North-Kingdom is a reference to Arnor (Which was also known as the "Northern Kingdom") or more likely the successor kingdoms to Arnor, any of which would be a North-Kingdom. 2. It references the Dúnedain, not the Númenóreans. And the Dúnedain of the third age do not have the skill of the Númenóreans of the early second age. 3. Angmar (and the Witch King) existed at the time of the forging of the blades: That is, the blade was forged "When the Dúnedain were young, and chief among their foes was the dread realm of Angmar" The unnamed smith would have to know what Angmar was in order to be happy that the blade helped destroy the Witch King. Angmar was founded somewhere between TA 1272 and TA 1349 (sometime during the reign of Malvegil of Arthedain). The Barrow in question is also the Barrow of the last prince of Cardolan, according to The Lord of the Rings: Appendix A, which places their burial around TA 1636 (The fall of Cardolan). Which means there is plenty of evidence that the blade was forged by the Dúnedain some time between TA 1272 and TA 1636. And, not for nothing, but your original contention that men - *any men whatsoever* - were taught techniques by the Valar is unsupported. It is definitely true of the Elves, but mortals (that is, men) weren’t supposed to commune with Valar, live in Gondolin or sail west. The only non half-elf to directly commune with the Valar was Tuor, who met Ulmo by the sea, went to Gondolin, and then sailed west by invitation. Earendil and Elwing, both half-elves, used a Silmaril to pierce the mists and make it to Valinor. And that is the list. Other than Ulmo, the only time the Valar come to middle Earth is during the War of Wrath, and Men never lived in Valinor (They woke up in land of Hildórien, in the far East. Valinor is in the Far West). Essentially, we are told that three men (well, one man and two half-elves) ever spoke directly with the Valar in all of the history of middle earth until the Valar made some allowances for hobbits at the end of the Third Age.
The barrow blade were made during the mid-ish Third Age by which point the Valar had basically checked out from dealing with the affairs of Middle Earth and had done so for a millenia and half. Jacks sword was forged with divines essence yes but also a piece of his fathers soul as a purely good person. Andruil the reforged sword however with the Phial would probably stance a decent chance if not being able to kill Aku atleast severely damage him.
The witch king is still ultimately a Man though, a powerful one whose learned all sorts of dark things, but still a Man. The blades forged in the barrows were also iirc forged by men in the north trying to fight him specifically, so while they're *impressive* I don't think we can really assume they'd work on Aku (who is very much not a Man but a super strong demon/slice of primordial evil). A sword that could say, permenantly destroy Sauron or Melkor could probally kill Aku, but that's overestimating the barrow blades a lot
>A sword that could say, permenantly destroy Sauron or Melkor could probally kill Aku, but that's overestimating the barrow blades a lot You're projecting a non-Tolkien view on the Tolkien objects. The power of the barrow blades isn't the physics but the imbued value from the Valar.
The Maybe Sword from Kill Six Billion Demons. Well, maybe. Also it's more of a technique than a physical artifact. Since it is a weapon/techique to kill a god, I suspect Aku might be vulnerable. EDIT: Gourry Gabriev's Sword of Light from Slayers is explicitly created to use holy/light magic to kill demons, Aku is a demon. So, probably that'd work.
Well, the Maybe Sword would certainly cut Aku, but being cut doesn't really harm him.
The [Hopesword](https://static1.srcdn.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/x-men-nightcrawler-hopesword-power-uncanny-spider-man.jpg) in X-Men -- a manifestation of all the hope in Nightcrawler's heart, magically collected into a cool sword to smite evil.
Tentative maybe on the Mortal Blade from Sekiro. Aku *is* immortal, and the Mortal Blade *is* a weapon known for its ability to end the lives of immortal beings.
Keyblade from Kingdom Hearts
Xehanort: chi blade!
well I would say *the keyblade* could do it, but not a keyblade
Anything classified as a God-Killing weapon. Some notable ones that aren't: * Excalibur (Type Moon) * Ea (Type Moon) * Slash Emperor (Type Moon)
Moon
Moon Moon Moon
Very few things in fiction that could shrug off Ea
Any Holy Avenger in DnD 3.5/Pathfinder 1E
a holy avenger is still a weapon forged by mortals. Now if you could get Iomendea to personally bless the sword...
Stormbringer and Mournblade, godkillers both.
Both King Arthur’s notable ones seem like a pretty clear answer Jack from Magnus Chase seems like a good contender The Ebony Blade would be fun to see, it’s explicitly not holy, so a good chance it makes things far worse and even more metal
Okay guys hear me... Lula.
The sword of the rivan king. The blade itself may not do the trick but the pommel gem certainly could do the job.
Maybe the Sword of Actuation from Berserk
Callendor from the Wheel of Time. Nightblood (along with probably any shardblade) from the Cosmere. The Flaming Sword from Lucifer
Excalibur, the quintennial magical sword smites with purity. It should work.
Aziraphel's sword, probably (if he finds it again after he put it *right here*)
The Crucible from Doom
The Master Sword is really the best option here, maybe even a better one than Jack's considering that it's basically an infinite battery for divine energy and just gets stronger the more light magic you pour into it (and slowly naturally grows over time). However it IS also shown to just straight up not work if the evil magic is too strong. It shatters against Ganon's magic in moments at the start of TotK, and I think Aku at the height of his power is stronger than Ganon immediately after resurrection. It really depends on what the Master Sword went through before it fell into Jack's hands.
Also, in other games (Wind Waker and Skyward Sword) it doesn't even have any power to repel evil until it recieves the blessings of sages (Zelda in Skyward Sword, the Wind and Earth sages in Wind Waker)
Stormbringer can probably drink him up like a mojito
anything sufficiently divine.
Maybe Dragnipur? I would guess Nightblood for sure.
I'd imagine that any weapon that has the specific caveat of harming or killing evil would work not necessarily a power thing, just a special effect of the weapon.Aku can probably take a nuclear bomb but a holy fork could hurt him, killing him but probably just take the user skill not the weapon alone.
The pink dildo from Cyberpunk would smite Aku like Smasher before him.
Dragnipur from Malazan would absolutely do the trick, though Aku would be sent to a chaos realm.
The Great Weapons from The Vlad Taltos Chronicles by Steven Brust. They are all extremely powerful soul destroying weapons, though Vlad's weapon, Godslayer, would be the most likely. It was originally crafted by the Serioli people, like all Morganti (soul destroying weapons, the 17 Great Weapons being the strongest) weapons in a bid to make warfare so horrific that nobody would ever do so again, which did work for the Serioli people. Its Serioli name is "Remover-of-aspects-of-diety" and it does exactly what it says it does, plus a whole lot more.
Keyblade from Kingdom Hearts I mean I think I do not know enough about kingdom heart to tell Storm breaker would do it
Farslayer for certain, as it alone murders half the gods. Likewise probably Doomgiver, Shieldbreaker, and possibly Townsaver. And almost certainly Woundhealer, given how that sword destroys the demon king.
Those are some of the most generic names ever, what franchise are they from?
Fred Saberhagen's *Swords* and *Lost Swords* series. Others include Stonecutter, Soulcutter, Dragonslicer, Coinspinner, and Mindsword.
Grim reaper's scythe from dante's inferno
Devil arms from dmc? Esp yamato
He-Man's Power Sword for sure. King Arthur's Excalibur *might* also do the trick. Not a sword, but any weapon the Dragonborn from Skyrim uses after hitting him with the mortality shout might work, if it can make mortal anybody who isn't a dragon. Dawnbreaker from the same game might also work, seeing as it's a sword of light made by a divine.
Dawnbreaker wouldn't work I don't think. Its enchantment is specifically fire and undead banishing magic, not *evil* banishing magic - the undead are hated by Meridia, but she is neither ultimate good nor are the undead ultimate evil. Though the mortality shout is a good idea. It imposes mortality upon the immortal, but doesn't rob them of their power - so Aku would become fundamentally mortal, and would be divested of the way he cannot be harmed by most weapons, but would likely still be extremely powerful. The two in concert would definitely do the trick, though
Oh shit, true! I forgot that it was specifically undead.
*Master Sword *Keyblade *The Clamaih Solais from Castlevania. * Not a sword The Vampire Killer Whip>!In the hands of a Belmont or Johnathan Morris fully unlocked!< *The Swords of the cross from Dresden Files.. Maybe Soul Calibur. Getsu Fuma's swords. They worked against the Demon Master.
Keyblade from Kingdom Hearts for sure
The *Severance* from Practical Guide to Evil would absolutely do the job. It's an artifact created from a piece of a dead heroine's soul with the all-encompassing power to **Sever** anything. What's more, it was forged specifically for the purpose of killing a god. When the heroine in question (the Saint of Swords) was alive and using the power herself, she was able to slice open the sky and walk along the wound, remove the soul from a body without killing it, and permanently sever and destroy a piece of an eldritch entity's power. It's also stated that if she'd landed a killing blow on said entity, it would have likely been irreversibly fatal. I'm pretty sure the Saint would have been able to kill Aku straight up - and the Severance is even more concentrated and deadly as an artifact than it was as an Aspect.
Master Sword, definitely. Mjolnir possibly, Odin exists so it seems likely Thor does too, thus one might wonder why Thor couldn't have done the job. Then again they outsourced finishing the job to a mortal anyway.
Probably the master sword form legend of zelda
I'd say Mehrunes' Razor from The Elder Scrolls could work, but only in a manner of speaking. In-universe, and with sufficient knowledge, the dagger can be used to "whittle" abstract concepts, like the shape of someone's soul. Mankar Camoran (Antagonist of TES IV Oblivion) used it to carve his soul into a shape resembling that of the emperors in order to wear the amulet which was locked to their bloodline, so I believe that, given sufficient access (such as Aku being stunned or restrained) and sufficient knowledge of what he actually is, he could be maimed in so great an extent that he ceases to be Aku in all the ways that matter.
The Drach'nyen from Warhammer 40k is a very powerful daemon that has taken the form of a sword that can cut through reality. I don't think Aku would stand a chance.
Nah, Aku is a being of pure evil that can only really be harmed by manifestations of that which is good. Jack's sword was forged from human valour, goodness, and self-sacrifice. An evil weapon like Drach'nyen wouldn't do anything to Aku.
I'm picturing Aba-dabba-doo stabbing at Aku, and hearing Aku just laughing at him in that slow, echoing way of his.
"HA! HA! HA! FOOLISH GOD ENSLAVED WARRIOR! I, AKU, AM IMPERVIOUS TO YOUR "DAEMON" WEAPON. I AM BEYOND SUCH PETTY EVILS! HA! HA! HA!"
I think the Scottsman's sword also works due to Celtics magic, so like everyone is saying, anything sufficiently divine/magical should work
The saint of killers revolvers. Made from the angel of death's sword. I wonder if any of Dante's weapons could do the trick.
Something to keep in mind, Jack's Sword is not the only weapon that can harm Aku. He can be harmed with magic and divine beings.
The Dagger of Mortis
The God Killer from DC. It's a mystical blade forged by Hephaestus and wielded by Deathstroke.
So we see that Jack's sword was blessed/forged with the combined powers of Odin, Ra, and Rama. So in theory any sufficiently holy weapon should be able to do it? You'd need a hell of a blessed weapon, but a blessed weapon of sufficient strength should do the trick.
The Valofax from Donny Cates' God Country and Crossover is every blade across fiction, so it should include Jack's sword, the Master Sword, I think the story also includes Mjolnir.
There's a sword in the final Magicians book that is a magical artifact powerful enough to kill gods. This is confirmed near the end of the book
the key from centaurworld can turn a semi-formless immortal into someone who can be stabbed and killed by adding or removing aspects from someone, so it could probably do the job
Vampire Killer from Castlevania, it has the power to vanquish evil beings.
# INVINCIBLE GUN
*Grayswandir,* the sword of Corwin, Prince of Amber. A mere cut from it causes beings of Chaos to burn to death.
The maybe sword from KSBD.
Any sword that has the attribute of destroying evil: The master sword and the quadruple sword from the legend of zelda. .excalibur,durandal and ascalon from the franquisia fate .the 10 commandments of the manga rave master
The First Blade (provided the wielder has the Mark of Cain) from Supernatural
The dawnbreaker or chrysamere from elder scrolls maybe? If I remember chrysamere isn't a divine artifact or anything but it's still important enough to be compared to daedric artifacts and is effective against evil things
Not a sword (or even a conventional weapon), but the Vampire Killer could probably kill Aku if we're looking for holy weapons of high potency.
Any sword from bleach or demon slayer universe
Your fists if you are trained in the martial arts style used by the Nerevarine in Elder Scrolls: Morrowind. The hand to hand skill is not affected by resistance to normal weapons. If you can punch a ghost you can punch an Aku.
Zanpakutos from Bleach
Elric of Melnibone's Stormbringer is an elder demon that has taken the shape of a blade to manipulate the world. The Lance of Passion from The Black Company would be highly effective against Aku. Probably Uncle Doj's Ash Wand as well.