Hey, Vsauce, Joey here, Final Fantasy 7 is one of the most popular video games of all
time, and in this iconic artwork the hero, Cloud, looks on at a Mako Reactor as he prepares
to unleash all manner of kaboom on it.
It's meant to instill a sense of excitement and badass-ery, but, to the nitpicker's mind,
it provokes a question: Is it possible to even fight with a sword that ridiculously
big? Let's break this down with some analysis.
First, how large is Cloud's Buster Sword, really? Well, if you use the official artwork
as a guide, you'll see that the sword itself is just a little bit taller than Cloud, with
the blade coming up to armpit-level. Luckily, there's all sorts of information on Final
Fantasy characters that sane people wouldn't care about, thus we know that Cloud's official
height is 5'7". We'll assume that's to the top of his head and not his cowlick. Extrapolating,
we can see that his sword is a little over 70 inches tall, with the blade extending 54
inches long, and 10 inches wide.
Thickness is trickier to determine, but again, looking at official artwork, we're given the
impression that the blade is between 1/2 and 1 inches thick.
How realistic is this? Well, compared to some other famous video games weapons, it's predictably
massive. The Master Sword from the Legend of Zelda series is around 42 inches long,
and the mighty Soul Edge from Soul Caliber tops out at 55 inches.
But, let's take a look at some of the largest real swords ever used in combat.
The Scottish Claymore, like the kind used in Braveheart, was only about 55 inches long,
while the Japanese Odachi, literally "big sword," was typically between 65 and 70 inches.
However, some European Two-Handed Great Swords, such as the Dopplehänder, or Bidenhänder,
could be over 78 inches long, which makes the Buster Sword's 70.5 inches downright reasonable,
in comparison.
Width is another matter, as you'd expect. Normally, such large Medieval swords were
only 2 inches wide, at best, 1/5 the size of Cloud's weapon. And, without a hilt for
counterbalance, weight distribution could be an issue.
Now we're getting somewhere. The sword might not be too long after all, but, if you can't
pick it up, it's still useless. So, how much does it weigh?
Compared with real-life swords, a 1 pound handle is a reasonable guess here. Then, multiply
the dimensions of the blade to find volume. Using a standard metal-like high-carbon steel
would make the sword weigh an upwards of 60 pounds, assuming it's solid throughout; but,
some sword's have been known to be made out of a Zinc Aluminum alloy that could cut the
weight by over 60%. A 20 pound sword may not be easy to wield, but it'll cleave meat just
fine.
That's the equivalent of taking a rather fat cat, sticking him on the end of a 5-foot pole,
and then fending of enemies with him ad nauseam. An exhausting proposition, to be sure, but
not impossible.
Now, despite what you may have heard about Medieval swords, even the largest one's weren't
all that heavy.
According to John Clements of the Association for Renaissance Martial Arts, rarely did the
Two-Handed Great Swords, used by elite Swiss and German infantry men, weigh in over 8 pounds.
And, though there are historical artifacts from this period that weigh up to 14 pounds,
or so, those are generally thought to be ceremonial only, and not intended for combat.
And, it's all a matter of perspective, of course. At 5'7", Cloud is somewhat petite,
but if he were, say, the height of Shaquille O'Neill, then his sword wouldn't look very
strange at all.
So, despite the unrealistic appearance, it's actually plausible that you could use Cloud's
sword in real combat. The length is less than that of some renaissance swords, and the width
and weight are not entirely unreasonable either. So, the next time you see a video game character
using a seemingly impossible weapon, don't be so quick to judge!
And, as always, thanks for watching.
Do you need even more video game-related videos? Come to my own personal YouTube channel at
"Clan of the Gray Wolf." I've got reviews, retrospectives, explanations of video game
tech. Ahh come on over, we'll have a ton of fun.