The Blade Always Lands Pointy End In: Difference between revisions

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Have you ever noticed that when you drop a piece of toast, it will always land buttered side down? (Wait, [[Tropes Examined Byby the Mythbusters|you haven't?]] But never mind.) Well, if media is to be believed, something similar happens if you drop or throw a weapon -- it will ''always'' land pointy side down. And not only that, but it will always penetrate the ground at a neat angle between 90 and 45 degrees and stay upright. Why? [[Rule of Cool|Because it looks cool, of course!]]
 
This also applies to vertical surfaces, with the blade almost always at a perfect 90 degree angle to the wall or cliff. Also when a dagger ([[Throwing Your Sword Always Works|or sword]]) is thrown into a person it will stick out at a perfect 90 degree angle.
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* In ''[[Record of Lodoss War]]'', all weapons land on the pointy end. Always! It happens about two or three times each episode.
* In ''[[Soul Eater]]'', Mifune uses a [[Storm of Blades]] to create a [[Field of Blades]], using this principle. Every single sword he threw [read: launched 20 of them simultaneously into the air without seeming to even aim] landed [[Pointy End In]], and stuck with enough firmness that he could [[Stepping Stone Sword|run across their hilts at one point]]. A bunch landed this way even one time he launched them directly out of his big case, where they started with ''handle'' facing the target, by '''kicking the end of the box a bunch of times.''
* Inverted in ''[[Yu-Gi-Oh (Animeanime)|Yu-Gi-Oh]]: The Pyramid of Light''. When Yugi tosses the Dagger of Fate, the hilt ends up hitting the target.
{{quote| '''[[Yu-Gi-Oh!: The Abridged Series (Web Video)|Abridged]]!Yugi''': Damn, I suck.}}
* During the final battle of ''[[Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha]] StrikerS'', Deed's sword lands in this manner when she's taken out {{spoiler|[[Friendly Sniper|by a head shot from Vice]]}}.
* Used in [[Puella Magi Madoka Magica]], mostly so that [[Determinator|Sayaka]] can pull it back out of the ground like a boss.
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== Films -- Animation ==
* Happens constantly in ''[[Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children]]'', where bladed weapons stick in literally ''everything'' point first -- the ground, buildings, trees...
 
 
== Films -- Live Action ==
* Happens in ''[[Enchanted]]'' at the end. Giselle apparently has enough strength to make a thrown sword pierce a metal decoration, with enough strength to support a grown man's weight...
* ''[[The Princess Bride (Filmfilm)|The Princess Bride]]''. During his duel with Inigo Montoya, the Man in Black throws his sword. It spins end over end and impales itself in the ground point first.
* The end of ''[[Braveheart]]'' had one of these with Wallace's claymore.
* ''[[Mystery Men]]'': Subverted somewhat in that the Blue Raja won't use knives. And all his forks invariably bounce off what they're aimed at -- until the Sphinx shows him how to throw. Then they always stick tines first, and are strong enough that Mr. Furious can [[Stepping Stone Sword|use them to climb with]].
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** This is far from the only movie this stunt is pulled in. As a general rule, flipping the knife 180 degrees before throwing will result in blunt end first, even if done by a [[Distressed Damsel]].
* In ''[[V for Vendetta]]'', one thrown knife can be seen to [[You Fail Physics Forever|stop spinning in mid-air]] so that it hits a [[Mook]] at a right angle.
* In ''[[The Mummy Returns (Film)Trilogy|The Mummy Returns]]'', this is the end result of a [[Throwing Your Sword Always Works|sword throw working]]. After Ardeth Bey throws his sword at an Anubis Warrior, it lands pointy-end-down in the sand so that he can pick it up while riding past.
* Averted at the end of ''[[Big Trouble in Little China]]'' when Jack Burton throws his dagger at [[Big Bad|Lo Pan]] {{spoiler|''and misses'' - the dagger bounces off the wall and clatters harmlessly to the floor. Lo Pan picks it up, amused, and flicks it back at Jack, who [[Crowning Moment of Awesome|snatches it out of the air and throws it back again]], this time nailing the sucker right between the eyes!}} "It's all in the reflexes."
* Averted in ''[[Scream (Filmfilm)|Scream]] 3'', which has a failed knife throwing end with the intended victim hit with the handle.
* In ''[[Pirates of the Caribbean]]'' Will throws the swords that he made himself with enough strength that Captain Jack Sparrow can't get it out of the wall. And again at the end of the movie where Sparrow can use it to stand on.
 
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== Literature ==
* ''[[Discworld]]''
** In ''[[Discworld (Literature)/The Colour of Magic|The Colour of Magic]]'', the first book, Rincewind kills a troll in this manner -- through a bizarre coincidence resulting from the gods using them both as pawns in a board game.
** In ''[[Discworld (Literature)/Night Watch|Night Watch]]'', during a duel Sam Vimes throws his sword away and the blade sticks into a wall. He hadn't intended to do that, but notes to himself that it looked damned impressive.
** And in ''[[Discworld (Literature)/The Fifth Elephant|The Fifth Elephant]]'', it happens by sheer accident when Vimes throws a screwdriver onto the floor in frustration.
** In ''[[Discworld (Literature)/Hogfather|Hogfather]]'', a crowbar which falls several dozen stories, end over end, amazingly manages to land point-first on a flagstone where [[Reality Is Out to Lunch|it stays standing up]].
** In ''[[Discworld (Literature)/Reaper Man|Reaper Man]]'', a very large iron screw falls from the chandelier in the University dining hall, and gets stuck point-down in the dining table near Mustrum Ridcully's hand. Pterry really likes this trope.
* Happens in ''[[The Stormlight Archive (Literature)|The Stormlight Archive]]'' when {{spoiler|Kaladin kills a Shardbearer}} and the Blade ends up sticking up out of the ground, the fact that it embeds itself in the ground and stays there is [[Justified Trope|justified]] in that it's an [[Absurdly Sharp Blade]].
* Averted in Steven Brust's ''[[Taltos]]'' books. The protagonist spends weeks practicing and states that he has a 2 in 3 chance of getting a thrown dagger in point first if his target will stand perfectly still, exactly 15 feet away. He then asserts that the real point of throwing a knife is for the target to flinch, giving him a few seconds to do something useful.
* Played straight and then subverted in ''[[A Song of Ice and Fire]]''. At one point, Arya and Sandor Clegane get into a fight, where one of their opponents throws a knife, which, while misses the intended target, lands in the wall perfectly pointy end first. Arya tries the same on said opponent, failing.
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* In ''[[Stargate Atlantis]]'', Teyla throws a knife into the ground and manages to get it to stick. She was arguably doing it on purpose, but she manages to do this to a ''metal floor''.
* ''[[Mighty Morphin Power Rangers]]'': The original Megazord's sword is summoned from the skies, and is either caught in the Megazord's hand or lands point-first in the ground. They actually take advantage of this once, to cut the Megazord free of Octoplant's [[Combat Tentacles|vines]]. Additionally, Goldar's sword lands point-first after Tommy kicks it out of his hand in "Green No More".
* In the first episode of ''[[Young Blades (TV)|Young Blades]]'', Jacqueline throws a sword which lands not only point-first in the ground, but safely between the legs of a male character.
* In the TV show ''Top Shot'', which revolves around various tests of marksmanship with various weapons, a knife-throwing challenge came up. The entire challenge showed just how unrealistic the trope is, with most thrown knives simply bouncing off the wooden targets.
* Anything thrown by Buffy of ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]'' invariably ends up pointy-end first in the heart of her target, but Oz tried it with a stake once and it just bounced off harmlessly.
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* The ''[[Final Fantasy]]'' series is fond of this:
** In the opening cutscene of ''[[Final Fantasy VIII]]'', Squall's gunblade comes spinning out of the air and lands point down in the ground.
** Lightning's gunblade in ''[[Final Fantasy XIII-2 (Video Game)|Final Fantasy XIII-2]]'' is capable of this feat, as shown when she battles Caius.
* In ''[[Dragon Quest IV (Video Game)|Dragon Quest IV]]'', Torneko Taloon occasionally trips when going up to attack the enemy with his sword. However, it somehow always lands in his target, pointy end first (always scoring a [[Critical Hit]] in the process, no less). Due to the vague description of the act, it's hard to tell how much of this is an accidental case of [[Throwing Your Sword Always Works]], but the fact still stands. You know, even if Taloon happens to be wielding ''an [[Improbable Weapon User|abacus]].''
* The intro to ''[[Soul Calibur]]''.
* Done in the DS title ''[[Children of Mana]]'''s opening sequence.
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== Web Comics ==
* ''[[The Order of the Stick (Webcomic)|Order of the Stick]]'': Roy's sword in [http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0443.html this spoiler-laden strip]. Luckily, it didn't land on anyone.
 
== Western Animation ==
* Happens in ''[[Bionicle|BIONICLE]]: Mask of Light'' when Tahu and Kopaka get knocked out.
* Happens with the [[Hammerspace|sleevespace]] blades that Six uses in ''[[Generator Rex]]''.
* Happens frequently to Ulrich's Katana in ''[[Code Lyoko]]'', whether he throws it or drops it.
* In ''[[Thundercats 2011 (Western Animation)|ThunderCats (2011)]]''
** In "Omens Part 2" The Sword of Omens falls this way after its wielder King Claudus is stabbed, embedding itself in a branch of a giant tree.
** In "The Duelist And The Drifter" The Sword of Hattanzo very neatly falls vertically into the turf after the Duelist sends it sailing skyward out of his opponent's grip.