Who would be the best swordsman or swordswoman ever

brujah · September 14, 2011

Prince Nuada from Hellboy II count? He's most known for spear, but he does kill like 12 royal guards with their own sword then the king.

Anyway. To determine who the best swordsman ever is would take coming up with some sort of scale to compare across the varied stories and realms. I would suggest comparing how said swordsman relates to the rest of his own realm. For example, is he the greatest of that realm. If so by how much. The swordsman far above all others of a said realm could be viewed as a better swordsman than another who was only sligthly better than his own realm competition. Most of the best candidates have been mentioned. Honestly there would be no way to determine who'd win a swordfight between Drizzt and Lan, although if anyone asked me I'd say Drizzt. Not even sure why. Most swordsman mentioned are also men. A different race might have the upper hand. Id give the edge to Dark Elf over man.

In no particular order I'll discuss a famous top few:

Drizzt Do'Urden

When I think of "swordsman" Drizzt Do'Urden from the R A Salvatore books comes to mind, FIRST. His twin scimitars makes him virtually unbeatable by another with just steel. He was simply an extention of those two weapons.

Lan

He's written as the number one bladesmaster in the realm.

Colbey Calistinsson

I had forgotten all about this entire series until the above post. The fact that I DID forget would put him below the others, BUT his story would suggest else. In this particular realm boys are taught to use a sword soon as they can walk and they practice with it everyday for life. Im not even sure if it was Colbey or the other Calistinsson that walks into a city at perhaps only age 10-12 and is already the best swordsman than any grown man there. Says something. But if both swordsmen followed the same route you would have to choose something else to determine who was better. In Drizzt's case hes a Dark Elf. I believe it would give him edge over man. This would have to be PRE Colbey turning into demi-god. Cant remember it exactly but he becomes immortal or something.

Jaime Lannister

I saw his name alot but I wouldnt put him in with these other guys. Although the author has many referrences to him being one of the best if not the best swordsman in the realm, he doesnt seem like he puts in near enough practice as the other swordsman mentioned. We also dont get to read about enough of his triumphs. He would be easily dismissed, IMO.

Richard Rhal

His prowess with a sword wasnt earned through practice, but my magic. I would have to dismiss him as a pure swordsman.

Artemis Entreri

I'd have to toss him in because he is often written as being Drizzt's equal, although human. Id still give the edge to Drizzt, but by the comparison scale Im using(compare the swordsman to all others of his own realm) this guy actually decreases Drizzt's rating, by having such a formidable oppenent in his own realm.

JEDI

I wouldnt put any Jedi at the top because theyve never had to rely on JUST swordsmanship. The ability to use the force would be like a crutch if taken from them, IMO. But if we had to choose one to represent the JEDI, it would most likely be Mace Windu. He's written in as a great swordsman. Yoda didnt make the height limit and is therefore too short to ride this ride. And I dont know why but to the person who said Obi-Wan was the greatest swordsman: false. He wasnt even top 5. He was behind Yoda, Anakein, Luke, Mace, and even Darth Sidius. Obi-wan even acknowledges that Anakein is a better swordsman, even though he does chop his legs off.

I'm going with Drizzt. At least until they do a Deadliest Warrior ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deadliest_Warrior ) show on these guys. That would be kind of cool, actually.

EDIT: All for now, will add more later.

Lilbaz · September 21, 2011

Cant believe no one has mentioned: Tenaka khan or Regnak (earl of bronze)

Gemmill named decado as the greatest swordsman of drenai history. Can't remember the name of the book but is set in the future when druss, skilgannon and decado are brought back to life. Druss would have easily have taken him though (axe).

brujah · September 21, 2011

I'll have to read these books. Also, is "drenai" the alliance race from World of Warcraft?

TreeJoe · September 22, 2011

What the hell....

It's obviously Jaerom. Have you all lost your minds?

Vambram · September 23, 2011

What the hell....

It's obviously Jaerom. Have you all lost your minds?

Who is Jaerom? I tried to look him up on Google, and the search results on the first page of the results got me a bunch of username profiles for different websites.

TreeJoe · September 23, 2011

Vambram - I'm dissapointed in you and this forum's members in general. I am not diehard Dragonmount member, but even I know Jearom is the greatest blademaster of all time. He fought over 10,000 duels. The warders are all taught about him.

He was only beaten once, by a farmer with a quarterstaff.

Such a lesson was taught to 2 budding blademaster warder students, princes of Andor I believe, in The Dragon Reborn (book 3) - by a weak, barely out of bed Mat Cauthon using a random quarterstaff he picked up to help him walk.

Nonetheless, Jearom is hte greatest blademaster of all time.

Jearom wiki

Joe

P.s. I misspelled his name the first time hence why you didn't see it when googling :)

Scrambles · September 23, 2011

Did none of you watch ghe duel between Obi-Wan and Darth Maul in episode one? Obi -Wan is by FAR the best of the Jedi with a blade, only beaten by Vader because he allowed himself to be beaten in episode four. Wait, that's completely wrong. You guys are going to tell me that any Jedi or Sith, any at all, is better than Yoda? Really? Did you see him and Dooko square off? The twirling, bouncing off the walls, all of that? No one in the Star Wars universe anyway comes close at all.

What Jedi is best with a lightsaber is very debatable. In the movie era it comes down to Yoda, Mace Windu or Kit Fisto. Post movies I'd put Luke Skywalker on there as well (He's basically god mode at his full potential). Pre movie era I'd nominate Exar Kun.

Darth Revan fought Exar Kun's shade/ghost and kicked his ass. Also Kit fisto was cut down by Palpatine who never even truly mastered lightsaber combat since he saw it as a jedi's weapon.

When it comes to other fantasy I would have to say I agree that Drizz't is top tier but I would have to vote for Rhaegar Targaryen being considered as, if not the best swordsman in all fantasy.

Vambram · September 24, 2011

Vambram - I'm dissapointed in you and this forum's members in general. I am not diehard Dragonmount member, but even I know Jearom is the greatest blademaster of all time. He fought over 10,000 duels. The warders are all taught about him.

He was only beaten once, by a farmer with a quarterstaff.

Such a lesson was taught to 2 budding blademaster warder students, princes of Andor I believe, in The Dragon Reborn (book 3) - by a weak, barely out of bed Mat Cauthon using a random quarterstaff he picked up to help him walk.

Nonetheless, Jearom is hte greatest blademaster of all time.

Jearom wiki

Joe

P.s. I misspelled his name the first time hence why you didn't see it when googling :)

TreeJoe, now that you have reminded me where in the WOT series Jearom is mentioned, of course I do remember that story as told by Hadar. But, yeah... Jearom is one of the greatest blademasters of all time in WOT, but the authors of the books say that Lan Mandragoran is the best swordsman in that world.

Suttree · September 25, 2011

Vambram - I'm dissapointed in you and this forum's members in general. I am not diehard Dragonmount member, but even I know Jearom is the greatest blademaster of all time. He fought over 10,000 duels. The warders are all taught about him.

He was only beaten once, by a farmer with a quarterstaff.

Such a lesson was taught to 2 budding blademaster warder students, princes of Andor I believe, in The Dragon Reborn (book 3) - by a weak, barely out of bed Mat Cauthon using a random quarterstaff he picked up to help him walk.

Nonetheless, Jearom is hte greatest blademaster of all time.

Jearom wiki

Joe

P.s. I misspelled his name the first time hence why you didn't see it when googling :)

TreeJoe, now that you have reminded me where in the WOT series Jearom is mentioned, of course I do remember that story as told by Hadar. But, yeah... Jearom is one of the greatest blademasters of all time in WOT, but the authors of the books say that Lan Mandragoran is the best swordsman in that world.

Jearom is acknowledged to be the greatest blade master who has ever lived in Randland...

Vambram · September 25, 2011

Jearom is acknowledged to be the greatest blade master who has ever lived in Randland...

He is acknowledged to be so in the books by the trainer of the warders.

But, what have both Robert Jordan and also Brandon Sanderson said about this topic in their interviews and blogs?

brujah · September 25, 2011

Did none of you watch ghe duel between Obi-Wan and Darth Maul in episode one? Obi -Wan is by FAR the best of the Jedi with a blade, only beaten by Vader because he allowed himself to be beaten in episode four. Wait, that's completely wrong. You guys are going to tell me that any Jedi or Sith, any at all, is better than Yoda? Really? Did you see him and Dooko square off? The twirling, bouncing off the walls, all of that? No one in the Star Wars universe anyway comes close at all.

What Jedi is best with a lightsaber is very debatable. In the movie era it comes down to Yoda, Mace Windu or Kit Fisto. Post movies I'd put Luke Skywalker on there as well (He's basically god mode at his full potential). Pre movie era I'd nominate Exar Kun.

Darth Revan fought Exar Kun's shade/ghost and kicked his ass. Also Kit fisto was cut down by Palpatine who never even truly mastered lightsaber combat since he saw it as a jedi's weapon.

When it comes to other fantasy I would have to say I agree that Drizz't is top tier but I would have to vote for Rhaegar Targaryen being considered as, if not the best swordsman in all fantasy.

I forgot about that Jearom story from WoT. I'll have to add him into my discussion sometime after some research. Nice catch.

And I also didnt think about Rhaegar, but another good answer. But didnt he get beat by Robert Baratheon at the battle of the Trident? Didnt Robert say something about caving his breastplate in with a swing from his hammer? I think thats how it happened. But maybe Rhaegar was already weak or wasnt at full potential. Cant remember. But now that I think about it, it does say Rhaegar easily beat Robert, Ser Loras, Arthur Dayne(or was it Barristan Selmy) and others. And they were all described as the best of their time.

Still debatable. I cant see not going with Drizzt though. All the above characters story lines involve many things. Id say half of all the story-lines of every single Drizzt novels involve him using his scimitars on someone. He pretty much slices his way through the books.

Suttree · September 25, 2011

Jearom is acknowledged to be the greatest blade master who has ever lived in Randland...

He is acknowledged to be so in the books by the trainer of the warders.

But, what have both Robert Jordan and also Brandon Sanderson said about this topic in their interviews and blogs?

They answered who is the best out of currently alive characters in the main story. That would be Lan...best of all time = Jearom. Sure you could ask in the current "5 greatest" thread if you think that might be wrong.

More to the point on this topic Mr Ares is right. All the suggestions from WoT and aSoIaF wouldn't be able to stand up to the demi-god type characters in modern fantasy such as Anomander Rake and Anasurimbor Kellhus.

Vambram · September 25, 2011

I like Drizzt a whole helluva lot, and there is no doubt he is very skilled as a swordsman, but I do not believe that he is even the best swordsman in all of the Forgotten realms when it comes to pure skills and ability. Let's remember that Drizzt has two powerful magical scimitars, and also two magical anklets which double to triple the speed of his footwork. Those four magical items have allowed Drizzt to beat foes whom normally would be more powerful than he is.

brujah · September 25, 2011

I like Drizzt a whole helluva lot, and there is no doubt he is very skilled as a swordsman, but I do not believe that he is even the best swordsman in all of the Forgotten realms when it comes to pure skills and ability. Let's remember that Drizzt has two powerful magical scimitars, and also two magical anklets which double to triple the speed of his footwork. Those four magical items have allowed Drizzt to beat foes whom normally would be more powerful than he is.

I'd be willing to take into account his magic scimitars, but I thought he lost the ankle bracelet.

Also, Ive only read the first 9 books about him, but I never saw him loose, nor heard tale of his equal. Who would you say was better than he in The Forgotten Realms? Artemis Entreri is ALMOST his equal, but I mentioned that already, and Drizzt got the best of him when they fought, although not by much. Also, the House DoUrden was considered to have the greatest Weapons Master(each house had a Weapons Master responsible for their training) of all the houses. Zaknafein DoUrden, House DoUrden's Weapon Master, trained Drizzt, and in the end, Drizzt surpassed him. And the Drow are considered the best warriors in The Forgotten Realms. This says something about his ability.

And I'd have to disagree about pure skill and ability though. I'd say you could put any regular blade in his hands, and strip him naked, and he'd still come out on top, if only by the slightest margin. I'd say his race would be the deciding factor that gives him the slightest edge over the many other great swordsmen named. Drow live long lives, and where Drizzts is from, they start training extremely early, and live in a society where your whole household lives with the threat of extinction by larger households.

We're products of our environment. Ive read no other environment where from day ONE, a child is not only taught, and REQUIRED to master all weapons, but absolutely DEPENDS on it just to live another day. Menzoberranzan(The Underworld Drow City) has to be the harshest environment compared to the environment and lives of any of the other swordsmen. In Menzoberranzan the great "Houses"(aka House DoUrden) are ranked according to their standing under their Goddess Lloth(The Spider Queen). And at any time, for example, the House ranked 3rd could take the second spot from the house ranked 2nd.

Well to do this, and the ONLY way to do this, is to kill every single member of that house, without leaving anyone alive to point the blame. Their Goddess Lloth even rewards this killers psychology. Such a brutal existance would breed only the purest of warriors, assassins, killers, etc. Some focus on poisons with daggers, others the spear, but Drizzt favored the art of Dual Wielding Scimitars. Two blades, not a shield and sword, so both arms are equally deadly, although he was trained to be efficient with ALL weapons.

And his training didnt evolve around him owning magical swords or the bracelet. He was already, in my opinion, the greatest swordsman alive, long before he aquired either of those. In fact he had to kill an Ice Dragon to get his hands on Icingfang(I think thats its name). They would not have been a crutch. Only make him even better.

And as far as training goes. The Renshai also start from day one, and practice long hours everyday of a childs life. And this is based on warring men. But Fearing a war is one thing. Fearing every neighbor on your block is quite different.

I still have to say Drizzt. BUT the truth is, we cant really ever know. Its only opinion. We can only support our opinions. It would be equal to one of the other threads about who is the Hottest WoT character. We can't really prove one or the other, only why we like that character.

In the end, I dont think any one person is right, or that any one character can be chosen best. BUT I think we can come to a type of ranking system that would put our TOP CHOICES on that tier. Drizzt, The Renshai guy, Lan, etc...All tier one. I'd put someone like Jaime Lannister in tier 2 if not tier 3.

Anyone have any thoughts on swordsman that are great, but couldnt be in the same league with the top? I'll put them in Tier two. Then maybe we can come up with a tier three. And if anyone is asking WHY? Why not? I quite like comparing baddasses. Especially knowing which baddass someone else likes, and why. We cant just go into work and ask the lady beside you who SHE thinks is a better swordsman. So thats why we have, dare I say WE MUST, do it here.

Fantasy Nerds rise up and do your duty.

Basel Gill · September 25, 2011

But now that I think about it, it does say Rhaegar easily beat Robert, Ser Loras, Arthur Dayne(or was it Barristan Selmy) and others. And they were all described as the best of their time.

Loras was just a baby when Rhaegar died.

Hallow · September 25, 2011

I like Drizzt a whole helluva lot, and there is no doubt he is very skilled as a swordsman, but I do not believe that he is even the best swordsman in all of the Forgotten realms when it comes to pure skills and ability. Let's remember that Drizzt has two powerful magical scimitars, and also two magical anklets which double to triple the speed of his footwork. Those four magical items have allowed Drizzt to beat foes whom normally would be more powerful than he is.

I'd be willing to take into account his magic scimitars, but I thought he lost the ankle bracelet.

Also, Ive only read the first 9 books about him, but I never saw him loose, nor heard tale of his equal. Who would you say was better than he in The Forgotten Realms? Artemis Entreri is ALMOST his equal, but I mentioned that already, and Drizzt got the best of him when they fought, although not by much. Also, the House DoUrden was considered to have the greatest Weapons Master(each house had a Weapons Master responsible for their training) of all the houses. Zaknafein DoUrden, House DoUrden's Weapon Master, trained Drizzt, and in the end, Drizzt surpassed him. And the Drow are considered the best warriors in The Forgotten Realms. This says something about his ability.

And I'd have to disagree about pure skill and ability though. I'd say you could put any regular blade in his hands, and strip him naked, and he'd still come out on top, if only by the slightest margin. I'd say his race would be the deciding factor that gives him the slightest edge over the many other great swordsmen named. Drow live long lives, and where Drizzts is from, they start training extremely early, and live in a society where your whole household lives with the threat of extinction by larger households.

We're products of our environment. Ive read no other environment where from day ONE, a child is not only taught, and REQUIRED to master all weapons, but absolutely DEPENDS on it just to live another day. Menzoberranzan(The Underworld Drow City) has to be the harshest environment compared to the environment and lives of any of the other swordsmen. In Menzoberranzan the great "Houses"(aka House DoUrden) are ranked according to their standing under their Goddess Lloth(The Spider Queen). And at any time, for example, the House ranked 3rd could take the second spot from the house ranked 2nd.

Well to do this, and the ONLY way to do this, is to kill every single member of that house, without leaving anyone alive to point the blame. Their Goddess Lloth even rewards this killers psychology. Such a brutal existance would breed only the purest of warriors, assassins, killers, etc. Some focus on poisons with daggers, others the spear, but Drizzt favored the art of Dual Wielding Scimitars. Two blades, not a shield and sword, so both arms are equally deadly, although he was trained to be efficient with ALL weapons.

And his training didnt evolve around him owning magical swords or the bracelet. He was already, in my opinion, the greatest swordsman alive, long before he aquired either of those. In fact he had to kill an Ice Dragon to get his hands on Icingfang(I think thats its name). They would not have been a crutch. Only make him even better.

And as far as training goes. The Renshai also start from day one, and practice long hours everyday of a childs life. And this is based on warring men. But Fearing a war is one thing. Fearing every neighbor on your block is quite different.

I still have to say Drizzt. BUT the truth is, we cant really ever know. Its only opinion. We can only support our opinions. It would be equal to one of the other threads about who is the Hottest WoT character. We can't really prove one or the other, only why we like that character.

In the end, I dont think any one person is right, or that any one character can be chosen best. BUT I think we can come to a type of ranking system that would put our TOP CHOICES on that tier. Drizzt, The Renshai guy, Lan, etc...All tier one. I'd put someone like Jaime Lannister in tier 2 if not tier 3.

Anyone have any thoughts on swordsman that are great, but couldnt be in the same league with the top? I'll put them in Tier two. Then maybe we can come up with a tier three. And if anyone is asking WHY? Why not? I quite like comparing baddasses. Especially knowing which baddass someone else likes, and why. We cant just go into work and ask the lady beside you who SHE thinks is a better swordsman. So thats why we have, dare I say WE MUST, do it here.

Fantasy Nerds rise up and do your duty.

As has been pointed out earlier in this thread, in a tier system, Lan wouldn't even be close to Tier 1. Tier 1 would be for characters like Dassem Ultor whose ability with a sword would far outdo that of any character in WoT.

brujah · September 28, 2011

But now that I think about it, it does say Rhaegar easily beat Robert, Ser Loras, Arthur Dayne(or was it Barristan Selmy) and others. And they were all described as the best of their time.

Loras was just a baby when Rhaegar died.

Yeah, I should have caught that. He was too young. I was doing that from memory. I just remember him beating all those great characters in the Joust.

Entreri · September 8, 2012

Drizzt is as skilled as any mortal in the Forgotten Realms.

Lan, post Moraine is easily in the class of Jearom, if not a hair better.

I suppose anyone else described as the best in the world in any particular series.

Overall, it is probably Richard Rahl, I recall him taking on and beating an insane number of warriors at once.

If you included lightsabers into the discussion, Luke Skywalker in his prime (books) would waste everyone above in unison without using Force powers.

ironcross · September 9, 2012

drizet is way overrated.

im surprised no one has mentioned beowolf.

what about aragorn and borimir. remember borimir dies surounded by hundreds of fallen orcs.

and then if we want to go way back what about achilles.

and dont forget blade

Hallow · September 9, 2012

what about aragorn and borimir. remember borimir dies surounded by hundreds of fallen orcs

'Fraid I'll have to go Lotr geek on you iron.

Many orcs lay slain, piled about him and at his feet... Twenty at least.

Not quite hundreds :wink:

elric · September 9, 2012

Benedict Prince of Amber by far

a spoiler alert (minor one)

an immortal from the only real world who exist for thousands of years that every legendary fighter /general /military personal in all realities are shimply a pale shadow of him.

ironcross · September 11, 2012

what about aragorn and borimir. remember borimir dies surounded by hundreds of fallen orcs

'Fraid I'll have to go Lotr geek on you iron.

Many orcs lay slain, piled about him and at his feet... Twenty at least.

Not quite hundreds

ok got me on that one, hey its been almost a year since ive read it. WOT getting to dang long

Darksmoon · September 19, 2012

I'd go with Jamie Lannester at the beginning of a Song of Ice and Fire.

Sagacious Lu · October 28, 2012

Benedict of Amber hands down. I don't think he'd so much as break a sweat against any of the other names mentioned. Neither would his brothers Corwin and Eric. Of course, you can't seperate Elric from Stormbringer, and none of the other characters have anything that can match the power of the hell-sword, Benedict included.

A better question might be who would win... Superman or Cassius Clay? My money's on Ali in that one.

elric · October 28, 2012

u forget Corowin have gracewonder a PATERN imbued sword.

and every other prince probably have one as well (we know Eric and Blaze had).

and i would add Gerard to your list. :)

Who would be the best swordsman or swordswoman ever

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