Agent One: Good God, WHY are we only using weapons from Japan's Edo period!?
Agent Two: Hey! The Edo period was badass and you know it!
Agent One: Damn it, you're right.
Agent Two: Hey! The Edo period was badass and you know it!
Agent One: Damn it, you're right.
In some media, katanas are considered to be superior compared to all other melee weapons. Because of how ubiquitous it is to Japanese popular culture, most works that are set in Japan include at least one character using a katana. Some works, on the other hand, decide to take the katana beyond its land or time of origin and into foreign settings.
Enter the Gratuitous Katana. The usage of katanas outside of Japan may have some reasoning behind it, such as its user importing it from Japan as a souvenir or as a reminder of their origins, but more often than not, the katanas have left Japan solely for Rule of Cool. The katana's stylishness and coolness is one of the many reasons why even putting your hands on one makes you a total badass, logical reasons be damned. Bonus points if it happens to be wooden as well for extra stylishness. Extra bonus points if the sword's wielder is East Asian but not Japanese.
Subtrope of Exotic Weapon Supremacy.
Examples:
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Anime & Manga
- Discussed early in Bakuman。, as Moritaka and Akito discuss what to have in their manga. Akito helpfully points out that many of the most successful manga that are currently running (some of which already cited here) use katana in them, be they the main focal point of the overall story (as is the case with Bleach) or not (as in One Piece).
- An episode of Kaiketsu Zorro, set in Spanish-ruled California in the late 18th century/early 19th, is centered around a katana being imported by commander Raymund as a present for the viceroy, with both Zorro and a group of bandits trying to get their hands on it as they believe it could cut a sword and the man wielding it. In the end, the katana ends up in the hands of the bandit chief who tries to cut Zorro, but it turns out Raymund had been scammed and it was a bamboo sword painted like a katana.
- Kurozuka: In the manga adaptation, Kurou uses the same one from 12th century Japan into the present. And it's still sharp.
- In Atara Cagiva's adaptation of The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, under the impression that Link is a servant of Agahnim, Zelda picks up a katana (despite the Medieval European Fantasy setting) and actually manages to catch the hero off guard. Link is unable to defeat her directly, and takes advantage of Agahnim's sudden appearance to bring her to safety.
- SPY×FAMILY: The katana-wielding assassin is by far the most dangerous of the assassins from the cruise arc, knocking out the Director and getting pretty close to killing Yor. There's little reason for a katana-wielding assassin to be in Eastern Europe besides Rule of Cool.
Comic Books
- Blade is so named because of his signature katana he uses in his war against the undead. The katana has no real reason to be one save for Rule of Cool, given Blade takes place in the United States.
- Deadpool kills loads of people using katana-style ninja swords, frequently Dual Wielding them; he alternates between the swords and a pair of Desert Eagle pistols wielded Guns Akimbo. It's totally in character for him to choose the most stereotypical Rule of Cool weapon combo for the fun of it, and turn it into a viable fighting style because he's just that good. In Marvel vs. Capcom 3, Deadpool can fight his equivalent, Dante. In other words, Dante, a character made in Japan, will use his broadsword against Deadpool, a character made in America, who uses two katanas. Again, there's no justification for Deadpool to wield katanas except Rule of Cool.
- Green Arrow: In spite of modeling himself after Robin Hood, the character takes up the katana under Judd Winick's authorship rather than a more theme-appropriate longsword. By all accounts, he's fairly good with it, although this is more out of a tremendous amount of life-or-death training than the weapon itself. Many Green Arrow fans find the use of a katana somewhat pandering.
- Hybrid Force: Thorn's main weapon is a pair of katanas that he uses in combat.
- Elizabeth Braddock a.k.a. Psylocke can manifest a telekinetic blade composed of raw psi-energy at will, which at its lowest intensity, functions to disrupt neural pathways, and at its highest level, her blades can slice an armored opponent and cut through the armor, but leave the attacker physically unharmed. After she took the Psylocke name, the blade definitively looked like a katana.
- Knives Chau's father uses a katana in Scott Pilgrim, at one point even slicing clean through a street car! Scott's Power of Love and Power of Understanding also take the form of a katana, Justified in-universe as him having taken katana proficiency over skateboard in high school.
- Justified in the Taskmaster mini-series, where Taskmaster states that he began using a katana so he could duplicate the moves (his power) of Silver Samurai.
- Toilet-Bound Hanako-kun: Teru wields a katana in modern-day Japan to signify his experience as an exorcist. He's very powerful with it too.
- Michonne's main combat attribute in The Walking Dead is slicing zombies' heads off with her katana. She's one of the most efficient zombie killers in the series. There's no real justification for her having a katana except Rule of Cool.
- Zealot of the Wildstorm Universe uses a Kherubim warsword that can absorb large amounts of energy and is sharp enough to cut atoms (makes you wonder what it is made of, a super-sized neutron or something?) It is, incidentally, often drawn as a katana.
- Venom (2021): After awakening his "Prince in Black" powers, transforming into Codex, and manifesting All-Black the Necrosword, Dylan transforms it from a black and red longsword into a jet-black katana. Why? No reason is given. But he puts it to good use when fighting Bedlam.
- Wolverine: In an early issue of his first ongoing run, Wolverine states that "in the hands of a master, there is no deadlier single-combat weapon in the world, in all history... than the Dai-Katana, the Japanese samurai sword."
Fan Works
- Justified in Rise of the Minisukas: When she sees Unit-01 getting equipped with a katana, Asuka wonders whether they couldn't afford a normal sword. Ritsuko retorts the Weapons Department determined a katana was the superior choice after careful testing.
Films — Live-Action
- In 300, the Persian army's elite Immortals dual-wield katana-like swords for some reason, though they prove useless against the Spartans.
- The Bodyguard uses this trope, as the title character owns a katana. Frank Farmer demonstrates the implausible sharpness of the katana by tossing a silk cloth into the air... which lands on the katana blade and is cut in half just from its own weight. This scene is probably taken from an apocryphal story celebrating the sharpness of Damascus steel. The presence of the katana is handwaved by Frank watching Yojimbo, implying that he has an interest in the concept of the ronin in relation to his own profession.
- In the 1974 Hammer Horror Captain Kronos: Vampire Hunter, the title character carries a katana as well as a cavalry sabre, and at one point kills three bravos who try to pick a fight with him in two quick slashes.
- The Crow (1994): The villain Top Dollar has a large collection of swords. The one that our hero, Eric Draven, snags to use is, of course, a katana.
- Elysium: Kruger, a South African assassin of the future, carries around a katana in addition to his compliment of automatic firearms.
- In Hardcore Henry, when Akan's forces storm a brothel and start killing everybody, a dominatrix inexplicably has a katana to fight them with and kills and maims several of the gun-wielding thugs. Later, after she dies, Henry picks the katana up and is able to use it to defeat a tank.
- Highlander (1986): The film finds an unlikely way to arm its eponymous highlander, MacLeod, with a katana, receiving it from his world-traveling master. The sword is actually a proto-katana, having been created about five hundred years before katanas as we knew them were even invented. The swordsmith is spoken of as if he's the greatest swordsmith in history. Various spin-offs generally carry on the custom of giving their hero a katana to set them apart as special. Funnily enough, the sequel's villain is named General Katana but does not wield a katana.
- In the 2007 Hitman film adaptation, there's a scene where Agent 47 meets three other ICA agents who want each other dead, presumably so they can get the payment for the job. Though they get into a Mexican Standoff, 47 convinces them to instead fight each other by Dual Wielding Japanese swords so they can "die with dignity." It's not clear why they all happened to be carrying two wakizashis, other than so the movie could have the Rule of Cool of a gratuitous swordfight scene.
- In the epic swordfight in the James Bond film Die Another Day, at one point Gustav Graves gets hold of a katana and promptly chops James Bond's sabre in half with a single blow. Curiously, they both pass up katanas in favor of broadswords for the final duel.
- In Kill Bill, The Deadly Viper Assassination Squad's primary weapons are katanas crafted by Hattori Hanzo, the greatest swordsmith to ever live. The Bride's sword in particular is said to be his finest work and The Bride went out of her way to get it despite having plenty of guns at her disposal. Rather than mowing her enemies down, she chooses to engage them with her trusty katana.
- The Master Gunfighter (a Foreign Remake of Goyokin). The hero is from Mexican aristocracy, explaining why he is proficient in both Sword and Gun, but for some reason he uses a katana instead of the European-type swords that everyone else uses.
- In The Matrix Reloaded, many people have their weapon of choice be a katana when really any sword would be capable of similar feats due to them being aware of the nature of the Matrix. Morpheus in particular often arms himself with a katana.
- Monster Party: After he takes Elliot's katana from the trophy room, Casper (who has demonstrated no previous training in swordsmanship) is able to effortlessly cleave people's heads from their shoulders, or slice the top of their skulls.
- In Pulp Fiction, Butch Coolidge, Bruce Willis' character, chooses a katana over a variety of other weapons (including a small chainsaw) when preparing to ambush the evil rednecks that are putting Marsellus Wallace through hell. Somewhat justified as the katana is only thing present actually made to kill people with, though, and it's pretty hard to sneak up on someone with a chainsaw.
- They Call Him OG: Ojas Gambheera's weapon of choice is a katana, and he knows damn well how to use it.
- X-Men Origins: Wolverine: Wade Wilson jokes with his mutant comrades that his katana are far more "memorable" than guns. He is shown to be capable of parrying fully automatic fire from multiple opponents with them, occasionally deflecting bullets at enemies. The blades, of course, are completely undamaged. Although not outright stated, it's apparently an aspect of whatever mutant power he had that led to him being recruited into Team X.
Literature
- Adam R. Brown's Astral Dawn. Drawing from his years watching anime and reading manga and other comic books, Caspian chose his personal weapon to be a katana. Though it appears solid, his katana isn't a physical sword. It actually made out of pure energy, more specifically his own energy, forged within his center. Caspian's sword goes from having a silver blade to bearing a golden blade after he experiences several upticks in power.
- The Bladesmiths Enchanted Weapons: The setting is Medieval European Fantasy and the main character becomes famous for producing katanas. Related trope Katana Superiority is played sideways: his katanas are known for their beauty and uniqueness rather than their combat performance.
- Dante Valentine: Necromances and a number of other types of psion carry swords of blessed steel to slay demons and malevolent spirits. Danny uses a katana, while Jace prefers a longer dotanuki. Justified because they were both trained by an Old Master of kenjutsu.
- A meta-example in Dora Wilk Series: the cover of the last book features Dora wielding a katana with Let's Get Dangerous! look on her face, even though in-story, her angelic sword has a European-styled blade. Presumably, the publisher decided to go with a katana to create a "cool" look.
- The hero of Marion Zimmer Bradley's Hunters of the Red Moon is abducted by aliens and ends up being chosen for a Most Dangerous Game-type reality show. He is given the choice of a wide range of hand-held weapons from across the galaxy and is happy to spot a Japanese katana which he uses to be one of the rare survivors of the game.
- I'm the Evil Lord of an Intergalactic Empire!: In volume 1, Count Liam Sera Banfield, a noble of a Western-style Feudal Future, insists on being taught the katana for his socially-expected hand-to-hand combat, despite the overwhelming majority of this setting preferring Western-style swords. Liam is a reincarnated Japanese man, but he was a salaryman from Japan's present day and had never touched a sword in his life before; the narration basically admits he picked it for the cool factor.
- At the end of The Oathbound, Tarma finds a katana despite nothing else in the world's setting being based on Japanese culture. She gushes about how great a sword it is... and it's never mentioned again in any of her later appearances.
- The Lost Redeemer: Despite the setting being more European-inspired than Japanese, katanas are the primary weapon of choice for Aeons. Many katana-wielding Aeons are able to hold their own against their gun-wielding opponents.
- Reign of the Seven Spellblades: Justified with Nanao Hibiya, who uses a katana despite the main setting of Yelgland being essentially Gaslamp Fantasy England where most swords are of the short one-handed variety (usually messers, smallswords, or sabers). She's not from there originally: she grew up in a samurai household in faraway Yamatsu, and it was much faster to adapt Western sword arts to her existing repertoire than to teach her an entirely new style of swordsmanship.
- Justified in David Weber's first Safehold book, Off Armageddon's Reef, Nimue Alban manufactures a katana and wakazashi for her "Merlin" persona specifically because there is no specific counterpart in Safehold society and her intent is to give Merlin as exotic an image as possible.
- As a fanboy of ancient cultures, Valerian Mengsk in StarCraft: The Dark Templar Saga novels has quite a collection of ancient weapons, including a katana. In itself, perhaps not so strange. But he also chooses to practice daily with only the trusty katana.
- White Jazz: Justified: David has one after his service in the Pacific. He uses it to kill Johnny Duhamel.
Live-Action TV
- Angel: "You're Welcome": Cordy grabs a katana off Angel's Wall of Weapons. She later throws it to Angel when Lindsey magics a medieval longsword out of thin air.
- In Auction Kings, Katanas are popular items at auction. Especially if they come with a rifle and are from World War II.
- In the Criminal Minds episode "True Night", a delusional man on a vendetta imagines himself in a Badass Longcoat and Dual Wielding katana, while in the real world he's wearing a hoodie and wielding hardware store machetes.
- The CSI: NY episode "Corporate Warriors" features a businessman beheaded by a katana-wielding rival from his firm. The cut is so clean, the head stays in place and, during autopsy, appears almost cauterized. Also inserted are obligatory scenes of Mac Taylor looking sexy while testing a katana.
- Highlander: The Series: The series carries on the film's tradition of arming its Scottish Highlander main character with a katana as his default weapon; justified as well by the sword's sentimental importance. Duncan was versed in a variety of weapons, however, and would occasionally wield other weapons — one episode had him refreshing his memory with a rapier and dagger when preparing to fight a duelist on equal terms — and sometimes switched back to his old Scottish claymore when things get very personal. In one notable episode, Duncan is able to quickly dispatch a foe after they swap weapons — while Duncan was proficient in his opponent's weapon, his enemy was totally unfamiliar with the katana.
- The Outer Limits (1995): In the episode "Mindreacher", a woman is attacked by a monster in a dream. After realizing that she's in a dream, she wills a katana into her hand and kills the monster. There's no justification for the choice of a katana besides Rule of Cool.
- Smallville: General Slade Wilson is skilled with a katana and takes to wearing one instead of the traditional saber for no real reason besides Rule of Cool. He manages to face off against and defeat the super strong, mace-wielding Hawkman with it.
- Star Trek: Picard: Elnor's tan qalanq, a Romulan sword, looks distinctly East Asian in design, especially when compared to the European-style swords being carried by the other Romulans on Vashti. In combat, he deftly beats anyone equipped with the latter type of blade (e.g. Tenqem and his fellow ruffians) or an energy weapon (e.g. Narissa and her minions). Not only is Elnor victorious, he also emerges unscathed, so his rivals have failed to even lay a scratch on him.
- The Walking Dead Television Universe: Michonne Hawthorne is the most effective survivor at killing zombies at close range. She uses a katana to effortlessly decapitate zombies or deliver killing blows to their head, often two at a time. Again, there's no real reason for the choice of a katana besides the weapon being available to her when the Zombie Apocalypse started and Rule of Cool.
Toys
- Invoked in BIONICLE. Lewa's swords are called "Air Katana", despite not resembling katana in the slightest.
Video Games
- 99 Spirits zig-zags this a bit. The main character, Hanabusa, starts out wielding a Katana - but it's entirely worthless since her enemies are all immaterial spirits and thus Immune To Swords. When you get the mystical Gokon Sword, which CAN defeat the evil spirits, it turns out to be a double-edged bronze-age sword. However, when you later on gain the ability to capture Tsukumogami for your own use, you'll find that the Katana-spirit is one of the most useful, if not THE most powerful offensive spirit around, due to the way its 'Yin' skill enables you to use its potent 'Yang' skill more frequently.
- In 10,000,000, once fully upgraded your sword becomes a katana.
- It's a hard-to-find secret weapon, available at the very end of Action Doom 2: Urban Brawl. It's powerful enough to slice every Mook in half with one swing. There's also a bonus level where you have nothing but an infinitely durable katana and have to defend yourself against waves of enemies (and it's still Nintendo Hard).
- In Alien vs. Predator (Capcom), Linn Kurosawa carries a katana into battle. While Kurosawa is Japanese, the impracticality of using a katana against the Aliens makes it fall into this trope.
- Atelier Ryza 2: Lost Legends & the Secret Fairy is sneaky about it. In a vaguely-German setting, Patty uses a slim, curved sword, with a signature rhomboid braiding of the handle, and some of her techniques are inspired by Iaijutsu. Despite that, it's clearly not a katana, and in fact it's never called as such, despite the clear inspiration.
- In Baldur's Gate II, a medieval European-inspired game, katanas exist and deal d10 damage, as much as a two-handed sword. The first game also has Celestial Fury, a +3 sword acquirable with minimal effort which stuns opponents, sometimes deals bonus damage, and can shoot lightning. This is balanced by the fact that high-end magical katanas do not exist in the game.
- In the first Bayonetta game is the 修羅刃 Shuraba, a demonic katana said to beat with the heart of an Ashura. It's one of the earlier weapons gained in the game, and also one of the best-balanced melee weapons, making it very popular for combos. The first Bayonetta takes place in an alternate universe version of Europe, but that doesn't stop there being a katana there. Semi-Justified as the weapon comes from killing angels rather than collecting it in the overworld.
- Bloodborne, which takes place in a vaguely European setting, has a katana weapon, the Chikage (which scales with Bloodtinge, damage increasing the higher you go). It's a cursed weapon that feeds on blood to enhance its power, and is wielded by the vampiric-themed, gothic Cainhurst knights, though it's noted to have been created in a foreign land. The Old Hunters DLC also has the Rakuyo, a twinblade that can turn into a sword and dagger and is stated to be from the same land of origin as the Chikage, though the the sword half is more similiar to a mix between a katana and a saber.
- Any Castlevania game that takes place in medieval Europe that has a katana as a collectible weapon uses this trope, as their presence is rarely justified or commented upon.
- Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead takes place in New England but katanas are everywhere. Unfortunately, most of the ones you find are cheap replicas that break easily, but if you are lucky enough to find a real one, much carnage will ensue for the zombies.
- Chrono Trigger: Crono, the main character, wields a katana as his weapon, and his ultimate weapon, the Rainbow Sword, is the most powerful PC weapon in the game. Note that Chrono lives in a European-esque ye olde medieval kingdom. That said, in-verse, it's the European-styled Masamune that serves the series Legendary Sword of Plot Advancement because it can literally cut through magic.
- In Combat Arms, the ninjato, while technically not a katana, (but close enough) is one of the most effective melee games in the game, being able to kill at a farther range. Considered to be a Game-Breaker for this reason and for the fact that it can can only be bought with NX points, which can only be obtained with real money.
- Conker's Bad Fur Day: Conker selects the katana from a wall of weapons to kill the alien at the end of the game. The scene is a Shout-Out to The Matrix, which similarly had the protagonist take a katana (albeit alongside other weapons).
- All three of the Dark Souls games include a variety of different katanas despite the fantasy European Medieval setting, though this is partly justified due to them being exotic imports either by enthusiasts or their (former) owners.
- Dead Island has these as a rare weapon, with one being obtained for killing The Butcher of Banoi. High damage, fast strikes, long range, and effective at slicing apart anyone in the game, only offset by low durability and high repair and upgrade costs. In the hands of Xian, it's a Game-Breaker, with even more damage, high stamina, a One-Hit Kill skill, and buffs including more experience for slicing off limbs.
- Deepwoken:
- Most of the katanas in-game originate from the feudal Japan-based Etrea... with the exception of the Railblade, which happens to originate from the Ignition Union. There is no explanation as to how exactly the Ignition Union managed to create a weapon based on the Etrean katanas at all.
- Etrea only uses katanas because they're based on East Asian countries and are stuck in Medieval Stasis. The same does not apply to the Hive. The Hive make heavy use of katanas, despite both being very technologically advanced and having way better weapons, and actively being enemies with Etrea, so are unable to buy these already rather inferior weapons from them.
- In Deltarune, the Holiday estate has an absolutely massive katana hanging in their kitchen, which Noelle simply laughs off as "mom's katana" as if it was just a normal part of any kitchen ensemble. A citizen also complains that Carol "killed" their briefcase with a katana; exactly why the mayor of an American-coded small town is seemingly obsessed with katanas isn't explained.
- In the Devil May Cry series, Dante's brother and Worthy Opponent, Vergil, uses a katana and has eschewed firearms as being beneath him.
- In the original Diablo, despite taking place in a vaguely Medieval setting, all greatswords are modeled after the katana rather than any kind of European broad or longsword.
- In a very weird case of Anachronism Stew, Zhou Tai of Dynasty Warriors is often shown carrying what is a katana in all but name, in 2nd-century China. His weapon has, among other things, great speed, good reach, a wide area of effect, and respectable power, making him something of a Lightning Bruiser among the other characters in the game. This carries over to Warriors Orochi, where he manages to outdo the Japanese warriors who would be expected to use katana.
- Parodied in EarthBound Beginnings, where The Katana is the game's most powerful weapon (the game takes place in Eagleland). The Japanese version of the game even goes to the lengths to call it "KATANA" in English, all-caps, in a sort of roundabout Gratuitous English.
- Elden Ring naturally includes katanas like its predecessor Dark Souls, once again partially justified with their presence in a European Medieval setting by being imports from eastern lands, though unlike Souls some of the katanas are of unknown origin, and one isn't even a katana and is simply a longsword wielded in such a manner.
- The Elder Scrolls: Several of the games' best weapons are based on katanas, including The Katana and Dai-Katana in Daggerfall, the Daedric dai-Katanas and Eltonbrand in Morrowind, and the Ebony Blade in Skyrim. The game's setting is vaguely European medieval for the most part, though it is somewhat justified in that the the most common katana-style swords are or were owned by the Blades (the Cyrodiilic Emperor's sworn protectors) who were descended from the Dragonguard from Akavir, the setting's broadly Far East-esque continent.
- Fallout:
- In the Fallout 3 add-on "Mothership Zeta", you can find a katana in the waste disposal. Although its gratuitousness is downplayed, because it belonged to a feudal-era samurai that was abducted and then turned into a Human Popsicle by aliens. If you give it back to him, he'll slaughter the advanced aliens. If you keep it, it is easily in the top tier of melee weapons in terms of damage, only falling behind for lack of perks boosting its power.
- Fallout: New Vegas lets you purchase the Katana with the "Gun Runners' Arsenal" DLC and it is still regarded as the king of one-handed melee weapons as it have a double critical rate, limb damage bonus, and has a special VATS attack that does 250% damage.
- Fallout 4 combines this with Flaming Sword with the entry's take on the Shishkebab, a more compact version which uses a wakizashi as the base weapon. It is obtained from a quest involving Abrahm Finch and he mentions that it belonged to his grandfather as a family heirloom. Besides that, not much more information about the weapon is given.
- Fullmetal Alchemist: Stray Rondo: Lieutenant Colonel Aston Martins uses a katana in a Europe-like setting for no reason other than being a badass.
- Ghostrunner: The Architect refers to the katanas the Ghostrunner wields as Tsuru-GR weapons, the pinnacle of engineering, and instruments fine-tuned to the Ghostrunners' systems. However, it's also implied that the Architect choose this form of weapon for his creations because he actually doesn't really know a lot about fighting and was operating on Rule of Cool.
- In the Valhalla DLC of God of War Ragnarök, it's shown that a Katana is one of many weapons that Týr picked up during his travels across the world, which he uses alongside a Greek spear and shield, an Aztec Macahuitl and a pair of Egyptian Khopeshes.
- Grand Theft Auto:
- Grand Theft Auto: Vice City: Tommy can find plenty of katanas around Miami and kick plenty of ass with them.
- Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas: A Vietnamese gang leader fights CJ with a katana. CJ can either entertain him by grabbing another katana or just blast him away with a gun.
- In Hotline Miami, a katana is one of the better melee weapons you can find, having both good reach and speed (damage being unimportant since everything dies in one hit).
- Left 4 Dead 2 features melee weapons including the katana, which slices zombies up quite well (only the machete and police baton can be swung faster, and alongside the golf clubs from The Passing that share its stats it has the widest reach). It might seem odd at first to find katanas all over the Deep South, but they're probably one of the most common swords around thanks to their popularity as bric-a-brac. On the other hand, the characters don't know what to make of all the cricket bats they find.
- Metal Gear Solid:
- Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty: Solidus Snake, leader of the terrorist group Sons of Liberty, has a pair of Japanese swords named Democrat and Republican. For most of the game he mainly relies on the Super-Strength and Combat Tentacles of his Powered Armor, and even uses a gun sometimes, but he unsheathes his swords to engage in a climactic Sword Fight with the protagonist Raiden, who by this point has taken up a katana.
- In Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance, Raiden's high-frequency blade is styled after a katana, and Samuel, his rival, has a genuine katana modified into a HF blade, and due to it being a centuries-old sword crafted by a master swordsmith, the enhancement makes it one of the most powerful HF blades created.
- The katana is the single most powerful melee weapon in Mother Russia Bleeds, capable of killing multiple enemies in a single swing. The only downsides are that it's found in only one location in the game kept at the government HQ in a glass case and the game ups the ante immediately after you get it by throwing dozens upon dozens of mooks at you at once.
- Katana, wakizashi, and nōdachi are secret weapons in Mount & Blade.
- In Neon White, White's default Soul Card weapon is a katana; other characters gush at him about how cool his "freaking anime sword" is (and bemoan how lame their own cards are in comparison). There's no reason for his blade to be a katana except for the cool factor.
The attached note reads: "According to our records, White's ideal weapon is a 'totally sick samurai sword'."
- No More Heroes: Travis' best Energy Weapon is a beam katana he won on the internet; stronger than all others, never running out of energy with the right upgrade, and somehow curved despite being a beam of light emitted from a single point. It also has the ability to split into three blades to hit a wider arc during one of his Finishing Moves. All of Travis' weapons are called beam katanas, though admittedly the Tsubaki/Camellia Mk. III is the only one that resembles the name. Justified as Travis is a weeaboo who chooses to wield a katana above any other choice because of the cool factor.
- Record of Lodoss War, an anime influenced almost entirely by Dungeons & Dragons and other Western role-playing tropes, featured no Eastern swords at all, but the Dreamcast game based on it chooses to include a folded-steel "Oriental Sword", which has an absolutely absurd critical-hit rate and deals eight times normal damage on a critical strike (the average weapon's critical deals double damage or less).
- In Shadow the Hedgehog, you can find "samurai swords" in special weapon boxes around American cities. Although they are close-range melee weapons as compared with the guns, they are still extremely powerful and can destroy almost any robot or thing with one swing, as well as shoot out shockwaves.
- Shadowverse: Interestingly enough, Erika's sword resembles a katana, even though the kingdom she serves is European-centric.
- A Justified Trope whenever it crops up in the Silent Hill series — katanas, where present, are generally among the best melee weapons in the game. They're also one of the few melee weapons appearing in the series that were actually intended to be weapons, rather than just being a random object you could conceivably hit or stab someone with.
- Parodied in South Park: The Stick of Truth with the Sweet Katana, the most powerful melee weapon in the game, because its an actual weapon compared to the literal toys you and everyone else were making do with.
- Super Robot Wars Alpha/Original Generation has Sanger Zonvolt, a German samurai who uses a katana that transforms into a BFS while piloting his Dyngenguard.
- Team Fortress 2: features the Half-Zatoichi, a katana usable by the Soldier and Demoman, whose "Honorbound" mechanic injures its user if sheathed before killing an enemy. Befitting the samurai theme, hitting a Half-Zatoichi wielder with a Half-Zatoichi will kill them instantly.
- Trails Series: The practitioners of the "Eight Leaves, One Blade" all use a tachi. Taught by their master, a man named Yun Ka-Fai, some of his students include Cassius Bright from The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky, Arios MacLaine from The Legend of Heroes: Trails from Zero, and Rean Schwarzer from The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel. Notably, his students are based on the western side of the Zemurian continent, and the style is a variation of the "Black God, One Blade", which he also taught to the eastern portion of the continent.
- Wanted: Dead: Lt. Hannah Stone uses a katana to fight zombies in Cyberpunk Hong Kong. Because it's cooler that way.
- Warcraft III: The Orcish Horde faction has the Blademaster Hero Unit, a warrior themed off of a Samurai who wields a katana (or rather an exaggerated caricature of one just like everything else in the game). Japan, Samurai, and katanas are otherwise represented nowhere else in the Orcs' visual aesthetic or that of any other faction. Apparently, the concept came from a katana-wielding orc character that art director Samwise Didier came up with and drew for a Dungeons & Dragons game.
- Warframe:
- The Nikana melee weapon family are all basically katanas. They come in regular (Nikana), upgraded (Dragon Nikana), blinged out (Nikana Prime), edgy (Skiajati), silver-bony (Syam) and Lotus decal (Dex Nikana) varieties. The Sun & Moon are a daishō (paired katana and wakizashi).
- The Two-Handed Nikana weapon family consists of nodachi-like weapons.
- World of Warcraft: Katanas are an uncommon model of one- or two-handed swords scattered among many different sources all over the game world, mostly in the original release content. That world is populated by a plethora of Fantasy Counterpart Cultures, but none of them are remotely based on Japan, so there's no artistic reason for them to appear in the setting except that they're cool. Said coolness makes their appearance skins very sought-after by players despite their rarity and dated artwork. Incidentally, the Orc Blademaster class introduced in Warcraft III has continued to sporadically appear, but has had the Samurai theme drastically toned down, and most examples now wield something more like a giant cleaver rather than a katana. It would take until midway through expansion seven for a minor faction to be introduced that had anything aesthetically to do with Japan, bringing with it the game's first non-Gratuitous Katanas.
- Zombieville USA has the katana as the final upgrade in the melee line despite the game taking place in America.
Webcomics
- In Homestuck, any character who uses a sword wields a katana at least once, though their coolness and effectiveness over other options is often subverted:
- Dave's katana breaks during a fight with Bro. His stronger swords are based on European ones.
- Jack's own sword, despite being a katana when Jade prototyped the crow, is more of a generic sword shape than anything else, and he beats Bro by killing him with his own sword.
- Played straight with Bro's sword, which is unbreakable and capable of slicing meteors in half. This also applies to his post-scratch self, who wields the same katana.
- Spoofed when Dirk Strider claims his katana was forged over the heat of "a roaring manga fire".
Web Original
- Hero House has the katana as Deathstroke's weapon of choice. He uses it to devastating effect, killing even Batman.
- Kickassia: Phelous and President Baugh both have fake katanas for simple Rule of Cool, with varying degrees of realism between the two.
Western Animation
- Ulrich Stern from Code Lyoko has a Samurai avatar with a katana. In "A Bad Turn", he uses an authentic katana in the real world with just as much skill.
- On Frisky Dingo, Killface imagines that his epic showdown with his nemesis Vegas will be "probably with katanas!" In his imagination, he slices Vegas in two with his katana.
- Mao Mao: Heroes of Pure Heart: Mao Mao's signature weapon is a golden katana he named "Geraldine," which he treated as his best friend since childhood.
