Ideal Sword For A Giant? [closed]

Question

OK so we have a giant. He is 9 feet tall and has a little over 30 times the strength of a man and is heavily armored so he isn't afraid to go (but generally doesn't go) waist deep in the enemy, he will be engaging with normal sized humans and other creatures close to his size or larger but not nearly as strong (maybe 2/3 his strength max). Because of magic you shouldn't worry much about material strength for the sword, feel free to design a weapon or find an example.

P.S. I know blunt weapons are preferable but for many reasons I wish for a sword. And it should be a two hander or at least a hand and a halfer. And specifically i am looking for a weapon for hewing through enemies through shear power. He weighs roughly 700-800 pounds fully armored although he is still agile as the average elite trained fighter since he doesn't lose speed

Answer 1

What you need here is a little classical literature. In this case the Paradoxes of Defence, written in 1599 by George Silver.

Of the length of weapons, and how every man may fit himself to the perfect length of his weapon, according to his own stature, with brief reasons wherefore they ought to be so.

19

To know the perfect length of your sword, you shall stand with your sword and dagger drawn, as you see this picture, keeping out straight your dagger arm, drawing back your sword as far as conveniently you can, not opening the elbow joint of your sword arm, and look what you can draw within your dagger, that is the just length of your sword, to be made according to your own stature.

He goes further on weapon sizes

The perfect length of your two handed sword is, the blade to be the length of the blade of your single sword.

All in this gives the correct length of sword for your giant. You should note that the length of the sword is not a matter of his strength, but his reach. He needs to be able to extend his off-hand beyond the tip of the blade.

Answer 2

Your giant being 9ft tall but 30 times as strong as a human gives him a pretty big strength boost compared to the difference in mass. This means we can make a sword that is less efficient in terms of weight to length ratio, which is important, because normal sword construction gets a bit iffy at extreme lengths - the blade becomes floppy. However, with this strength boost we can relax on weight requirements and focus on making a weapon originally intended for fencing useful for large scale slaughter.

To stabilise the sword we'll give it a relatively thick spine with a bit less distal taper than a sword should usually have. This reduces the wavering in the blade which improves both cutting and trusting capabilities. The thickness also makes it a bit worse at cutting, but we`ll be swinging around with extreme force. The blade obviously still has profile taper towards the edge. The reduction in distal taper makes it more top-heavy which means it's going to be less agile. This isn't so bad though, because this giant will rarely engage someone in an actual fencing match and is also strong enough to move the weapon properly anyway.

In order to make the weapon more useful against hard targets without specialising it so much it can't properly cut though a bunch of peasants I propose giving it a blade that flares into spikes near the point. Take a look at the fire emblem armour slayer, make the blade a little longer and instead of the rounded tip have it come back into a point. This gives it more axe-like qualities while retaining sword form - a useful trait for a weapon used with extreme force against groups of weaker targets. It also means you can hit something with the spikes to get an effect comparable to the spike on a bec de corbin. Lastly, this gives the weapon a unique appearance.

Answer 3

It depends on his weight.

If he is fast and nimble, something like a Greatsword (or Zweihänder),

Massive reach, it was the weapon used by Swiss mercenaries to attack pikes (which would be very good weapons against your giant) because they were good cutters. The flamberge blade looks decorative to me, but according to experts it caused very nasty wounds. For short distances, a half-sword grip (with a hand on the blade, just behind the crescent moon) makes it useful and the pommel and the guards are very good maces agains armored opponents.

If he is very heavy, a estoc.

It was used by knights on horseback as the replacement of a lance, so it stands heavy impacts. Basically, your giant runs in a straight line, as an enormous ram with a pointy end.

I wouldn't stand in front of him, not even with an all-steel shield.

Answer 4

TL;DR - a cutlass.

A short, tough, wieldy sword with excellent hand protection.

This is the choice for sailors brawling in the confused close quarters of a boarding action.

When you're waist deep in ordinary sized humans you don't particularly need reach, you need a functional cut-and-thrust sword to lay about you in all directions. A curved edge cuts well, with a straight enough blade for a working thrust. The hand protection defends against multiple opponents sniping at your vulnerable fingies and allows you to resort to punching and hammering.

Hell, why not take two!

Answer 5

I would say something top-heavy, like a Falchion:

Or a War Cleaver (essentially the same, but bigger). Really just weaponised machetes. (Not that machetes need any assistance being weapons, see: the Danny Trejo film 'Machete')

In short, a heavy blade where it tapers outwards towards the tip, so that the balance point is at the top and momentum is carried through more effectively, granting you the benefits of a mace or axe with a sharp cutting blade.

Answer 6

Nine foot tall isn't that horribly oversized. Closer to a fantasy game Ogre than a giant so I don't think a sword would be that out of place. I know people recommend maces and clubs for all sorts of practical reasons, but like Palahvan wrote earlier the Armorslayer would make a very good choice and probably make him a horribly fearsome opponent. Although, if you want to maintain the swordlike thrusting (which might be an huge advantage if you've got 1.3 times the reach of your opponent) you might want to go for a Falcata.

I'm by no means a swords expert so I can't tell if there was ever a two-handed version of the Falcata, but I can't see a good reason why not. (Someone with sword fighting experience may be able to tell us whether this is feasible or not. Remember that any material strenght issues are handwaved though as are - probably - the issue of wielder strenght.)

There are two-handers in the same general sword family though. Most notably the Falx and also the Rhomphaia but they do not seem to have been designed with the heavy axe-like tip, rather they were hook- or sickle-like but of course fearsome in their own right.

Also, if we're doing magic, are we doing enough magic to make it flaming, electrical or frosty if not for damage then at least for visual effect?

Answer 7

Something tip heavy like a mace, maul or morningstar would be best, your giant has a longer reach than his opponents which lets him accelerate his weapon over a greater distance, this combined with his superior strength will make his attacks practically impossible to block.

A sword won't cut into steal plate, especially not magically reinforced steel plate or relatively thick steal plate worn by supernaturally strong people and certainly not thick magically reinforced steal plate, but the kinetic energy of a blunt weapon will go through the armour and the creatures the giant fights will get pulped from the inside out.