sentient Sentience is the capacity to experience feelings and sensations. The word was first coined by philosophers in the 1630s for the concept of an ability to feel, derived from Latin '' sentientem'' (a feeling), to distinguish it from the ability to ...

weapon is a common plot device in many works of

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving Magic (supernatural), magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy ...

mythology Myth is a folklore genre consisting of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society, such as foundational tales or origin myths. Since "myth" is widely used to imply that a story is not objectively true, the identification of a narrat ...

, and

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...

, and is related to the classic motif of the magic sword. Sentient weapons may be human,

robot A robot is a machine—especially one programmable by a computer—capable of carrying out a complex series of actions automatically. A robot can be guided by an external control device, or the control may be embedded within. Robots may be c ...

ic, or

magic Magic or Magick most commonly refers to: * Magic (supernatural), beliefs and actions employed to influence supernatural beings and forces * Ceremonial magic, encompasses a wide variety of rituals of magic * Magical thinking, the belief that unrela ...

al (as is the case with any non-technological weapons, such as a sword), but not all magic weapons are sentient. A sentient weapon may experience a

moral A moral (from Latin ''morālis'') is a message that is conveyed or a lesson to be learned from a story or event. The moral may be left to the hearer, reader, or viewer to determine for themselves, or may be explicitly encapsulated in a maxim. A ...

conflict from its specific nature as a weapon, or may function as the

villain A villain (also known as a "black hat" or "bad guy"; the feminine form is villainess) is a stock character, whether based on a historical narrative or one of literary fiction. ''Random House Unabridged Dictionary'' defines such a character a ...

, which, through its intelligence, is able to gain power. Another possibility is that it assists the wielder, or is merely neutral.

In fantasy and mythology

* Kullervo's Sword from the ''

Kalevala The ''Kalevala'' ( fi, Kalevala, ) is a 19th-century work of epic poetry compiled by Elias Lönnrot from Karelian and Finnish oral folklore and mythology, telling an epic story about the Creation of the Earth, describing the controversies and r ...

'' * Anglachel – ''

The Silmarillion ''The Silmarillion'' () is a collection of myths and stories in varying styles by the English writer J. R. R. Tolkien. It was edited and published posthumously by his son Christopher Tolkien in 1977, assisted by the fantasy author Guy Gavriel ...

'' * Stormbringer – The Elric Saga * Nightblood – '' Warbreaker'' (a.k.a. Sword Nimi – '' The Stormlight Archive'') * Kazid'hea – ''

The Legend of Drizzt ''The Legend of Drizzt'' is a series of fantasy novels by R. A. Salvatore that began in 1988, and consists of 38 books as of August 9, 2022. They are based in the ''Forgotten Realms'' setting in the dimension of Abeir-Toril on the continent Fae ...

'' * Need – '' The Oathbound'' and subsequent novels

In film

* Skynet and Terminators – '' Terminator''

In video games

* Grimoire Weiss – ''

Nier ''Nier'' is an action role-playing video game developed by Cavia and published by Square Enix for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in April 2010. In Japan, the game was released as for the PlayStation 3 with a younger main character, while an a ...

'' * Aigis – '' Persona 3'' *

Master Sword The is a Fiction, fictional divine magic sword in Nintendo's ''The Legend of Zelda'' series. It is also known as "The Blade of Evil's Bane", the "Sword of Resurrection", the "Sword that Seals the Darkness", and the "Sacred Sword". It was introdu ...

– '' The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword''/''

Breath of the Wild is a 2017 action-adventure game developed and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Switch and Wii U consoles. The game is an installment of ''The Legend of Zelda'' series and is set at the end of its timeline. The player controls an am ...

''. * Eyelander – ''

Team Fortress 2 ''Team Fortress 2'' is a 2007 multiplayer first-person shooter, first-person shooter game developed and published by Valve Corporation. It is the sequel to the 1996 ''Team Fortress'' Mod (video gaming), mod for ''Quake (video game), Quake'' and ...

'' * Transistor – ''

Transistor upright=1.4, gate (G), body (B), source (S) and drain (D) terminals. The gate is separated from the body by an insulating layer (pink). A transistor is a semiconductor device used to Electronic amplifier, amplify or electronic switch, switch e ...

'' * Soul Edge and Soul Calibur – '' Soulcalibur'' series * Umbra – '' Elder Scrolls'' series * Lilarcor – ''

Baldur's Gate II ''Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn'' is a role-playing video game developed by BioWare and published by Interplay Entertainment. It is the sequel to ''Baldur's Gate'' (1998) and was released for Microsoft Windows in September 2000. Like ''Bal ...

'' * The weapons in '' Boyfriend Dungeon'' * Modwyr – '' Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire'' *Caliburn – ''Sonic and the Black Knight''

In anime

* Senketsu - '' Kill la Kill'' * Several characters in the '' Soul Eater'' series * Derflinger – '' The Familiar of Zero'' *Several characters in the ''

Wakfu ''Wakfu'' is a tactical turn-based MMORPG developed by Ankama Games and released for Microsoft Windows, macOS, and Linux on 29 February 2012. The game takes place 1,000 years after Ankama's previous game, ''Dofus''. A spin-off game, '' Islands ...

'' series

In fantasy and mythology

In film

In video games

In anime

See also