Who is the best swordsman in fiction?

[Arnoxthe1]

Ryu Hayabusa from Ninja Gaiden Black/2. And before you start talking about how he's only strong because of his dragon lineage or whatever,

My strength comes through training. Not from some curse in my blood.

So yeah, Ryu FTW.

If you really want to be picky about it though, then my second pick goes unequivocally to...

Yep, Altair.

 

[cubikill]

Al Lan Mandragoran. Is just a man, no superpowers, no cheating move, just skill with a blade. He was an infant while the kingdom of Malkier fell. In his cradle you was given a sword. As other children played withe toys, he learned the blade.
At the age of 16 he took the Malkieri oath of kings a:"To stand against the Shadow so long as iron is hard and stone abides. To defend the Malkieri while one drop of blood remains. To avenge what cannot be defended."
His kingdom and people lost he fights the armies of the shadow.

 

[MonkDeVille]

I'm sorry but i saw this thread and had to sign up to rectify and correct some of the understandable,
yet mistaken nominations presented so far by this esteemed group of posters.

There can be only one swordsman at the top and he is...!!

Spoiler

Sample evidence.

Spoiler

Alas, If you don't know Groo by now, you will never ever ever never know him at all.

 

[mrhappy1489]

I'll nominate two swordsmen.
1: Ser Arthur Dayne, The Sword of the Morning: This man is a legend, pure and simple. One of the last true Knights of the Kingsguard and considered that most dangerous of the 7 (which at the time included both Barristan Selmy and Jamie Lannister), Ser Arthur exuded class and dignity, not only living his life as a deadly warrior without peer, but raising the status of all associated with Knighthood. Remembered as good and valiant man, even by his enemies, I would definitely want him as my champion in a trial by combat.
2: Ser Barristan "The Bold" Selmy: Ser Barristan Selmy is a living legend. Riding in his first tourney at the age of twelve, earning his epitaph the bold, Ser Barristan is a seriously dangerous man. Making his name in the War of the Ninepenny Kings, Ser Barristan cut a bloody swath through the ranks of essosi and claiming the life of Maelys the Monstrous, The final Blackfyre contender, Ser Barristan certainly earned his spot on the Kingsguard. His legend didn't stop there, when his King (Aerys II) was captured during the Defiance of Duskendale, Ser Barristan infiltrated the Dun Fort, rescuing his king and avenging his sworn brother in the process. Serving well into his 60's, Ser Barristan was rudely dismissed from service in the Kingsguard, but found new life when joining the last (Apparently) Targaryen, Daenery's Stormborn. Still as dangerous as ever, Ser Barristan has certainly earned his place as one of the greatest swordsman in history.

 

[Murais]

Anyone ever read this?

Spoiler: Mod edit: Please use spoilers for large images!

I'm going to nominate Rache

Spoiler

prior to him getting crippled

. In the universe of his book, he was feasibly able to defeat any other swordsman who walked the Earth. It was kind of his deal, being one of the best warriors in a tribe that pumped out the best warriors.

 

[Mr C]

No, the Dread Pirate Roberts is the greatest because of reasons and Columbo.

http://mike.shannonandmike.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/Dread_Pirate_Roberts-827x1024.jpg

 

[Zacharious-khan]

The Assassin from the Fate ark of Fate/stay night he was so good he elevated himself to the rank of hero by nothing but being bad ass

 

[Serinanth]

Mitsurugi can be pretty bad ass if the controller is in the right hands I had to give him a shout out here.

Spoiler: Mod edit: Please use spoilers for large images!

But as other have mentioned, you just cant kill this guy.

Spoiler: Mod edit: Please use spoilers for large images!

 

[Asita]

The best swordsman is my favorite samurai:

Samurai Jack

He trained with many cultures when he was boy, gaining my types of fighting styles, and nearly defeated the ultimate evil until Aku pulled a hax

Since being thrown into the future he has:
fought in space/underwater/inside a dragon
helped countless people, human or not
Is selfless when needed to be
Rarely gives up
Has the best of best friends, the scotsman!
AND! he gets a kickass beard when he's older

Don't forget that he knows how to 'jump good' and regularly fights off veritable hordes of foes and even elite assassins and hunters.

Though yeah, let's see who I can add...

Twilight Suzuka from Outlaw Star. The lady uses a wooden sword to smash concrete and cleave trucks. Yeah, she can do that through her swordsmanship.

 

[Mr_Spanky]

"My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die".

He might not technically be the best swordsman - but he'll always be my favorite.

 

[RandV80]

Personally I don't like Rurouni Kenshin as he suffers from 'gets his ass kicked by the boss until he pulls off his one finishing move' syndrome. Kind of like professional wrestling, where no matter how much of a beating goes back and forth a you don't get the 3 count until you've pulled off your special move (or some dastardly cheap shot).

Anyways, considering the laws of physics can vary greatly from fiction to fiction, if things were 'equalized' somehow I'd have to think that whoever is at the top in the Highlander world would take it. I mean the whole point is these guys are immortal -sans decapitation, they train with the sword and wander around for centuries/millennium having duels and chopping off each others heads. "There can be only one", and whoever that is should be the ultimate swordsman.

Though a Gatts vs Drizzt dual would certainly be interesting! And he's more mundane but someone mentioned Al Lan Mandragoran, definitely deserves props from the Wheel of Time conclusion. It occurred over the course of the book but put it together and that was an awesome sequence of good, better, best.

That's all for me, though I have this nagging feeling I'm forgetting someone that hasn't been mentioned yet...

 

[Soviet Heavy]

How can you top the Man in Black, Wesley?

 

[A Weakgeek]

Spoiler: Geralt of rivia

He might not be the most powerful in this thread, despite his inhuman reflexes and all. However despite being raised by a bunch of mercenaries he develops a strong sense of morality, and uses his sword as a last measure.

Part of being a good swordsman is knowing when to use it, aye?
(+ hes a darn cool dude)

 

[TakerFoxx]

"My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die".

He might not technically be the best swordsman - but he'll always be my favorite.

If I recall from the book, he actually was superior to Wesley in a number of ways. It was just that Wesley had the edge when dueling in a wide open space, where the endgame took place.

 

[Fox12]

Well, the obvious answer would be Sephiroth, since he's insanely skilled and overpowered.

Assuming you only want "normal" warriors, however, I'll throw my lot in with Guts, the Black Swordsman. He's insanely strong, but he wins the majority of his early fights by either playing dirty or outsmarting his opponent. I would say he could easily take down any human opponent on this list, since they can't use magic. The only competition I can think of would be Link. Without the Berserker armor it's a close call, but I think Guts takes it since Link can't use any gadgets. With the Berserker armor it's basically a curb stomp battle in Guts's favor.

 

[Roofstone]

It has been said once before, but it has to be said again.

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you:

Spoiler

The Motherfuckin Afro Samurai

Though I must admitt he is followed very closely by this fancy looking thing:

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It is the god damned Kuma. The samurai that waits for years on the mountain, just for his most worthy opponent. Never before have such a magnificent bastard been seen with sword in hand!

 

[dangoball]

I have to throw my lot in whit Guts (Berserk) supporters. As other have said, that guys is swinging a giant sword (called Dragonslayer for a reason) around killing demons and shit while being, in his words: "a goddamn human down to the marrow of my fucking bones". He also laid to rest the age-old question of raw power vs agility when he defeated that pretty-boy Serpico even when the odd were against him (narrow mountain path/room full of pillars and no space to swing his sword).

Though samurai Jack and Afro samurai are definitely worthy contestants.

 

[not_you]

Master Yi?

Yeah, I know.. troll votes don't really work...

Uhhhhhh, swordsman.... swordsman.....
I don't watch 20 different anime, but thankfully it's an opinion question... Sooooo
Imma say the man-at-arms from AoE 2...

yeah... take that society!

 

[Fireaxe]

Mugen or Jin from Samurai Champloo... One fights to his own instinct and improve while the other fights with technique and skill... Despite being polar opposites, they are too equal to beat each other in combat...

(Everyone else said the ones I had in mind before and afterhand...)

It's been a while (by which I mean like a good 5 or 6 years) since I watched the anime, but didn't it take both of them to beat the samurai who smelled like sunflowers? And also, didn't Jin get his ass kicked pretty hard by a blind woman? Yeah, not exactly what I would consider the strongest.

Spoiler warning.

Spoiler

The blind woman in question could actually beat both Mugan and Jin (she let Mugen kill her), but the blind warrior trope in Japanese material is often borderline superhuman having traded in their eyesight for platypus style electrolocation (Zatoichi being the obvious character in this line). She also isn't exactly using a sword either with that gigantic hooked spear type thing.

Jin killed Kagetoki one on one at the end of the series (Jin and Mugen fought him earlier taking turns, but Mugen had to leave to save Fuu, Jin lost the fight but escaped without getting killed), and he was built up as the strongest individual enemy -- this being said Jin basically won that fight with a kamikaze strategy.