What fantasy gets WRONG about medieval weapons
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- čas přidán 22. 03. 2019
- Let's correct the main misconceptions that fantasy in all it's forms such as dungeons and dragons, novels and movies, gets wrong about historical medieval weapons.
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When the main character is on the ground, always remember to lift your weapon high above your head before you swing down, giving him the chance to roll out of the way
LMFAO why is this sh*t so darn accurate?!
Where is the lie?
That practice isn't as unrealistic as you think. The scenario may be unlikely, but definitely not unrealistic. Tunnel vision would be my number one explanation if I'm trying to make sense of why a character would pull a bonehead move like that.
@@StudleyDuderight it is unrealistic as all hell, if you are on the ground people who want to kill you will kill you in one very fast and swift move like a thrust, they won't act like Hollywood clowns lifting their sword above their heads for absolutely no reason.
"Tunnel vision" dosent justify anything, literally no reason to do it, just sounds like heavily reaching apologetics
The idea is he's stunned that's why he's on the ground, before the VERY TELEGRAPHIC swing.
To quote the stuntman who played the witch King in LOTR: Some would call it a flail. Some would call it a morning star. I called it what it was, which was damned heavy
In our country we call it "palcát" but I am not sure how to translate it.
I remember that, it was delivered with a quite a bit of charm.
A flail is a flexible weapon...a spiked head makes it a morning star flail, as opposed to a morning star mace...
@@AdiiraKuro I googled that word, and it mostly showed flanged maces. Some of them were flails, some were morningstars, some were standard maces, and some were just spiked clubs.
There was actually a very interesting example of a flanged mace with an axe head on the other end of the haft.
Is that a turkish word?
@@AdiiraKuro It has a head attached to a chain and that we call "řemdih" in this beautiful land called Česká republika
We always forget about Odysseus, who's bow required so much strength to just string that no other man could manage to even do that.
There was this great film about Odysseus where at the end he shows that you did not need brawns, but also brains to span the bow.
Actually, only a man aided by a woman can string it apparently. Even Ulysses himself couldn't string it after returning home and needed a hand from Xena the Warrior Princess to string it.
To be fair that is not modern fantasy and was written by a man who probably had practical experience with Archery.
There is a similar thing with bows in Ramayana as well
The way the bow is described in the Odyssey, it was almost certainly a recurve. There is a technique to stringing those. The easiest way is when seated, using your legs as well as arms. In the poem Odysseus sits to string his bow. It needs both strength and skill to do.
Talking about Bows being used as a weapon to represent great strength I have a few examples. Heracles and Odysseus of Greek Mythology were known for using a bow. In fact Heracles used a bow more frequently than any other weapon.
I would also like to point to Lord of the Rings with the Uruk-hai who killed Boromir. He uses an absolutely MASSIVE bow that clearly required great strength to weild.
If I’m not mistaken, when you watch that scene, I’m fairly certain you can hear the bow creaking from the strain which is kinda terrifying
His name is lurtz btw, that uruk hai is named lurtz
I was looking for this comment. I'd also like to point out that Uruk-hai are bred for war and obviously stronger than men, and Lurtz was chief among them, which makes it even more impressively trope-breaking that he was depicted with a bow.
@@shepard-commander And elves are also strong as fuck so...
Gotta give props to the Souls series then, they not only require strength for most bows (bigger than shortbows at least), but even the longbows and great bows will actually SCALE with your strength. You can picture how happy I was when my strength-based knight got unexpected increased bow damage :)
"If you actually made Mjolnir, it would be unliftable"
So a success then?
I am totally liftable, just have to be worthy..
@@Mjolnir007 By Odin, the hammer of Tor is on YT!!!😳
@@Mjolnir007 Don't find excuses for your overweight.
Yeah, that's kind of the point of Mjölnir.
The Hacksmith did it. They could get it off the ground. Barely.
Thanks man! You're the best. And as always, fantastic video.
~ Tim
This needs more likes.
Hello Future Me ALL HAIL LORD MISHKA
Glory to Mishka
As a fan of the channel for quite a while, cool to see you get a shout out on another channel I enjoy
This friendship is the kind of purity that the world needs
I know in Thor's hammer's case, it isn't lifted because he's worthy in the actual mythology
He can lift it because he's just that strong. The mythology is basically, "Our god Thor is so strong he can pick up a hammer with a head bigger than your head, made of solid metal, and swing it around with one hand like it was a twig"
He also were able to lift it only with belt of strength or power-belt i.e. Megingjörð So it was like you have a god which is VERY STRONG, but also need a special belt to boost Strength in order to hold the hammer...
and it's also made harder and needing more power cause the dwarven smiths were sabottaged by Loki causing Mjölnir to end up with a very short handle... actually it would have looked like one of the Fantasy ones to give it reach as well as weight and thus force (and leverage to make swinging it easier)... but as Loki had a lot to loose if the Dwarf won their bet, he didn't want them to hand over their best work and thus it's a fumbly little heft...
@@Ugly_German_Truths The best part about that myth is that in some versions, Thor liked the hammer so much he didn't care about the shorter handle, so the dwarves still won.
@@Ugly_German_Truths *lose not loose
not to mention if you let go of that hammer on earth, it would literally dig its way to the center like the dirt was air
Purely conjecture with absolutely 0 evidence to back this up: I feel like the "Bows For The Weak" misconception rose as what the average person sees when someone draws a bow, they see them as pulling a string, rather than using that string as leverage to bend the bow itself, and the bow bending back into place driving the projectile forward
And only cowards don't engage in glorious melee combat.
Average person here and that's exactly how I thought they worked so +1 to your theory
I think that you're probably right.I think that most people think that bows operate on the principle of elastic strings. You see this in a good number of toy bow where the limbs barely flex, if any, and all of the power comes from an elastic string.
I always felt that it came from the idea of giving crank bows to women and children.
The only people that think a bow is for weak people are people that have never drawn a bow designed for killing. A 10 yard range bow with a 20lbs draw weight is not a 80 lbs recurve or compound shooing accurately beyond 50 yards.
I've learned a lot from watching movies set in the middle ages: swords are incredibly heavy, war hammers are gigantic, armor is just shiny clothes, arrows don't do any real damage, shields are made of thick sheets of solid steel, helmets are optional, bows can be held indefinitely, studded leather is a real thing, knights are always wearing armor all the time, pirouettes make sense in duels, everyone is covered in mud, fabric has no color and torches are used for in-door lighting.
Hmm, never really thought about it, but what was used for in-door lighting? I guess lanters or something?
@@thechatteringclown Candles, mostly.
@@thechatteringclown Preferably natural light from a window, but of course that wasn't always an option, especially inside a castle, so mostly candles, and larger rooms might have braziers, but the primary source of light was probably the fireplace. Almost every regularly inhabited room in a castle would have a fireplace. Castles get _cold._
No no, its: arrows either do no damage (barely an inconvenience) or they instakill with a single shot anywhere in the torso, no matter if armor is worn. Also depends on if it's a main character or some poor sod in the background.
@@DrygdorDradgvork Well, yes, that's because of plot armor and plot weapons. They do damage when they need to in order to further the narrative.
Used to be part of a longbow club. I was a young teen and so they gave me one of the smallest bows which was only a little shorter than I was and was a 20 lb draw. I remember being so pleased when I got bigger and stronger and was able to upgrade to the 30lb so I could start practicing on the 60 to 80 yard targets 😂 to this day I get pissed off when I see films and tv shows holding drawn bows for minutes or other such nonsense.
"For every second you hold that draw the bow loses 2 lbs of strength" I remember being told. Reality is not convenient
TheEarlofBronze what if there was a weapon called the longbow club? Swing a club, suddenly BOOM! An arrow flies out a explodes the army of flaming dogs!
Mystic Magic Smurf Dark Lord There is, he used to be part of one
@@EvanKarmis the club and I we're one and the same. A relationship transcending time and space.
Evan Karmis no I mean a literal longbow/club crossbreed weapon. Club meaning short bludgeoning staff. If a longbow and a club had a baby and it was used on the battlefield.
@@mysticmagicsmurfdarklord6844 isn't a longbow/club just like.. A crossbow with a metal cap on the end?
18:23 in fact, you can actually discern a medieval skeleton as an archer by the deformation of the shoulders
19:50 Bow-for-strong-man trope: Odysseus
It actually becomes a significant plot-point in the story.
He nails a suitor to the wall with that crap
👍🏼
Except Native Americans used bows off of horseback to bring down buffalo. Also overlooks the Mongol hordes and their bows.
Native americans using bows to bring down buffalo? Have you actually seen a buffalo those things are enourmous
@@joegibson4946 different bow construction and draw method.
Joe Gibson would still require a modest amount of strength, maybe not as much as a longbow, but still.
One could say, arming sword was *broadly* used.....
I'll see myself out.
budump, bump.
I would be best for all of us
Tbh, i just thought a broadsword was just a sword with a blade too broad to be ideal for thrusting.(see the cinquedea)
@@iota-09: I think the term was used during the Renaissance with the implication that the sword can cut in contrast to rapiers which are worse at cutting being mostly designed for thrusting.
"One could say, arming sword was broadly used..... "
...but was eventually sidelined.
SPEEEEAAAARS!!!!
Spears are hardly ever present in fanatasy battles while being the most prevelant weapon of the era.
Another reason why The Stormlight Archive is so excellent
Or javelins, for that matter. Game of Thrones is actually one of the few that had spears be prevalent. (ie. during the Lannister battle vs. the Dothraki, they had a spear wall)
@@HolyknightVader999 Yes, they had. which brings me to my next horror, cavalry crashing into a solid spearwall ( I know it was like only five ranks deep, but still horses won't run into sharp sticks if they have other choice.) GoT generally has a good idea about what weapons were used, but nothing on how they were used.
The prime example, the Bolton-shieldwall. I feel like crying whenever I see that abomination. It has all the good ingridients, looks professional for the untrained eye, but anyone with a passing interest in medieval warfare can tell how horribly unfunctional it is.
@@HolyknightVader999 Depends on the era and culture. Medieval era didn't bother with javelin because bows and crossbows were longer ranged
Nameless King: hmm? hhhhhhmmmmmm? *HHHHHHHMMMMMMMMMM?????*
The misrepresentation that daggers stand any honest chance against the big guy with the sword
Not misrepresenting a weapon, but making big burly guys do everything slower. If he's that strong, his muscles, which are used for *movement*, are that strong as well.
Bringing me to my final point, the biggest heaviest sword is always the strongest. If you're strong enough to use a massive hunk of steel, you'd be much more quick and devastating with a proper sword.
The people who actually used daggers "against the big guy with the sword" would beg to differ as to whether they'd stand an honest chance. czcams.com/video/PUkYrdxwlXk/video.html
Dagger was the kill weapon. Get the big guy down, ideally a bit dazed (like after hitting him in the face/helmet with a club), jump on him and stab in the weak points in the armour. And of course, a good ambush can help.
Really the heavy swords should be the training swords, then switch to a normal sword for combat
R P Davis if you were two go to a battle would you carry a dagger alone , even if you did would you be trained in it, if people are using daggers they are not trained in it, why waste the time when you can train in swords, but when you use a dagger in consultation with a longbow or arming sword that’s where the true potential lies.
Daggers are knight killers man. Great contestants for best weapon against armored targets. But you generally pull them out when you need them because they don’t create the opportunity they need
I really wanted to know about the maces, morningstars and flails.
Maces and morningstars are basically the same thing, from my experience, they're pretty realistic. For flails, if you want to be realistic, avoid them altogether.
@@fearz-4367 Flails are realistic, and were used, but the more common flails seem to be two handed flails that have long wooden heads that are sometimes reinforced.
@@fearz-4367 or use the tool version as a peasant's weapon
@E to the V flail is a mace with a spiked iron ball attached to a chain which is swung at the opponent to deal damage while morning star has a spiked ball too but its attached to the wooden part of mace
@@tejas4567 a flail is two lengths of something usually wood joined by a chain or rope
A morningstar is a spiked iron/steel ball by itself
A mace is a rod of metal or wood with a percussive head comprised of a ball a set of flanges or a morningstar attached to it
I think spears are often misrepresented. By way of being under-represented
I was statting up NPCs for a supposedly medieval Viking-inspired setting my GM was going to run and he kept asking me why I was giving the common guards generic spears (40 copper pieces, two space reach, higher damage) rather than Roman-style short swords (400 copper pieces, one space reach, lower damage). Not only is the spear more logical for government employees whose kit is paid for by the crown, but more historically appropriate weapon for the common man in both Rome and Scandinavia.
@@RoninCatholic Until later Roman reforms. This is where swords started to get the reputation of being a military weapon instead of a sidearm.
@@AstralS7orm Well really the romans short swords functioned as little spears didnt they? They were stabbing weapons but easier to maneuver in roman formations.
@Solipsil Oh yeah big fan of spears and they have been criminally underrated in popular culture. I just thought it was interesting even one of the most widely used swords that was used by an army like that was also a little spear like in as far as its primary purpose was to stab. I believe that sword became popular over spears because of gallic wars right? Spears were making formations tougher to adjust to loose formations of tribes etc.
Even then romans still had their 2 javelins each.
I cant think of another army who primarly used swords. I know im forgetting someone but i cant think.
The Odyssey taught us that bows are for powerfull people... 2700 years ago...
One of the best passages in the story.
One of my favorite planeswalkers. I'm a bit more partial to the Return to Ravnica and Ixilan iterations though.
@@dreddbolt there is something about the golgari queen that tickles my fantasy
Ulysses bow is what i was thinking too, I haven't read, well almost any fantasy modern novel but I really enjoyed the classic heroic
Same with the Ramayana
The god of war axe is also being used by a dude who can lift mountains.
So for him thats pretty small
Uuuuh yeah when it comes to Kratos I think he gets a bit of wiggle room as to what is allowed
Nice
I don't think Kratos ever lifted a mountain, to be fair.
I think the heaviest thing he ever lifted might have been the palm of kronos' hand, that, or moving around the bridge in GoW4.
Still, point made.
@@RedFloyd469 yeah i was over exaggerating, but kronos is pretty close to the level all things considered, then the stuff he pulls with the giant in gow4
From what I've seen, George R.R. Martin is way more accurate than most fantasy writers when it comes to certain medieval/high middle ages/Renaissance political concepts, but leans really hard on the standard fantasy tropes when it comes to weapons & armor.
Correct. He uses "longsword" particularly a bit too often in situations where it doesn't make much sense. At least in A Song of Ice and Fire. Not sure about his other works. I also think he uses "warhammer" in the fantasy trope sense, not the realistic one.
@@RedFloyd469 There's also that fight between Bronn and the knight in the Vale where Bronn deliberately wears lighter armor than his opponent to tire him out, which is heavily leaning on the misconceptions of the bulkiness of armor (see TV Tropes Armor Is Useless). In reality, the armor wouldn't have been that tiring and Bronn should have been dead.
@@lluewhyn which is funny because in a later scene Ser Barriston Selmy fights a pit fighter in full plate and wins because despite the pit fighter (who wore no armour at all) was quicker and possibly more skilled he is able to block every hit until the pit fighter tired.
@@intergalactic92 Yep.
@@intergalactic92that’s just a difference of tactics. He leaned into his advantage better than his opponent. So he won.
Currently playing a fighter in D&D, I get great joy out of the fact that my +3 Composite Longbow requires a minimum strength of 16 to use. I'm the only person in my party who can actually pull the string back.
People seem to forget that in spite of his muscular look, Conan was a usually a thief in his travels, who favored the bow and one-handed sword, even though the "Sword of Conan" was a Zweihander he was apparently capable of wielding with one or two hands.
One of my favourite Shadowrun combat builds is a Troll bow user. Relatively quiet, compared to firearms, and all bows have a strength rating, which is the minimum to use it effectively. Damage on the most common variety is Str. rating +2, when humans have a general range of 1-6. Trolls are 5-10. And to give context on relatively damage, most humans have 10 hit points, and shotguns are generally 6 damage. A mid-strength Troll archer with a scaled bow is like shooting a log at any unsuspecting person.
When I played AD&D thirty odd years ago, I had a character that was primarily an archer and weided a "Mighty Bow" you had to have 18/00 strength to pull that string and the damage was D8 plus strength modifiers not D6.. His name was Beleg Cuthalion (Tolkien Elvish for Mighty Strongbow).. That brings back a pile of fun memories.. 😃
Man, you’re one of the only youtube channels I follow (and I follow many) that regularly gives shout outs and recommends other channels. It’s so good. It really shows that you’re here to share passions and interests, and not just for ego or recognition
Well the reason why most youtubers dont, are either. Not to show favoritism and or get a whoopsy like pewdiepie and everyone wants his balls because he promote someone that was a little to raunchy.
Draw with jaza his brother use to do it and even did showing others artworks. Until he grow his channel that it was effecting his craft that it wasnt reasonable to showcase others. Because it was fading him in the back and he wanted more of the spotlight.
ParadiseofDarkness Well, maybe, but I don’t know how favoritism plays into this. It’s just saying “hey, this person does cool things, check it out”. Also, it should not be that difficult not endorsing white supremacists and things like that
@@verbalbbq7976 You be surprised, people are pretty dumb. How pewdiepie tried to support others channels it draw so much drama of jealousy. It was ok that he shouted out like content that was shown on his submission reddit. But when he just decided to share youtubers, like the stupid people came to show anger on how he favoriting people as in he liked them more in their eyes.
I would agree with you but witness people being stupid is shocking.
It also allows his videos to come come up when people search the other channels. Great marketing strategy. I'm suprised more youtubers dont follow this tactic.
Im Following the new Man At Arms channel because Shad gave a shoutout. Thanks
The dooku screenshot when talking about losing your hands made me choke lol
Same
You really should do a video about that fancy scene in "Lord of the rings", when Gandalf leads a horse charge attack down from a hill (which is impossible for horses in the first place) right into an orcish spear wall and somehow beat them without problems instead of being wiped on the spot.
Blacktiger's Hearthstone Adventure channel it’s called fantasy for a reason not reality sometimes some realism good but sometimes imagination is good like Toilken made Mordor by his experiences in northern French trenches during WW1.
They won because of the sunlight blinding the Uruks.
dino dipsy Destroyed by facts of fiction epic gamer moment. If I wanted to my my characters to be romans soldiers with M4 5.56s and can Scooby doo run on air/clouds so be it. Your imagination is unlimited.
He blinded them and they lifted some of the Spears
I would like to refer you to the second siege of Vienna, 1683, where 18000 Winged Hussars were charging down the Kahlenberg into the ottoman forces numbering somewhere between 90 to 300k, which was the largest cavalry charge in history and by far putting the charge you mention to shame in numbers alone... one of the rare moments in history that outscales epic fantasy battles :3
18:55 Lurtz the Uruk was pretty frickin cool, my main reference when talking about strong people using bows
Yeah, I always agitate in my DnD games to get a bow based off str, and not dex.
One of my favorite non book additions
How about the Giants in Game of Thrones? A strong creature and a bow, might have been a balista at that point.
@@shorewall Well. In D&D, they do have a Composite Longbow which is based on strength. Or maybe that was Pathfinder. Either way, they have a Str Bow.
Ah, it was already mentioned. I didn't see your comment before posting mine.
I like the giant in Game of Thrones who uses a bow to obliterate a member of the Night Watch - Skyrim's townguards are no comparison to this poor guy.
When you take an arrow to the knee... fired by a giant
@@b1laxson "And that is how I lost my leg."
@@TheHornedKing more like your entire lower body.
One of my favorite D&D characters ever is one my brother made: 3.5e Half-Orc Scout (Complete Adventurer supplement class) named Grimbul. He used a composite war bow that used strength instead of dexterity, and he was a beast with arrows like nukes. Great representation of the muscle-man archer archetype, and still my favorite archer character I've known anyone to make.
In the Odyssey, when, there is a good example of needing to be strong enough to weild a bow. When Odysseus finally gets home, his plan to remove the suiters of Penelope starts with a bow and arrow competition with Odysseus bow. In this scene, Odysseus is the only one able to even pull back the bow, let alone hit the target. (which he does effortlessly).
I seem to recall Odysseus' bow was so stiff only he was strong enough to string it. The wimpy suitors couldn't manage.
I just remember the TV miniseries that Odysseus was the only person who knew the proper technique to string it. I have read the poem, but Armando Assante sticks in my mind more.
In the story I read he was the only one who could do it because he basically worked out. The other guys were fucking nerds
@@ReptarTheUgly sup nerds, never seen a bow before.
Jaime Ruiz
Being a nerd has nothing to too with it. Powerful warriors often could not draw powerful warbows because they lacked the strength. Medieval archers were found to have distorted spines due to the the muscles needed to draw these bows
Well, if you spend years partying, you simply can't measure up to someone who can go toe to toe with literally Ajax.
Fantasy readers: "axes and swords are brute strength weapons while bows require finesse"
Actual weaponry: "you can't pull back a bow? Either bench more or go grab yourself an axe, weakling!"
Or better yet, a warhammer!
^_^
Actually a bow is pull not press movement, that is a bench movement. A one armed dumbell row is more what you would use when you draw a bow. As a person who has lifted for decades I understand about exercises. That is the exercise you would focus on to train your bow draw.
@@Damnationization I wasn't trying to be 100% anatomically correct with terms, just make a funny joke that's based some what on a truth.
Although, thank you for letting me know!
@@Damnationization From what I've read isn't it true that a bench press doesn't really prepare you to do much of anything?
@@rzq100 Benching can be help a person, but most people who train do sports specific training. Meaning they do exercises that relate to the areas they use. For example a professional arm wrestler will not focus on a bench, but will do tons of various arm exercises. Just as a sprinter will constantly sprint. A powerlifter will do tons of squatting, bench, and deadlifts. It is easier to get good in 1 area then many. Bodybuilders focus on the entire body and the contraction of the muscles. Powerlifter often don't look as good as bodybuilders but can out bench, squat and deadlift them. If a person wanted to be really good at benching you would focus on that training. That doesn't mean doing it every day. More is not always better. Often powerlifters will train only 3-4 times a week for example. I hope this helped you. :)
I gotta admit the Scorpion King is a guilty pleasure of mine. Same goes for Xena Warrior Princess, and the Legendary Journeys of Hercules. None of these movies and TV shows are even remotely historically accurate or realistic, but I still get a kick out of watching them.
The thing about the scorpion king is that it has nothing to do with the mummy returns, in which the scorpion king is introduced as a literal guy with half a scorpion body. Meaning that it was clickbait before clickbait was a thing.
"None of these movies and TV shows are even remotely historically accurate..." IT DOESNT FUCKING HAVE TO BE. IT'S A FANTASY! ITS NOT A REAL FUCKING PLACE WITH OUR FUCKING HISTORY. IT CAN BE WHATEVER THE FUCKING WRITER WANTS IT TO BE.
@@nathanieloakleaves5789 Unless the laws of physics are different in a fantasy world, the characters should still have to obey them.
@@nathanieloakleaves5789 "It's not a real place!"
It's in Egypt, isn't it?
@@KarmasAB123 egypt does not exist
The ''bows are for the weak'' trope might come from horse archers. They didn't use bows with huge draw weight, because drawing and aiming them on horseback would have been impossible. But they compensated with speed. Pretty much like women and/or elves in fantasy. And they used recurve bows, like most fantasy archers do. Legolas swinging around on the back of the olyphant shooting orcs with a 150lbs longbow that's taller than himself wouldn't have looked as cool.
@Haku infinite you mean Tolkien's son or the family, right? John died 45 years ago
@Haku infinite oh, heh
It is actually composite bow horse archers use and composito bow is like longbows that has huge draw weight. Horse archers were chosen among strongest men.
Um what... legolas used that bow cause 1. It’s easier to carry a smaller bow when going on a long journey which he was and 2. It was a gift from someone
I think it has a good chance of the weight of the weapon, a bow is literally a *fucking stick*
"Your hands could get chopped off"
*count dooku.jpg*
HAHAHAHA
The story of Odysseus also features a 'bows needs strength' part when his wife tasks any suitor with stringing her husband's bow and shooting through 12 axe heads. No one but Odysseus can manage it! (Granted it's about stringing the bow)
yeah but, someone probably isn't going to be drawing a bow if they can't string the damn thing.
Hercules/Heracles also had a bow unique to his superhuman level of strength.
@@rafaeldelimacampos4524 Yeah, I guess when war bows where still a thing, people knew a lot more about them. ;)
@@MCStroker Of course they do. But people are far less familiar with bows.
@@TGPDrunknHick Actually, stringing a bow is hard as hell if you don't have a stringer (guessing that modern ones were not invented at the time). So it was probably a lot harder to string than to shoot. Whats funny about that story is that you can easily break/warp the limbs if you do it wrong, so she must have hated Odysseus to be inviting all these strange men to ruin her husbands prized bow.
Have you seen the series _Arrow_ from the CW? It makes a big deal, particularly in the early seasons, of Oliver Queen being extremely strong and working out a lot to keep up his strength and physical fitness, so that he can be an effective archer.
The lead Uruk Hai at the end of Fellowship was a representation of someone massive using a bow as well. RIP Boromir.
I have been wrong on so many levels when it comes to weapons, and have, on several occasions, had to go back on something I've written to correct the mistakes I've made. All thanks to your rants, that I'm... thankfully able to follow. Most of the time. Keep up the good work, and rant. Just don't stop ranting. Ever.
They can ask actual living people about guns (and people like Michael Mann and Anton Fuqua do) yet look how much most movies and games get wrong about the topic. Now you have hundreds of years removed and only a few thousand historians seem worried about fact checking. Don't blame yourself for being misinformed when there are literally thousands of times more people telling you the wrong thing.
Next: *What How To Train Your Dragon gets WRONG about dragons*
Second this
The dragons in that movie were completely historically inaccurate, it hurts. Come on guys, do some basic research
I don't think Disney cared, I just assumed those are just alien dragons.
I second this!
@@andhikasoehalim3170 DreamWorks
when I'm writing I tend to just write things like "The soldiers stood at the ready, each equipped with a kite shield and bearing a one-handed arming sword at the enemy." or "A knight leapt across the narrow creek, hacking wildly to either side with both hands firmly planted on the grip of his broadsword."
those describing words tend to make the non-enthusiast readers correctly visualize the type of weapon i'm envisioning, and later in the story will let me get away with just saying "broadsword" or "Arming sword" without the description beforehand because they already know what they look like
The one thing they don't get wrong.
You use them to kill stuff for loot.
I don't think body looting was common. It was either a cultural or religious taboo or a crime in many places.
Love how when you introduced the picture to the youtuber, my eyes *_IMMEDIATELY_* went straight to the One Ring around his neck.
That's because you are a weak willed human.
No, you can't have it.
I'm so happy that Shad and Hello Future Me are supporting each other's channels, as someone who has been subbed to both for a while.
One of my favorite book series of all time, Ranger's Apprentice, makes it so that the small, scrawny protagonist has to be given a short bow so he could build up his strength so he could eventually use a longbow. I even think that the knight character in the books remarks on how hard to pull back on the longbow actually is.
Word
Hard to say. I haven't read it in a little while, but the one where they visit the desert was good. I need to reread the books.
Shad: I wanna give a shout out to a awesome youtube channel.
Me: Oh ya, the Avatar reference guy.
One weapon which is often misrepresented in fantasy setting is using dagger as a primary battlefield weapon (or as main weapon in a melee fight during the adventure). That, and thrown knives, especially one-hit-kill thrown knives.
Yes. Daggers, and short swords being used as main armament for rogues and smaller characters is pretty dumb. The only use I could see for short weapons in a fantasy setting is in a Goblin Slayer scenario when you're fighting in cramped quarters with poor lightning where longer weapons might be more of a hindrance.
It was either matt easton or lindiebeige. They noted that while throwing knives aren't all that effective everyone has a knife anyway, its not extra so having the one extra option doesn't subtract in any way. Also most of soldiering is long periods of boredom, throwing your knives at a target is a decent way to pass the time.
@@Immopimmo "with poor lightning-"
Immopimmo Daggers and short swords make sense for rouges if they do not intend to get into direct combat. Also, you could use them with shields, such as the gladius and scutum, or the targe and dagger. I could see a rouge using a short sword to sneak up and kill someone and having a buckler just in case they got into a fight with a guard. You should also consider that rouges are often sneaking around in buildings, most often you’ll be in a room where there isnt a lot of space to fight so using shorter weapons might be more advantageous.
knives are very good at slitting throats from behind and concealing them. What on earth setting uses them as a primary battlefield weapon? you would need a lot of armour, and not at all rogue like.
The question is, can they be used to fight DRAGONSSSS?!!!!
Stab a giant five to ten meter dragon with a small toothpick made of metal? Legends tell us it's possible, but it's actually senseless at all.
Excuse me, I'm going to hunt a demon with a sewing needle now! XD
Only use Dragonlances for that, everything else is useless.
@@yaldabaoth2
True, makes much more sense as well!
I learned everything I need to know about fighting dragons from watching Gate.
@@Zedrapazia the legends also typically place emphasis on beheading the dragon and dodging the Jaws (after incapacitating the fire breath), and in those stories the neck is comparatively thin, usually just thin enough to work (the original stories have the heads as long and thin, and their necks were usually comparatively spindly in general). Of course the main reason why spears are so effective is because a dragon's underbelly is much, much softer than the rest of it making thrusting weapons pretty useful (and a particularly strong ranged weapon would be even better than a spear as you don't have to worry about getting your head bitten off.
The massive huge giant dragon is kind of a Hollywood movie and video game thing (except for a couple of very specific D&D dragons, namely Tiamat, Bahamut and Eo/Ao/Io, all of which are literal gods in that franchise will the last one being The Creator).
A sword's function was basically the medieval equivalent of a hangun nowadays. Spears and polearms were the equivalent of a rifle.
I like how Shad is wearing a Superman shirt under a suit coat. 😄
I know that the Scorpion King is a bad movie.. But there are so many fun scenes.
Even if they're dumb, if the whole movie is dumb. I just can't hate it!
The Rock have an strange and perfect charisma for that kind of stupid movie.
It really felt to me like some old time comic book you know?
I liked the mummy and scorpion king as a kid. They were fun.
Like a Conan the barbarian vibe? Both films feature charismatic main characters.
Don't watch the sequels, the have none of the charm
"The Rock have an strange and perfect charisma for that kind of stupid movie."
He was a pro wrestler. Of course he has strange and perfect charisma for that sort of performance.
Yeah as i remember it, the Scorpion King was a replace-brain-with-popcorn fun movie 1/1
Historically, the double-bitted axe was designed as an efficiency measure for a woodcutters. They're not combat effective, but woodcutters would cut down a tree with one head and then flip the axe and use the other when the first got dull. More skilled woodcutters would turn the head over on each back swing so that the axe dulled at a uniform rate.
Because if you can cut for twice as long before having to sharpen your axe you're more efficient.
I could imagine a fantasy throwing axe with a double bit. If nothing else, it worked for Age of Empires II
very true, i wanted to make the same comment as well :)) ... i always assumed such weapons were used by peasant armies :)
Geoff F. Bet that works for bone too 🤫
But then you would spend twice as long sharpening the blades so how much time would it really save?
@@HPD1171 that is something you can do after you finish work, from experience i can tell you that well sharpened double edged axe will last the entire day, heck even a single edge might hold up
I've seen aiming with a bow misrepresented a lot in fantasy. I could explain the details of why and all that, but I don't have time for that so the gist of it is, when you want to hit a target, you do not aim so the tip of the arrow is pointing at the target.
My archery team actually made a few little circle things to help with this. We'll pin the mini-targets to the big target at the spot where we're aiming so we can adjust accordingly. If the arrows are landing down and to the left of the center, then we'll move our spot up and to the right, that sort of thing.
Where you have to aim depends on your stance, your anchor, even how you're holding the string. The whole idea is to do the exact same thing every time you shoot so none of these factors throw off your aim.
Idk, I'm not great at explaining things, but fantasy tends to make it seem far simpler than it is. Even the way you release the arrow can change things, it's crazy. It's a sport of practice and any given change can mess you up in unpredictable ways (I would know, I've had to change the spot I'm aiming for three times in the last couple of weeks for reasons I'm still figuring out), so it's not possible to master it in, say, just a few training sessions or something.
Shad, there's actually a historical double axe in Ancient Greece: the "Labrys". It was mostly ritual, but I believe even Spartans reached to use them in combat, perhaps with the purpose of intimidation.
I don't see any depictions anywhere of it being used in combat, nor statements. Do you have any proof or is this speculation?
@@aenite No, I don't know why did I say that. It can be seen in ancient coins in the hands of gods, though. It is present in Greek mythology and Zeus used to be depicted with it before it was associated with thunder.
I can imagine Spartans executing Persians with it though, xd.
@@Jayako12 You're probably correct about the last part. But things depicted in mythology usually aren't very true. Most especially when it includes the gods, and DEFINITELY if it's about Zeus.
In my RPG settings I basically always make bows the traditional weapon for my orcs because they are stronger than the average human. Yeah, the bow being a weapon for weaker characters has always bothered me.
@Hunter Hall tolkien elves aren't much stronger than humans if at all. but they do have all that strength on a lighter frame and MUCH better senses, also a minor healing factor keeping their bodies stable at peak or near peak health (that would make physical skills FAR easier to learn and retain) legolas is a bit odd in that he is both one of the youngest elves alive and a strong contender for the most skilled but his equipment, skillset, and even personality all boil down to embodying a stereotype... "representing" might be a better word.
tolkien didn't exactly do the worldbuilding in the lord of the rings. what he did is conglomerate all the folklore elements he possibly could into one setting, he essentially standardised the worldbuilding from the fantasy genre as he knew it and put it in a book instead of an oral tradition (that's according to tolkien himself, not some random english major trying to sound smart).
the lord of the rings really was a massive achievement, just not quite the one people usually assume.
@@evernewb2073 Lord of the rings and elves from dnd or other fantasies aren't the same
An eastern compound bow for lighter and weaker characters would make more sense.
Evernewb well you could say that Legolas is is the boiled down stereotype for an elf, but I would say that he established, not just followed, the archetype. Pretty much all equivalents to “wood elves” in modern fantasy spring from his character in middle earth.
@@evernewb2073 "Tolkien Elves aren't much stronger than humans"
This statement hinges entirely on which age you're talking about. But even in the Third Age, which Legolas lives, people can still be extraordinarily strong and magic hasn't yet waned from Middle-earth.
Another Weapon, that is misrepresented ? Rapiers. There seems to be armorpiercing feathers, which break easily against nearly all kind of weapons, if you try to parry with them. ^^
Uhm… No. They are heavy as arming swords, pierce no armor made out of metal and don't break easy, becaus they are out of metal too. ^^
Mortus VanDerHell A lot or videogames call foils and smallswords a rapier, too.
I know… -.-
Isn't a foil just like a training version of a rapier tho?
Rapiers are known for getting through armor not by piercing through, but by easily striking in between the gaps of armor.
I've always thought rapiers are represented as such to represent them slipping between the openings in armour in order to hit an opponent where they are most vulnerable....
That double-bladed Steel Battleaxe from Skyrim always struck me as ridiculously heavy looking even before I really thought of the physics.
1st and even 2nd edition D&D were a bit more historical about their weapons, IIRC. There was even a rule for adjusting attack modifiers based on what weapon you were using against what armor.
The German TTRPG Das schwarze Auge did something similar. In that system, armor doesn't lower the chances to be hit at all like in D&D, but instead has an armor modifier that is deducted from the damage if you are hit, and that modifier is different for slashing, piercing and blunt.
at the battle of Lincoln in 1141 king Stephan used an axe as his primary weapon until the axe lost its head he then reverted to his sword until the blade broke. something you dont relay see in fantasy i mean weapons braking on the battlefield
Only during dramatic moments.
It happens more in Elder Scrolls and, more recently, Legend of Zelda (specifically Breath of the Wild).
What about Narsil? That thing literally started a whole new trope, you definetly do see fantasy weapons breaking on the battlefield, it's all supposed to be a metaphor for the one wielding a weapon, it breaks when the hero is at his lowest point, or in danger of losing everything, and is reforged once he / she is ready for another go.
@@HandleMyBallsCZcams see above. Only during dramatic moments.
@@lordnul1708 that's a gameplay mechanic, not explicitly a lore or story thing.
The one weapon that's misrepresented, or rather, curiously, is underrepresented is the spear.
The king of weapons. In Fiore dei Liberi's manuscript, Fior di Battaglia, "The Flower of Battle," he says this about the spear:
"I am a noble weapon, Lance by name:
In the beginning of battle I am always used.
And whoever watches me with my dashing pennant
Should be frightened with great dread.
And if in the beginning I make my due,
Axe, sword, and dagger will I upset."
-Fiore dei Liberi, Flower of Battle, MS Ludwig XV 13.
Great quote
A great story where a main character uses a spear is Brandon Sanderson's stormlight archive while it does misrepresent other things
Yes, this is such a weird thing; in ANY type of combat, having a range advantage over your opponent is a HUGE advantage. You're effectively able to threaten your opponent while they are not; you're basically invincible in that circumstance as long as you can keep yourself out of their threat range.
But I guess spears aren't cool or something, apparently.
@@Rhannmah Spears make a TON of sense when you have battles of groups of people and distinct battle lines. ie: pitched battles. But they're not so great when it's one on one or when you have opponents coming from multiple directions. Most of the time in fantasy it's duels, small skirmishes, maybe a few people vs a monster. Rarely a full on battle.
The main thing about spears, is that it was a CHEAP weapon to manufacture, and it was really simple to use in the hands of untrained soldiers (mostly peaseants). With a sword, you had to have some degree of training in order to be able to kill or wound somebody. Wit a spear you just had to thrust it and stick the pointy end on some flesh.
Anyone else randomly get this recommended to them 2 years later?
yes me but this does hit my buttons, and personal pet hates.
"Bows are built for muscular character because of its great draw weight" Joseph Joestar"s Vietnam Flashback.
And now you made me think of Mount & Blade where using bows require points in Power Draw, which is a Strength skill
Yup. M&B was spot-on there. If you don't plan to invest in strength, you'd better go with a crossbow, which needs little proficiency to be effective. I wouldn't call M&B fantasy, though, since even though it's a fictional universe, it's mostly realistic.
@@Zonalyre A normal crossbow was like 12 strenght and an arbalest was like 16, so even crossbows needed strenght in M&B
@@andremartins7601 Yes but using only strength as a skill left out points you could use for other things.
@@BIDENS_HOG i guess only firearms required no str, but crossbows still need str regardless of skill
And strength for most 2 handed weapons
lurtz, the uruk hai in lotr, was also a good example of burly character with a bow!
At the same time, the old guy at Helm's Deep who couldn't hold onto the bow string for long :)
@@stormmalthenielsen7270 very true, and good point. Granted it was a perfect shot. Just not great timing...oops.
and he could fire arrows, brooms, bananas and was about to try a live chicken before getting Aragorned. i love you, Lego LotR
@@stormmalthenielsen7270
Well to be fair , you woudnt normally draw a bow like that in combat
@@snoot6629 nor in any other situation, no one uses ab bow like this, because it's stupid, you dont have the strength, nor the accuracy, stability and safety
Could you do tridents/weapons for underwater people, please?
Spears.
Depends on the underwater people, probably some kind of arrow launcher?
"It's basically a portable ballista"
*Alith Anar enters the chat*
The Ranger's Apprentice series was centered around a guy using a bow, and his strength training was essential to actually using a longbow.
Did I finally find someone who understands what a good series Ranger's Apprentice books are?
@@lukecarda6794 Yes!
The author didn't get duels as accurate, unfortunately (I think at the end of the second book a sword cleaves a shield in two) but the series was amazing and bows were depicted really well.
My favorite books by far
That was a great book the first one
AoE2:
*_"He's a long boi, that's why we named him Long Swordsman and not Longsword Man."_*
You fucking ruined that game for me. I hope you're happy. Now I can't get it out of my head lol.
When your character uses a huge catapult and calls it a bow.
Do you mean a ballista? A catapult flings rocks
Sir Galah ‘Catapult’ is a blanket term which also covers the ballista. You’re thinking specifically of mangonels or trebuchets. Even a handheld slingshot is technically a catapult
@@ProfX501 I've never heard of that. There were catapults before mangonels or trebuchets were even thought of, and they weren't ballistae.
Mack Masters What? Where did I say that all catapults preceding mangonels and trebuchets were ballistae? I mean yeah there were onagers as well if that’s what you’re looking for
@@ProfX501 I think I completely misread your statement.
"Mjolnir is unrealistic!"
A weapon designed to be wielded with a god who can lift 100 tons is unrealistic.
Gee. Who would have expected that.
As I understand the original legend, Mjolnir's unrealistic weight was the main point ... the dwarven smith who'd been tasked to make it deliberately hafted it for one hand, where it had been intended as a two-handed maul. Thor repaid the trick with a trick of his own, using gauntlets and a belt that buffed his strength so he could use it anyway.
@@miketheskepticalone6285
Mjolnir: not a real thing
dwarves: not real
Thor: not real
Gauntlets and a belt that buff one's strengh: do not exist.
You noticing a pattern here, friend?
... @@nathanieloakleaves5789 ...
And Chow Yun-Fat's ability to bend bullets around corners, and Keanu Reaves' ability to catch them, are both ... highly suspect.
I was hoping for a congenial chat with fellow aficionados of the lore, not smug a$$hats.
@@nathanieloakleaves5789 I think that pattern would be called.... fantasy.
Thor was apparently strong enough to lift Jörmungandr; a snake long enough to circumvent the WORLD. Unless Jörmungandr was a lot thinner than depictions would have us believe, I think that's more than 100 tons.
YOU FORGOT SPEARS!
The greatest travesty of medieval fantasy is the under representation of the most prolific weapon in all of history.
Unless there's Spartans. But I'm fairly certain their primary weapons are their glistening six-packs because armour is for sissy Romans...?
Spears don't exist unless it's weilded by some gymnastic parkour specialist. Everyone knows that you need two backflips and a dervish swing to strike with a spear.
@@bobofthestorm Exactly; imagine arming fresh recruits with spears! What are they going to do? Point the pointy end at the enemy and thrust when they get close enough? That would never work!!!
In the First volume of Chronicles of the dark moon there are more spear than I ever dream off
They arent used by main protagonists tho
I assume you don't see them in movies because someone can't 'sheath' a spear and has to carry it everywhere. It's too cumbersome to be an adventuring weapon. However, they should be used more in battle scenes.
@@fattiger6957 for massive armies that are freshly recruited is absolutely perfect.
It doesn't need much training to be effective and in big numbers it creates a wall of pointy sticks of death.
It works well against light infantry, cavalry and hit and run groups.
Shad: "strike with a pummel, end them rightly"
Me: "we got one boys!"
If I'm making a fantasy RPG somewhere in the future I absolutely have to include the skill to throw the pummel. It has to happen.
didn't realize this video was so old. Alway's come back to you for quick reference when I'm working on my fantasy novels. Recently me and a friend (both writers) have been getting into D&D we both have a weekly season where we try to exhibit our ideas for a few friends before we cement them. Also, a good way to use toss off ideas or characters that might not fit the narrative. highly recommend for anyone writing.
We've always had this back and forth on weapons was literally using your leather armor video to explain why my character could not have been as wounded at the end of a fight as he was implying 2 weeks ago. We've added in stat requirements for weapons and since magic is a thing if a player can adequately explain why an oversized weapon is useable using in-universe lore we'll allow it and add it to our back end list for the player.
Just wanted to drop this as a thank you of sorts on behalf of me and my friend for improving the realism of our writing, his campaign finished up and his book's about done based off our adventures.
A barbarian type player did find a unique and possibly realistic way to use a double-headed great axe I thought I would share though. The set up was he had 2 armored targets in front of him before they could pull their swords not recognizing the player yet he with his axe resting on his shoulder ran between them striking one on the side then spinning to use the other side of the axe without twisting more than his body to hit the second target, extremely situation but the player felt pretty smug about it.
"Strength bows" appeared in D&D 2e, at least in a supplemental book. These bows had better range and damage, but required a high Strength score to use. Of course they throw off the balance, so a good DM either wouldn't allow them or would equip enemies with them as well.
Sorry this is over a year later, but I still wanted to comment on this, because it brings up an interesting point: Is its possible that the "weaker characters use bows" trope became a thing to serve as a balancing mechanic? Because if the strong character used bows with the same efficacy as they used greatswords or greataxes or whatever, they would be the most OP characters, because they could take enemies down before they even got to him, and anyone who broke through would be in for a world of hurt from the giant Melee weapon this guy had. On the other hand, if weaker characters could only use a bow effectively, it creates an interesting dynamic where stronger characters stay in front to offer protection for the weaker characters.
@@dylanwatts1045 It's nearly a year later, and I think you might be right. When playing the Pathfinder games I found that the most optimal character build (for combat) seemed to be a strength/dex focused archer, since the compound bows would use strength to increase their damage. It also helped that the Ranger/Hunter classes came with pets that are practically equivalent to an extra character without leeching experience from the party.
Can we just address the most misrepresented and underpowered weapon in fantasy? I am, of course, talking about the bagpipe. That thing can cripple an army in moments, yet we barely ever see it in any stories....
Maybe an episode at the start of next month?
Nazamroth Monster Hunter has a weapon called the Hunting Horn
While it may not exactly eb a bagpipe its close enough, its a blunt weapon that plays music as you use it in battle, playing music buffs you and your team in the game
Edit: some of them actually do look similar to bagpipes while others look like harps or other things that may not even look like a musical instrument like a monster's head that emits grumbling monster noises instead of music
That actually sound horrifying
TUUUUUUUUUDUDUDUDUDUDUDUUUUUDUUUDU DU DU DU DUDUDUDUUUU
@@sosvaneey993 The scots are coming! Hide yo sheep!
Funny you mention bagpipes when I was thinking of MadJack Churchill, who fought in ww2 wielding a sword and longbow while playing bagpipes.
To be fair, most of the melee weapons in 40K are meant to be wielded by 8-10 ft tall superhumans in power armor.
@War_Catx 13 I agree that the chain sword is a ridiculous and impractical weapon.
@@scrombat true
Power weapons are much better
space marines have 2 hearts and full plate ribcages that are also thicker and stuff
@@scrombat Chainswords are extremely cool, though, and in 40k Rule of Cool will always trump practicality.
@War_Catx 13 Old warhammer fantasy had somewhat realistic weapons, but then GWS blew the planet up (Dam them, They blew it up, dam you all to hell).
then they restarted the universe in Age of Sigmar with the Groundmarines (I mean Sigmarites, I mean stormcast Eternals) and the weapons and armour has basicly become as hilariously unrealistic as wow.
Hearing him mention the executioner's made me want to see his thoughts on the weapons and character designs from totally accurate battle simulator. Mainly because there's an executioner unit who carries this massive axe that does good damage but is so unwieldy that the unit tends to fall over.
course helps with fantasy that magic exists, but yea would be interesting to see more realistic weapons for non-magical folk, and only magical weapons or those who have strength being able to use more exotic weapons
Shad! You forgot the Uruk-hai Captain in The Fellowship of the Ring! This guy shows what you can do with a bow and muscles. Gosh I love this battle scene.
Or the Giants in Game of Thrones
I was thinking that as well. Nice post!
Lurtz was his name, simply the most badass way of firing a bow in cinema history
@@hydrophobicspider lurtz was like a year old max
That and the greatbows of the Darksouls series; they all have a minimum strength requirement of 30 or more.
What about the Uruk Hai guy with that bow that killed Boromir?
You mean the guy firing tree trunks and expecting us to think they were are normal arrows?
So glad you reference Scorpion King for bows, ive forgotten alot of things from media over the years, but the scene with the bow drawing still sticks in my mind today when it comes to "powerful bow representation" ! Great work man :)
I'm a huge fan of Hello Cute Me!! Didn't expect to hear you talk about him. Thanks as always for the good videos!
First thing I noticed about Clegane-bowl; the Hound starts just slashing at the Mountain's chest plate. What's he trying to do? It was goofy.
Welcome to Season 8, friend. Confirming all the reasons I checked out years ago.
@@robertlombardo8437 then how can you comment it's season 8? Jumping on the bandwagon without actually watching it is sad. I think it's pretty good.
@@ChoppedSteak lol season 8 is garbage
@@ChoppedSteak s8 is garbage af
I honestly liked that part a bit, cause for a slight moment, it _did_ remind us that *armor DOES exist in GoT,* even though Sandor just came out of chopping those Queensguard knights like they were cake. It would've made a bit more sense if he was wielding his classical greatsword, but...
Still, I loved how his slashes were doing nothing to the Mountain, and only his thrust attack actually worked. It's reminiscente of the lesson Jorah Mormont was giving to one of the Dothraki during Season 1, I always loved that part.
I mean come on any channel that talks about Dragons with the RESPECT they deserve has my subscription. Heck, Hello Future Me already had mine, but its good to see some cross-promotion!
Agreed!
Agreed
Totally. Tim is the best :)
Except he views almost alot of things as dragons, and seems to hate the human intelligent ones who even somewhat act like human. He DOES have good videos, just when it comes to his views on dragons, eh...
@@zionthedragon8866 Really? I'm not sure where you get that idea from. XD I don't know if it's just me being ignorant, but I've never noticed him hating on intelligent dragons. Sure, he did criticize Saphara from the Inheritance Cycle for being too human, but I think that's just his personal opinion. Personally I agree - dragons _are_ a different species, after all, but I see why people like the appeal of humanlike dragons.
So while listening to Rhythm of War, there is a part where Adolin is sword nerding over a bunch of swords he is taking and totally reminds me of your videos.
Thank you for your videos though, certainly makes me think about balance between reality and fancy when working on my creative writing.
First of all, really enjoyed the video! Thought it was very informative and funny. I'm a writer and I write a fair bit of medieval fantasy so watching these videos really helps a lot.
I think you're on the right page with what you said at 7:45 totally holds. When you put a more realistic spin on combat and fighting, it makes some of the fights tenser. With that being said, I think there's a growing consensus that typical fantasy is bad because characters use weapons that aren't historically accurate or fight in ways they wouldn't. There seems to be this mentality that something being unrealistic and not true to history is a bad thing. The thing is, there's a reason it's called fantasy. If you make a world with dragons, elves, and magic I think that it's excusable to make a warhammer a bit bigger than it historically was or to have characters use bows that aren't super strong (bows with lighter draw weights exist). As for naming conventions, well that's a whole different topic.
I appreciate how you reference fantasy and explain that the rules of different fantasy worlds will change how people fight. I've seen people get seemingly offended just because mythril chainmail in LotR wouldn't work the way it does...despite being made of a fictional metal that is very durable. I think people need to chill out a bit if something isn't 1:1 in historically accurate. Side note, as for your comment on big characters using a bow I actually wrote a character who's very strong and he uses a bow (and crossbow).
Hold on, you never changed your clothes for four years?
Have you seen me?
@@colinmisrasi3889 Nope
I have clothes from 15 years ago that I still wear. Holes and all. They are well worn and soft, and still fit well. I love them for when I do carpentry.
Clothes preserves the essences pls don't be too harsh.
Proof that Shad is actually just a cartoon.
From a fantasy perspective, I misidentified two weapons in a book I wrote. After viewing your video, I through my head back, followed with a ... crap.
You "threw" your head back. I mean, if we're talking accuracy and all. The pen is, after all, mightier than the sword.
The above is why writers have editors.
You wrote books? What weapons were they?
@dino dipsy It means writing has more influence on people and events than physical violence. A pen can write laws and policies, affecting large groups of people, whereas a sword affects two people; the wielder, and the person they face in combat.
@dino dipsy Often times, what was written by the pen was the cause of the violence to begin with.
Gough (this giant, i dont really remember the name) from darksouls, is good example of quite strong character wielding a bow.
Hey I just found you recently, you do an awesome job. I could talk to you for hours if not days on medieval weapons
Spears are heavily underrated.
Instead of a huge wooden stick with metal end that can shatter bones, it is usually portrayed as a useless poker.
Usually delegated as a peasant weapon, where Dwarves for example could potentially use them to devastating effect in those corridors of theirs where big axes would be damn hard to swing properly.
Mount and Blade gets the strength part of bows right.
Mount and Blades got a lot of things right.
By and large yes, but why to spend extra skill points on archery (power draw)?
@Dragon50275 Something like this? ibb.co/yQ7cWzR
@Dragon50275 It's not just spears, but thrust attacks in general. It's just that spears are long enough for the problem to stick out a lot.
@Dragon50275 In my opinion it is just balancing. Thrusting attacks partially ignore the opponent's armour and therefore inflict more damage than cuts. This is also the case with blunt weapons by the way...
For a week, I have been calling my new sword a 'crusader long sword'. After watching this, I am changing how I refer to it. It is an arming sword with depictions of crusades era imagery on the hilt. Thank you, Shad, for teaching me the difference.
Thank you Senpaiii!! Binging your vids for my medieval zombie fantasy trilogy. so good. so useful.
My thought when seing the title: "So, Shadiversity in a nutshell?"
My thought 2 minutes in the video: "Oh, this is actually Shadiversity in a nutshell."
I have really anticipated that video for so long Shad! One question: have you thought doing a video about Byzantine armor and weapons?
I think Metatron has videos on Byzantines
Epimetheus has some good Videos about that
Fun fact: the byzantine varangian guards used double bit two handed axe
@@theghosthero6173
Not in this depiction: de.wikipedia.org/wiki/War%C3%A4gergarde#/media/File:The_body_of_Leo_V_is_dragged_to_the_Hippodrome_through_the_Skyla_Gate.jpg
@@lars9925 well, yes, but it clearly depict them in this mosaic armourinart.com/5125/15864/
We also have surviving exemples www.pinterest.fr/pin/742742163524122421/sent/?sfo=1&sender=830210649966522858&invite_code=4117c8a63142462faf95d5812adb564d
Given Lindybeige goes alongside your stuff, which is always suggested, I guess it's time to subscribe. Though I had assumed I had subscribed b/c I always see your stuff on my PS4 (on the PC right now where I control things!)
Good video as always.
a certain epic poem?
a bow only the manliest man can draw?
draw this bow and you can marry me?
4:23 I smiled at his reaction that he suddenly remembered that he actually had a long sword that he was talking about right behind him all the time.
Let's help shad buy some clothing lol
AII THEN evergarden, how about u sell your emerald brooch to begin with
Edit: my fault, I thought ur avatar was violet evergarden, lol
Preferably medieval style clothing, with a lot of color, and his family heraldry.
@@nasserfirelordarts6574 lol, it's Clovis from code geass mate
I’m really happy HFM got shouted out.
I think there’s probably a lot of audience overlap.
For example, I watch:
Shad, Lindeybiege, HFM, Overly Sarcastic Productions, and Extra Credits, and there’s been a ton of overlap between those Tubers.
I found HelloFutureMe through Avatar videos, stuck with him because of all his videos about fantasy and writing. Absolutely love him! Made me start my own little worldbuilding project actually. Also really love your stuff ofcourse, all of your stuff reagrding fantasy is fascinating aswell ;)