They called it an Insurmountable Waist-Height Fence, not an Indestructible Waist-Height Fence.
"For the king, for the land, for the mountains
For the green valleys where dragons fly
For the glory, the power to win the Black Lord
I will search for the Emerald Sword!"
For the green valleys where dragons fly
For the glory, the power to win the Black Lord
I will search for the Emerald Sword!"
— Rhapsody of Fire, "Emerald Sword"
The Sword of Plot Advancement is the offensive or defensive item that the central plot of the game revolves around, and whose collection by the player signifies that they are now capable of advancing to the end of the game. It thus marks the end of the Second Act.
Alternatively, it may be gained at the beginning of the Second Act, if it is important to game mechanics, and marks the beginning of the adventure proper.
Most of the time, since said weapon acts as an Amplifier Artifact, it is the only Achilles' Heel of the immortal or Nigh Invulnerable Big Bad. It may also be an example of a Legendary Weapon.
It isn't strictly a MacGuffin (which is meaningless in and of itself), because after it is attained and the dramatic tension surrounding it dissipates, it is still useful within the game's combat mechanics.
It contrasts with the Infinity +1 Sword, which is optional to the plot and is collected long after the protagonist ceases to require it. It is, however, somewhat of a headscratcher when said Infinity + 1 Sword (and even the Infinity -1 Sword) is stronger; see Penultimate Weapon.
In multiplayer video games, weapons like this need to be available for everyone even though they are stated in-universe to be unique.
A Sub-Trope of both Plot Coupon and Plot Coupon That Does Something. Contrast It Was a Gift. See also Supernatural Aid. Sister Trope to Artifact of Hope, Second Hour Superpower and Villain-Beating Artifact.
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Anime & Manga
- Beast Tamer: Early in the series, main character Rein Shroud is hired by his former comrade Arios Orlando to find the Shield of Truth. Arios, being The Chosen One, needs the shield to defeat the Demon King and protect the human race, but he is forced to admit (albeit VERY grudgingly) that he can't find it without Rein's help.
- Dragon Ball: The various transformations, particularly Super Saiyan, as well as the Kamehameha early on, tend to move the plot.
- Inuyasha has Tetsusaiga and Tenseiga, Swords of Character Development. Their father had the swords forged so he could protect and guide his sons even from beyond the grave. Inuyasha's Tetsusaiga becomes stronger and forces him to be stronger after it's reforged with his own fang. Prior to that, it was forged with his father's fang, meaning he was still relying on his father for protection. Tenseiga both protected Sesshomaru and taught him the value of compassion. Both swords are ultimately more important for Sesshomaru's growth, as he is only able to discover his own true strength once he learns compassion from Tenseiga and learns to let go of his obsession with Tetsusaiga which he wrongly saw as a sign of his father favoring Inuyasha over him.
- Rave Master: In an odd manga example, the Ten Commandments Sword from Groove Adventure RAVE, is not only obtained early and one of two driving forces behind the main character's powers and abilities, but powers up not once, not twice, but NINE separate times. The last of these power-ups results in Ravelt, a Sword of Plot Advancement in its own right.
- Revolutionary Girl Utena: Utena is able to draw the sword of Dios from the Rose Bride starting in episode two, marking the beginning of her journey as a duelist. For the first arc of the series, this fantastic element seems fairly self-contained to Anthy; starting the second Black Rose arc, everyone can pull swords out of other people's chests! This ultimately culminates in Anthy having to draw a sword from Utena's breast, since Utena can no longer draw the sword of Dios from Anthy: Anthy draws the sword of Dios. As a bonus, these "soul swords" not only represent plot advancement (even if Utena can't see it) but also reflect character development and dynamics.
- Tales of Wedding Rings: Late in the story, Satou and his allies head to the Empire's capital to obtain the Sword of the Ring King from the imperial mythology storehouse, believing that this legendary weapon can give them an edge in their battle against the Abyss King. In a subversion, the sword turns out to be completely ordinary, nonmagical, and rusted to the point of uselessness. Satou ends up taking the sword of Krystal's late father, which doesn't have any magical properties either, but is at least in good condition.
Comic Books
- In The Day the Cheering Stopped, Superman is given a legendary, ancient sword so he can defeat King Kosmos for good.
Films — Animation
- Batman: Soul of the Dragon has the Soultaker Sword, which is needed to open the gate to the realm the Naga Demon is sealed in. O-Sensei entrusts it to Lady Shiva in a Flashback, but the Kobra Cult still manages to steal it in the present.
Films — Live-Action
- Aquaman (2018): King Atlan's trident fills this purpose. Arthur Curry/Aquaman must find it to gain control over sea life to defeat his half-brother Orm, and proves himself worthy of wielding it along the way.
- Avengers: Infinity War: Much of Thor's plot revolves around him forging Stormbreaker, as Mjolnir was destroyed in Thor: Ragnarok and he needs a weapon capable of fighting Thanos and his Infinity Gauntlet on even ground. Stormbreaker also fills this role in Thor: Love and Thunder, as Gorr the God Butcher seeks it for its ability to open the gate to Eternity.
- Harry Potter: The Sword of Godric Gryffindor slays the Basilisk and destroys Horcruxes.
- The Lord of the Rings Film Trilogy: Narsil/Andúril symbolizes Aragorn's progression toward the throne of Gondor.
- Star Wars: Anakin Skywalker's lightsaber is this:
- A New Hope: Receiving his father's lightsaber is part of Luke's Call to Adventure near the end of act 1.
- The Force Awakens: Rey is actually drawn to the saber and has an intense vision when she first touches it.
Literature
- The Belgariad: The orb of Aldur seems like a MacGuffin until the hero picks it up near the end of the series and starts whomping all kinds of ass with it (and his signature BFS, of course, which is so heavy that the orb has to "carry" it for him). In the follow-up series, it becomes useful in all kinds of other ways throughout. Considering the sword was forged from two fallen stars, it was enormously heavy. The original creator was even advised to remember the weight, because if the orb were removed, and he were holding the sword, he'd likely break his wrist.
- Some Fighting Fantasy gamebooks require your character to obtain a magical sword compulsory to succeed in your quest:
- The Sword of Tsui in The Crimson Tide, a book that already has Multiple Endings. Said sword is compulsory in helping you obtain the Golden Ending.
- The first half of Crypt of the Sorcerer revolves around your quest to obtain the Sword of Kull, the first warrior who defeated Razaak the titular sorcerer only to be cursed into becoming a skeleton, now that Razaak has been released from his ancient crypt and is plotting to conquer Allansia. You encounter Kull halfway into the story, and he then passes his weapon to you before disappearing.
- Spellbreaker requires you to find the blessed sword of Gwythain the Protector, called the Deliverer, stolen by a powerful bandit lord who calls himself "The Mask". Obtaining said sword is the only way to slay demons and allow you to the Kurakil in the final battle.
- Battleblade Warrior has you being blessed by a vision from your Patron God, Telak, to seek the legendary Sword of Telak to save your kingdom from the lizard men empire. After a lengthy quest, you eventually found said weapon, just as a hostile army of lizard men are about to destroy your hometown, at which point the Sword of Telak summons The Armies of Heaven and obliterates the lizard men army within minutes.
- Sword of the Samurai has the Dai-Katana, the Singing Death, stolen by Ikiru of the Shadows, and you are a noble samurai sent to retrieve it. You will need that weapon for your final battle against Ikiru, expectedly.
- Vault of the Vampire has the Nightstar, the Sword of Count Siegfried Heydrich, which you earned from Sigfried's ghost. It's the only weapon capable of slaying Sigfried's evil brother, the Vampire Monarch Reiner Heydrich.
- Legend of Zagor has you discovering Zagor, the dreaded warlock, has merged with a revived Bone Demon, and is now a half-human, half-demon hybrid immune to ordinary weapons. The latter stage of your quest have you searching for a magical weapon (depending on your character, the Ebony Wand for Sallazar the Wizard, the Stonehammer for Stubble the Dwarf, the Barbarian Ax for Anvar the Barbarian and the Black Knight's Sword for Braxus the Warrior) in order to face Zagor in the penultimate confrontation.
- Night Dragon requires you to collect a number of different weapons in order to destroy the titular dragon, including a blessed sword and shield, where without it you're killed even before you can face the monster. Should your health drop to a perilously low level in the final battle, you can even use the sword's magic to recharge your health.
- "The Fortress Unvanquishable, Save for Sacnoth": The sword Sacnoth is necessary for the quest to occur at all — but, with it in hand, Leothric overcomes all of the fortress' defenders almost by rote.
- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is focused on Harry, Ron and Hermione's trying to find/destroy Voldemort's Horcruxes. The quest only takes off after they discover where Gryffindor's sword is hidden.
- The Licanius Trilogy: Licanius, the namesake sword, is required for Caeden to be able to kill any of the immortal Venerate. Playes perfectly straight as he can't do anything to advance his plan without it.
- Lone Wolf: The Sommerswerd in the second gamebook, Fire on the Water, which is also an Infinity +1 Sword that can be used in subsequent books in the series.
- Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard: Sumarbrander, the Sword of Summer is a sentient Absurdly Sharp Blade that can even cut through the reality's fabric. Magnus recovers it with his uncle's help to delay Ragnarok. Acquiring the weapon makes Magnus die at the hands of Surt and go to Valhalla. Then, he uses the sword as his main weapon.
- The Mortal Instruments: Much of the action in the first three novels involves locating and recovering the titular Mortal Instruments, one of which is literally a sword, "Maellartach". Some other items, like the Book of the White, are also the subject of quests. Then in City of Lost Souls it is again literally a sword, in this case "Glorious", the sword of the Archangel Michael.
- Nansō Satomi Hakkenden: Shino, the first of the Eight Dog Warriors, is on a mission to present his grandfather's sword Murasame back to the Ashikaga family who originally lent it to him for safekeeping. However he soon learns that the sword's blade has been swapped for a forgery, and must seek out the original; later the sword is stolen again by one of his enemies and he must get it back. In addition to its material and political value, the Murasame has potent mystical powers which aid Shino in combat, most notably control over water which passively washes its blade clean.
- Phaeton: Trayen gains the Omnisword near the end of Series 1. The sword is the only way to finish of a defeated Elementian permanently.
- Phoenix Rising: The last act begins when Kyri sets out to confront her parents' murderers, having completed her quest to find the Spiritsmith and obtain a sword and armor suitable to her new role as a Justiciar.
- Redwall: The sword of Martin the Warrior denotes each Warrior. Most noticeable in Redwall where it's part of Matthias being a reincarnation of Martin.
- The Saga of the Volsungs: Sigmund can only accomplish his vengeance on Siggeir after his sister Signy gives him the sword of Odin. Much later, Sigmund's son Sigurd receives the shards of the same sword from his mother, which he has then reforged into Gram, the weapon with which he goes on to avenge his father and kill the dragon Fafnir.
- Slayers has the Sword of Light. Presented as a Forgotten Superweapon or Excalibur in the Rust, the Sword was created by a god and is one of the few things that can kill Mazoku, and its reemergence marks a turning point in the divine stalemate. While the sword itself seems to be a minor plot point, it takes a sharp turn into the spotlight in Slayers TRY, as do the other weapons of its kind.
- Sword of Truth: The title sword, which is magically-imbued and has no equal. Richard gets it in like, the third chapter. Of the first book. Of a series of eleven doorstops. In fact, it becomes so associated with him and he actually reflexively reaches for it even when he doesn't have it, and other characters associate it with him personally. He eventually doesn't need it to kick twelve kinds of ass, but still prefers it to regular swords.
- The Wheel of Time: The one who can wield the crystal sword Callandor is the Dragon Reborn — the chosen one. The main character acquires it in the third book and then announces his station to the world. "The only one who can wield it" is not precisely true. He was the only one who could pick it up without dying, yes, but as soon as he did, the magic protecting it was gone. After he left Callandor behind at the Stone of Tear, Moiraine berated him for leaving the third most powerful magical object in existence lying around for his enemies to steal. It's also such a strong Amplifier Artifact that using it as a sword is a complete waste of its potential.
Live-Action TV
- Cursed (2020) has the Sword of Power, one of the last Fey-forged magical swords made by the Shadow Lords (which is all but stated to be Excalibur). It can only be destroyed by the Fey-fire from whence it was forged and any who wield it can call themselves king (or queen) of the land as others have before. When wielded by Nimue, it amplifies her magic, although it also seems to corrupt its wielder if used for long enough which is what happened to Merlin and why he now seeks to destroy the Sword. Many factions in the series seek to claim it for themselves to bolster their own power.
- Kamen Rider has several different sorts of example depending on the series:
- A common trend in the early Heisei series was to have the main character gain his final form via the acquisition of a unique and powerful sword. Examples of this include Faiz's Faiz Blaster (doubles as a BFG!), Hibiki's Armed Saber, and Den-O's DenKamen Sword.
- Many other final forms come with new swords that aren't the source of the hero's new powers, but facilitate their use in ways that the previous weapons couldn't. Early on these new weapons were the province of the final form, but the weapon has gradually become something introduced with the first or second major upgrade instead.
- In later Heisei shows, one of the main Rider's upgrades in particular will have story importance over the others even if it becomes obsoleted as a weapon, such as Mighty Brothers XX or the Hazard Trigger.
- Kamen Rider Zero-One has the unusual instance of the Progrise Hopper Blade, which isn't the source of his MetalCluster Hopper form's powers, but is necessary to use them safely. The sword itself functions as a Healing Shiv against certain opponents, but circumstances keep it from being useful against any of the major villains except as a weapon.
- In Ultraman Orb, regaining the Orb Calibur is the high turning point of the show.
Mythology
- King Arthur getting the Sword in the Stone and Excalibur (which may or may not be the same — Arthurian Legend can be confusing) are important steps in his rise to power, and Excalibur is his main weapon through pretty much the entirety of his life. Excalibur's sheath, arguably the more valuable artifact, provided magical protection that safeguarded Arthur and ensured Camelot's prosperity. The loss of the sheath kicks off Arthur's and Camelot's eventual downfall.
Pinball
- The player begins with a scimitar in Tales of the Arabian Nights (Williams), but must enchant it with seven magic gems before he can confront the evil genie of the game.
Tabletop Games
- In early editions of Dungeons & Dragons, Artifacts were meant to be this. Rather than just supremely powerful magic items (which, admittedly, they were), every Artifact had a backstory and usually some kind of curse or other condition that made life... "interesting" for anyone who ended up with one in their possession. For example, The Hand and Eye of Vecna, once merged with their new host, slowly drove their bearers to recreate Vecna's fallen empire (with plenty of tyranny along the way). Or digging up pieces of the Rod of Seven Parts caught the attention of various powerful demons since it was used to bind the essence of their greatest lord. An Artifact was something that entire campaigns were meant to turn around, and were never meant to be treated as just another step up in power for a Player Character.
Theatre
- The Ring of the Nibelung: Nothung is pulled from a tree in act 1 of Die Walküre, broken by Wotan's spear in act 2, reforged in act 1 of Siegfried, then breaks Wotan's spear in act 3, still important in Götterdämmerung.
Toys
- This trope is all over the place in Ninjago, which use these as collectables in the LEGO sets and often have a four-armed antagonist to wield all four items:
- Played straight in the pilot episodes with the Golden Weapons; the Sword of Fire, the Nunchucks of Lightning, the Scythe of Quakes and the Shurikens of Ice. Lord Garmadon seeks to bring the weapons together to allow him to escape from the underworld, while the ninja seek to gain the Weapons themselves to stop him. In Season 1: Rise of the Snakes, the four Fangblades serve as this, as they are required to awaken the Great Devourer, and the five staffs of the Serpentine leaders serve to reveal the map to their location due to the combination of their venom.
- After the Golden Weapons were used by Garmadon to kill the Great Devourer and he stole them for himself, the ninjas' elemental powers were weakened, so they sought the four Elemental Blades in the Temple of Light to restore their powers. Later they used the blades to unlock the Golden Mech for Lloyd.
- In Season 3: Rebooted, the ninja used the Tech Blades to create their vehicles, though they received these at the beginning of the season.
- Subverted in the Tournament of Elements arc, where the Jadeblades are simply tournament points.
- Also downplayed by the Aeroblades in Season 5: Possession, which allow the ninja to attack the ghosts that serve as the villains for the season.
- The Djinn Blade in Season 6 appeared in multiple forms across the sets, but there was only ever one in the show. It could trap souls and powers inside it, so trapping the ninja became Nadakhan's goal so he could use their powers to tear apart Ninjago and create a new Djinjago.
- Day of the Departed had evil versions of these wielded by the villains that would have allowed them to be truly revived had they defeated their respective ninja opponents; the Departed Blades.
- The Time Blades in Season 7: The Hands of Time return to being more traditional examples. They contain the elemental powers of the Masters of Time and were sealed in a temporal vortex that said Masters dove into to reclaim their powers. They thus seek to reunite them for the rest of the season to create a temporal superweapon.
- Season 8 had the three Oni masks, sought by the Sons of Garmadon cult to revive Lord Garmadon as a villain.
- Season 11: Secrets of the Forbidden Spinjitzu had the two Forbidden Scrolls of Spinjitzu.
- Season 12: Prime Empire had the three Key-tanas, two swords in the Prime Empire videogame the ninja needed to find to access main villain Unagami's throne room in the game.
- Season 13: Master of the Mountain had the two Blades of Deliverance. Uniquely, the swords themselves have no powers and instead represented hope to the peoples who owned them; the main villain of the season, the Skull Sorcerer, steals them partially to turn the two tribes against each other.
- The Island and Season 14: Seabound have the Storm Amulet and Wave Amulet that seal away Wojira's powers.
Visual Novels
- The black sword acquired by Mary Christie halfway through Shikkoku no Sharnoth. It allows her to attempt reasoning with the Metacreatures, though that does not work. What it does let her do is cast it away to show that she intends to save Charlie and everyone else she cares about. Mind you, it would be a pretty potent weapon if she wanted it to be.
Web Animation
- Red vs. Blue: Tucker's Plasma Sword starts out as a cool sword that can only be used by the "Chosen One", who is also the most evil (and/or stupid) individual in the universe (leading to a moment where Church names Caboose as The Antichrist). When it's taken to the frozen northlands, it can be used to unlock and power up a Cool Ship. The characters also get a little philosophical when deciding whether it's really a key or a sword. Season 13, taking place long after Cerebus Syndrome set in and established a serious mythos for the series, revisits and expands on the concept of Tucker's sword, revealing that it is in fact a "Great Key" that can unlock powerful Lost Technology left behind by an ancient alien civilization, and can only be used by the person who first touches it (at least until they die, allowing someone else to claim the right to use it). The season introduces a second Great Key, which becomes the season's Sword of Plot Advancement, as it isn't synced to anyone yet and the bad guys want to unlock said alien technology to destroy the planet of Chorus.
Church: So it is a sword. It just acts like a key in certain situations.
Caboose: Or, it's a key all the time, and when you stick it in people, it unlocks their death.
Webcomics
- The Sword of Xel Dum from the Not Safe for Work webcomic Locus
is a great example of this. It has a curse that requires the central character to kill whoever tries to take it for her, including the original owner... that's some plot advancement.