WEIRD WEAPONS - Final Fantasy Sword!
Square Enix, the makers of the 'Final Fantasy' game asked me to make a sword from the upcoming XVI release to be displayed in the Tower of London Armouries - how cool is that!?!
Matt Easton from Schola Gladiatoria and I get together sometimes to talk about weird weapons and this is certainly one of those, so I wrapped it up and handed it over for the big reveal. Then we talk about it seriously; how it was made, historical parallels and whatever else that comes to mind.
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Film where Matt and I stab through steel and mail • Testing a medieval ant...
Matt can be found here / @scholagladiatoria
And Clive Rosfield and his amazing new sword can be found here www.finalfantasy.com
This one was so much fun, but I have to admit that it was REALLY REALLY difficult restraining myself from hitting something with it. I felt sorry for the table.
Throughout the entire video, I hoped you would.
Yeah, I could see you were raring to have a go!
No Final Fantasy or sword fan(casual or otherwise) would have been able to resist swinging that.
This flail in the background got me excited as well. Can we hope for smashing pumpkins pt. 2 this Halloween?
I was really hoping for some montante drills 😄
"It's 18 lbs". Me: yeah, looks it. "And it's hollow." Me: *spits out coffee.*
and it's a 1-hander, according to the main character in the game :D
I wish to know how much it would have weighed solid tbh
@@erminos8628 I'd guesstimate another couple kilos if the hollow section was solid, so maybe 9 to 10 kilos total weight?
@@erminos8628around 28-36 lbs
18 pounds of feathers?
I don't think a blacksmith/armorer could ever obtain a greater compliment to their work, than to have their work displayed in the Tower of London. That's amazing and good job Tod.
I don't think that a renegade could ever obtain a greater compliment to their work, than to have their head displayed in the Tower of London. 😃👍
Agreed to both haha
Isn't age one of the main factors? Also they could get kill in a sock by my dad
Props to Square Enix for knowing exactly who to hire to make something like that.
It’s all On KZhead now so it’s a self advertisement at this point
fun fact from the FF16 side...that sword is actually a family heirloom, so the idea that it was a regular sword with "some sort of cladding" is totally believable
I tell you, if these game companies want to advertise to me, this is how to do it. I have not paid the tiniest bit of attention to any type of advertising for 20 years, but this... hell yeah. I'm also referring to the Age of Empires commission.
I'm playing the game. It's really, really good thus far
Actually this is not in the paid sense an advert all. I made it so I want to talk about it. A good side effect for them
@@tods_workshop they should be paying you for this video
@@tods_workshop need to step up your middle management game and leverage this holistic synergistic low hanging fruit of mutual benefit by this seamless integration of uniquely targeted material to the targeted demographics who are advertising adverse that drives client sales in order to drive record breaking quarterly revenue for Tod's Workshop. AKA, get your bag, son.💲😹
Tod's a true nerd, he enjoys what he does and doesn't let greed spoil it! Do what's good for you, Tod!
Having your work in the Tower is something you can add to your resume.
Quite an understatement.
Quite an achievement!
At this point, Tod’s resume would be: Hi, I’m Tod. “You’re hired.”
It’s much more than that. He’s a legend now!
@@mitcharcher7528 "Hi, im Tod. I have a trebuchet."
Todd's work is in the Tower of London. Can we start a petition to get him a knighthood or something?
I think we are getting close to the time we should call him Sir Tod.
Surely, there must be a title like "Royal Armorer" or something lying around. Unused for centuries.
If british royalty were good for anything, they'd grant him a fief.
Is it cool to be proud of someone you have never met? Just asking, because I was honestly feeling proud of Tod here seeing his work on display in the Tower. Good work, man. That's a milestone, for sure.
"Pride" might not be the best description since "pride" is usually something you feel for yourself (or someone you are close to) but I think what you may actually be feeling is "freudenfreude" which is basically feeling happy for someone else's joy/success. It's a form of positive empathy and the opposite of "schadenfreude", or taking pleasure in others misfortune.
@@ReelBigFan Nice insight. Thank you for the "freudenfreude" reference. Learned something.
@@ReelBigFan 100% and I feel a lot of freudenfeude for Tod when it comes to this sword. Sadly schadenfreude is more common among people. The Germans clearly have better words for this than the English language. In Norwegian we have a word that is "skadefryd" that means exactly the same as "schadenfreude", and as you see is it not that differently written. I have no idea if we have borrowed it from German, or it comes from a old Germanic or a old Norse word and maybe the word was one time borrowed from old Norse There are for sure very many words in the English language that have their origin in old Norse. The history of languages is very interesting and complex.
Actually not wrong around the 12:06 minute mark, the in-game description describes the sword as being a family heirloom that's passed down, having originally been part of a legendary set of 7 swords crafted within the flames of a mythological volcano. The swords in the game world tend to all be rather realistic and grounded, except for most of the ones wielded by the protagonist, as they are either relics or crafted from magical materials.
Yup and having played the game you find out this sword is Clive's father's that he left for when Clive returned.
Do you want an edged or a bludgeoning weapon? Yes!
Imagine the weight of Cloud's buster sword from FF VII? Sweet Pasta that would be a beast.
@@MonkeyJedi99 Made many times. Look up Michael Cthulhu, he specializes in oversized weapons. Buster Sword, Guts's sword, Sword of Power, etc.
I get a really big sword and i go like this
Cat-Lon's Falling Sun from Kenshi
Yes
The hollow strong of the blade is needed to contain the magical enhancers! Great job!
Of Course! Seriously though there were hollow pilgrim badges that you could put holy water etc into as well as wearable reliquaries of course
@@tods_workshop Did anyone ever make holy whiskey?
@@Deipnosophist_the_Gastronomer I guess you can just put holy ice cubes in there.
@@Deipnosophist_the_Gastronomer Holy wine for mass. Holy whiskey for massacre.
Aqua vitae scotch whiskey used to be made by monks. Now made by a company but they didn't change the recipe.
11:20 As a Final Fantasy player from 1-13, it's all about style at this point. This is the series with the Gunblade, transforming swords, multi-sword swords, and the Bustersword and 9-foot long Masamune katana.
I want to see the telescopic rapier, that sounds like an absolutely bonkers weapon
Maybe not so bonkers. Could be constructed in a similar manner to telescoping tactical batons but with the final section being stabby-pointy instead of hitty-bashy. Looking forward to that as well.
I'm actually disappointed we didn't see one in Bloodborne. Feels like it would fit right in.
While I've never seen the telescopic rapier, I know modern telescopic jian aren't uncommon. Maybe similar to that?
@@Knoloaify I mean, the reiterpellasche (hope I spelled that right lol, not looking it up) kind of telescopes, don't it? Or does the blade just move to get shorter
@@kaoskronostyche9939 My guess is that it would run into trouble over the sheer length of it, most Rapier blades are pretty big already in that 100 to 130cm length and at least partially sharpened for cutting. So it would be a matter of keeping the weight down on what's already a pretty big old sword, then because its long it'll also need quite a bit of strength too. Quite a complicated bit of engineering, course if it just a prop or something you can get away with less of that as someone's not going to be battling for their life with it :)
At least it's not the FFVII Buster Sword (laughs), that thing is a monster and the only "solid" blade reproduction of it was so heavy the man who forged it injured his back trying to wield it.
Yeah, a solid version of that sword would be massive enough that even a person with significantly superhuman strength would struggle to wield it if they had normal mass.
@@garethbaus5471There's a video on YT where one of the world's strongest men tried to swing it, but even had trouble holding it.
Even better, the channel Pretty Hate Machining made an honest to goodness Dragonslayer from Berserk.
Buster Sword is more like a slab of metal, rather than a sword
Yeah I don’t remember the story that well, but there was a certain kind of energy that made those exposed to it strangely strong. The main character who wielded it was toned but somewhat scrawny. Haha. Anyway, the important thing was it was cool af. 😊
Pretty wicked to be commissioned by Square Enix of all things, I'm sure they're as pleased as Matt!
As FF swords go, this one is downright realistic. The forte is ABSURDLY thick and heavy, don't know why it necks down like that, but it's pretty cool looking.
As a fan of both channels, I love it when the two of your do videos together.
Actually I think we do to0 - this was really fun and we get on well and enjoy it
@@tods_workshopyou do seem to enjoy the company of Matt indeed, and also of Joe Gibbs. Professionals with a shared interest. Now we just need Jason to pop by for a fine triangular chat.
@@tods_workshop It shows, it really shows; you seem to animate each other as you get into the topic. And Matt is the Yang to help solve many of the kinematics of weapon usages- it is what he does, and what you do to achieve something new. But get you a wrestler from the school where your javelin thrower hails from! Having lugged a William Wallace wall hanger at a local Renn Faire for a warm day, what a load of bricks just to carry that beast sword was!
to make it properly "CEREMONIAL" it must be made from "copper alloy" [ducking under Metatrons maze]
😂
maze or gaze?
As a cosplayer who started researching weapons and armour, I came onto your collective channels years ago and have remained a fan through the years. I'm definitely going to be doing a Clive cosplay (sword and all!) but my tastes have (surprise!) been towards more realistic weapons over the years. At the same time, I want to say that I -really- appreciate the video and respect Square-Enix for commissioning a passionate and skilled smith like Todd to make their sword.
Tod at it again, bringing genuine childlike joy to grown adults. Every person on the planet has pretended to wield a sword like that, and you can tell by the chuckles and cut scene playing, a dream was achieved for you both. As always, well done, sir!
as a videogame fan, Final Fantasy fan, and Tod's Workshop fan, I am super happy for you taking this commission and proud of where it is being displayed
It's interesting to me how you can kinda tell that Japanese fantasy RPG swords are all pulling from the same sort of visual language, even though it's completely divorced from reality or practicality. The cylindrical grip, for instance. Or the use of those pointy diamond shapes. And of course the blade being unmanageably heavy and chunky by the crossguard.
Blade being unmanageably heavy and chunky is more or less a subconscious male overcompensation lol
@@99Plastics and you probably know all about that, huh
@synthwavehyena4849 It might also be the erroneous idea that European swords were huge and chunky and meant for cleaving, because the katanas in JRPGs and anime are (generally) pretty reasonable - and nimble - by comparison. Sure, you have some outliers in both cases, but from what I can tell, that's generally how it is in Fantasy media, Japanese or otherwise (looking at you, WoW), you know?
I'm pretty sure the cylindrical grip is just due to ease of 3D modelling and not wanting to spend as much time working on the parts of the geometry that are going to be half-hidden by the character's hands most of the time.
I kinda like Dragon Ball's Z-sword, it's a fairly realistic and interesting blade. But like all of Toriyama's blades, it uses cylindrical grips, probably as a massive drawing simplification.
That promo footage is 🔥. Ya'll tryin to make a tourist out of me or what 😂
It would be interesting to see a practicalised, de-exagerated version of this, taking the design queues and shrinking them down to the proportions of a greatsword. A couple of years ago, the swords of Peter Jackson's films were on display at Leeds. Congratulations Tod, I hope this is the first of many of your weapons displayed there.
Congratulations, Tod! Thats really well done, and the artificial aging is gorgeous. It doesn't matter how long it is on display, the fact of the matter is you've now had a piece in the tower. Nevermind having made a reproduction for one of the biggest video game franchises in the world
That’s fantastic to have your work presented in the Tower of London! Congratulations! I love your work and it’s awesome to see you honored in that way.
Wow, that's absolutely beautiful! I've been a FF fan for over 20 years and this was the crossover I didn't know I wanted
Idk why but, I'm just picturing Ronnie Coleman holding that sword saying light weight baby!😂
😂 Yea boy!
Haha me too!
Congratulations on the display Tod! It's always cool to see someone passionate about his work being acknowledged. Cheers!
Love the detail on the coloring as well, hard to get that much material to be a consistent color/texture/quality lol.
Honestly, I'd kinda love to see you tackle some fantasy weapons. Especially the ones where there is some realism to them.
Please no. There are enough talented smiths wasting their talents doing exactly that. More historical reproduction vids is what we need.
I have to say that I am with Fallen student on this one
@@tods_workshop Fair enough! Keep up the good work!
@@tods_workshop Maybe historical weapons from other regions?
@@tods_workshop Sadly I think there are to few talented smiths that make high quality fantasy weapons that have some realism to them. Way to often they focus on the pure nonsense fantasy weapons where it is much more about the art than about making a weapon that might be realistic to use if you had the fantasy strength and speed. And that is why I totally stay away from buying any of those fantasy weapons, even if I am in some degree a fantasy fan. I am most of all a fan of practical weapons, but I would have loved to buy that sword from you if I had the money for it and it was possible to buy.
I would say having your work put on display in The Tower of London would be an honor to be counted among the best smiths in Europe, congratulations Tod
Funny that Tod’s estimate was 18lbs and Matt’s 15lbs and it weighed exactly in between. I was also initially surprised it was so light. Big congrats on getting your work in the ‘Tower of London!
Quite light and nimble for a final fantasy sword tbh 😂
yeah in FFXVI they tried to go for something more grounded, not totally grounded but enough. for example the female lead, Clive´s (The MC) Partner, called Jill, uses a regular Rapier... Then you have characters like Dion who uses a halverd/lance... that are a liiittle over the top but not Too Much.
@@TheMaxCloud wasn't 12 also semi-grounded in terms of weapon design? Not all of them, obviously, but I seem to remember a fair-few that were at least visually "lightweight" and downright reasonably proportioned. Particularly the one-handed weapons and polearms. I think the most unforgivable thing in fantasy weapon design is guards that point back at the user's wrist and useless spiky bits (often also pointed at the user) and of course the circular cross-section handles.
@@ShiningDarknes 12 had guns and ships didn't it? The aesthetic was more star-wars / pirate than medieval
@@16m49x3 it has sort of quasi-muskets, but no it was till mostly melee weapons.
They were generally pretty lighter prior to 7.
A beautiful piece and such an amazing announcement at the end! I would love an alternate version of said sword, certain elements scaled down to give a more appropriate weight and balance to make a wieldy beautifully designed battle ready object
Big congratulations on having your work put on show in the tower Tod! well deserved AND glorious
Excellent work. Seeing the passion you put in and finally seeing it paid off is wonderful. You could've bragged a lot more for that amazing achievement. Congratulations!
That's a beast of a sword...
I got literal goosebumps when you said where it was going to be displayed. I am so thrilled for you to have this honor.
I really enjoy your channel and your colabs with Matt.... Congrats on the sword being presented in the Tower of London. WOW!
That is such an amazing replication! Great work! Of course, now I wonder what kind of changes you would make to incorporate a similar design to a more practical sword.
Tod you never cease to amaze. Beautiful work and it's so cool seeing it in the tower of London.
Tod, you do such amazing work. I really hope a lot of contracts like this one will follow.
Thanks but I hope not!
@@tods_workshop Just quote a price that would make them say no, someday you might just get a yes and be set, that's how the Rolling Stones got $3 million for Microsoft to use a single song of theirs in 1995. Square Enix is worth $6.1 billion, so ya never know. 🤷♂
Great stuff Todd. Lots of us have looked at these games and gone whats that like in real life, and now you've answered it. Big congratulations on the Tower of London. That's amazing. It's not only an honour to be displayed there, but they want your work to help drive interest for people to come look at the rest of the collection.
Congratulations Tod on the spectacular finished work! Love both you and Matt discussing it, from end to end. In particular I appreciated your discussion of the time you took to weather the sword, as it certainly does bring it to life as a “lived” artifact instead of something artificial and only made for a single spot. You can tell the love and detail that went into its construction and this is what keeps bringing us back! Keep is up lads ;-)
You should have asked Penny Mordant to come and hold it for you.
lol🤣
What a great, fun discussion from Tod and Matt. The sword is a very impressive bit of work.
When I saw the Square Enix announcement I wondered if you’d made it. Well done sir just received in game.
I had heard about this sword and was just blown away at seeing that you made it. Well done!
It's a marvel seeing that built from steel!! Such an amazing piece Todd
Love seeing you guys together! You two are legends in your own right.
Thanks
I think a lot of people would literally kill for having their work displayed in the Tower of London for a day, let alone a month. Great work as always!
Good on you Tod! No greater honour could a smith have. The montage at the Tower gave me goosebumps. Cheers mate!
Congratulations, sword looks amazing. What a great honor to have it shown in the Tower of London. I would totally plan a trip to see your sword if I lived in Europe.
Damn Tod that is astonishing work. I can't believe you pulled that off. I'm a big fan of both you and Final Fantasy. Absolutely incredible.
Beautiful work. Can't wait for my next Tod's Workshop piece.
Congratulations on the honour, Todd. The sword looks amazing! A perfect compliment to an amazing game, and a fitting addition to the Tower of London's armoury. Cheers!
Congratulations on the display, can't wait to see whatever crazy thing you make next
Matt doing his best to be charitable hahaha Neat project, but very fantastic. Hope you had fun making it!
I love that the sword's colour scheme matches that of the Tower of London uniform, intentionally or not! Congratulations again for getting some of your work displayed there!
Beautifully executed Tod, well done! You are really good at what you do
For the question regarding just looking cool vs functionality: Working in games and knowing some Concepts Artist (the people working out the designs for important Items/Persons/Places), they do A LOT of research in the real thing to understand the rules they are about to break or bend to create a believable but over the top cool item.
Great work with the sword Tod! I like it a lot. That is one of if not the best fantasy sword/weapon made I have seen. The design is even one of the most sensible fantasy weapons I have ever seen. Yes, you need to be super strong and super fast to be able to use it well, but it still makes very total sense when put into a fantasy setting. Most fantasy weapons don't make any sense at all for practical use, but this sword makes total sense. Big kudos to both the Final Fantasy XVI team and to you. This is one of the very few fantasy swords I would like to buy if I had the money. Both because it is great looking fantasy sword and because I have been a big FF fan for very many years. And it is really amazing that your sword is on display in the Tower of London. Congrats with the success and you clearly deserve it a lot.
Honestly, given the game's rising star as of late, I wouldn't be surprised if an official replica - be it a wall hanger or a LARP prop - were licensed by Square-Enix. Would be nice to see, that's for sure!
Congrats, You deserve it for the work you do!
That's some real craftsmanship. Great fun to see an essay in bladesmithing. Not everything has to be practical - fun is fine!
Congrats Tod, wish I could get over to go see it, it looks excellent. On your talk about fantasy weapons, my mind was cast back to a book I read by Gene Wolfe "Shadow of the Torturer" and "Sword of the Lictor" where the hero of the story is a torturer and executioner where he uses a large two handed sword that is based on the executioners sword, it has a hollow tube in the blade through to the hilt with a quantity of mercury in the hollow tube and is said in the books to be easy to raise as the mercury runs into the hilt and when the blade swings the mercury goes to the blade tip to give more mass there to aid the cut.
Absolutely brilliant :O Congratulations, Tod! 👏
Fabulous sword, wonderful work Tod and congratulations on getting your work into the Tower of London :) Now where's the build video? I would love to see how this fantasy piece was made!
That is a great grin on your face, and a well-deserved one! You've made it all the way to the Tower of London Armouries! Congratulations, from me to you on my birthday :-)
That last bit, with the museum piece... that is an Honor. I feel pillaged just walking into history museums. Not because its my right, no, because hundreds, maybe even thousands of people took their time to preserve and protect what is on display. Let alone those that made or used items. When I look at a sword in a museum, I am reminded of the miners, the merchants, the smith, AND the soldiers. People how used the weapon and people who died by it... and I'm aloud to see and imagine the history it could tell. To have your own display at a museum... that is fantastic.
I love this so much. I would love to see a slimmer and realistic version of Clive's sword in the correct weight and practical size.
So awesome you guys did this! I'm a big fan both of Final Fantasy and smithing!
Looking forward to what you got planned as the weird medieval weapon. If I could, I’d love to watch you two discuss over a nice flamberge blade.
Good on ya Mate !!! You are very deserving of such an honor !!! You dedication to the nitty gritty of history is what makes you a very special person !! Thanks for showing us all how it really was over the years. Sure makes me appreciate what I have hehehe. Take care bro,, Cheers
What an honor, and you are a very big deal Tod, thanks for being out there sir.
The two of you bounce so well off each other, great collab videoes As for the sword, she's a bit on the thicc side... Gotta love it 😍 Amazing work Tod
I'm a Fan of the Final Fantasy series ... and a fan of the channel ... this video was a blast for me... amazing work.
😄 Nice, I was hoping to see Matt try some montante forms with it but figured he'd throw out his back As for telescopic weapons some friends of mine got hold of 2 they wanted to spar with recently 😋 The 1st one was a bo staff but I managed to bend it in a few strokes, clearly not great for bludgeoning weapons but the 2nd one really worked and I got a bit obsessed with it you'd love it - a telescoping spear. It's about a 12 inch hewing spearhead on a handle that extends to 2 lengths, 3 feet for single handed and 6 feet for 1 or 2 handed, it has a lot in common with an all steel hollow haft it's just a shame it would've got too thin for use at 8+ feet. Genius eitherway 🙂
i find it funny to display a sword from a game in such a place, but it doesnt lower the impressiveness of having your work displayed there Tod. Congrats on the achievement! im sure the whole community is happy for you mate!
Gorgeous work, Tod!
What a feather in your cap Tod!! WELL DONE!! 😁👍👍👏👏👏👏👏👏👏
Beautiful job, Tod. That is a fantastic sword and a work of art.
Congrats Tod!!!! I'd be just more than grinning from ear to ear, I'd be shouting from every mountain top!
Long time fan of this channel your work and Final Fantasy! Excellent stuff
amazing work tod
A fun project with an amazing sword at the end. Nice one!
Todd, that is an amazingly well done recreation of Clive's sword. And for those wondering the game is fun to play as well.
I love to see you working with Matt, and others, but especially Matt because when I watch him on his channel his knowledge and expertise comes pouring out at such a rate I struggle to keep up. P.S. Don't tell Matt, don't want to upset him. 😂🤣😂👍
♥
Excellent!
Good lord that thing is heavy as that is roughly SIX times heaver than an actual sword and that's with a significant section that's hollow. Props to Matt for being able to handle it as well as he does.
Wow - what an amazing sword, and how amazing that it works like a real sword, not a fantasy one, even down to having the correct balance point! 'Twas probably too heavy for Matt to check out the distal taper. And to have your outstanding work displayed at the Royal Armouries in the Tower of London - couldn't happen to a nicer bloke and craftsman! 'Tis certain that would never have happened if you'd just made a plastic sword and sprayed it silver! I'm chuffed for you!
Beautiful looking fantasy sword that you've made there Tod!!! I enjoyed your video and I gave it a Thumbs Up
Congratulations Todd you deserve it. You would have been right at home making the best weapons of the day for the warriors of England back then.
Congrats! Super stoked for you
8:30 Fun fact - Clive literally holds it as you're half-swording it /exactly/ in a much later point in the game.
I love the conversation about this sword. Instead of just dismissing everything, the idea of religious iconography or semi-practical though high fantasy elements could be seen.
Beautiful work Todd 👍👍
Tod I would love for you to take this design and rework it and make it into a functional sword that a normal person could use. It would be really cool to see how it looks compared to the game design and how it actually preforms since this sword you clearly arent able to actually test.
Well, the main issue is just the weight, i guess all you really need to do downsize the blade. Not really someone that you can expect to be made on a whim though.
Make the blade thinner, the crossguard less chunky, and I think you can easily shave off 4 kg. It'd still be quite heavy though, but at least it would be in the realm of big two-handed swords.
Its looking very good on display, real metal looks just better. Happy for your achievement Tod!