A great many of RPG weapons are horrendously impractical, bordering on damn near inoperable. This includes a number of weapons in the Final Fantasy franchise. Can you imagine the kickback from Squall or Seifer's gunblade?
Final Fantasy VII's Cloud certainly doesn't cut an imposing figure. He's actually something of a waif. Obviously, the question that's on everyone's mind is not how a giant, tattooed tiger can talk, or just how Barrett controls shoots his "gun-arm," but how Cloud can wield the iconic Buster Sword in the first place? In real world dimensions, it'd have to be roughly five feet long, and the blade itself is easily a foot wide.
Prop maker Tony Swatton set out to find the answers, amalgamating the sword's hilt, handle, and blade itself from a number of metals, plastics, etc. Swatton and a number of helpers also went to great lengths to add detail, ensuring the buster sword wasn't only the right size, but to make sure it looked right too.
Swatton and crew caught the whole process on video too, which you can check out below. The end result? A 70 pound back breaking buster blade in all its glory.
As you can see, you don't really swing the sword, so much as you just "let it fall." Cloud must be hitting the steroids, or he has a secret supply of Jenova cells hidden somewhere in his inventory.
Swatton's done a number of other video game replicas as well, from Minecraft's diamond sword to Sora's keyblade from Kingdom Hearts, as well as numerous other re-creations from various bits of pop culture. You can check out more of his work at the AweMe YouTube Channel.
