Yoru

Yoru is one of the strongest swords in the world, ranked as one of the 12 Supreme Grade swords. It is a "Black Blade" (黒刀) that is currently owned by Dracule Mihawk, the "Strongest Swordsman in the World".

Appearance
A Western-looking sword, Yoru is an ornately decorated, overall cruciform weapon with a curved, single-edged "black blade". Resembling an oversized messer, it has a total length of well over 2 meters (being over a head taller than Mihawk, who stands at 198 cm, when placed on his back). When not in use, due to lacking a scabbard, Yoru is held against Mihawk's back by two simple holding loops integrated into the man's coat.

Yoru's hilt is more than suitable for two-handed use at almost half the blade's length (though its length portrayal is inconsistent). The bandage-wrapped grip (white in the manga, grayish in the anime) has on its top a large and round cabochon of red (blue in the anime) color to serve as the pommel, being set into a circular, golden base. The golden crossguard is extremely long to the sides, such that on Mihawk's back, especially seen from the front, the sword looks like a huge crucifix. In particular, the guard constitutes a thick, continuous bar perfectly right-angled to the blade, flat on all sides with a rectangular cross-section, but on each end being forked and recurved up and down like a cross moline. Running centrally along the front and back sides of the guard are rectangular grooves edged with a swirly sprig pattern for beautifying detail. The groove on each side is broken in the middle where a rather large, red cabochon is inset (topping a smaller variant of itself); on each forked terminal of the guard, again on both sides, are more of such red stones, this time in trios (from the outer to the inner ones decreasing in size). In the anime, the stones are different: three smaller, blue cabochons in the center, divided by in-between pairs of yet smaller, green gems, and on the ends of the guard two stones instead of three, the outer and inner ones respectively blue and green (and of equal size). Furthermore, nearly 1/3 down each flat of the blade, centrally from the crossguard, are langets (reinforcing, strip-like extensions of the guard) that are grooved and edged the same as the crossarms.

The blade itself is jet-black (as played on by the name "Yoru", meaning "Night") with a perfect, mirror-polished finish, and seems differentially hardened to produce an iridescent (greenish in the anime) sheen aslant the blade, fading at intervals; in the anime, the temper has been described as an "irregular double-clove pattern" (乱刃・重花丁字). In shape, the blade possesses a mild, gradual widening in profile until its top-third section, whence it tapers to a sharp point and, with its flat back edge, curves upward, with a distal taper toward the tip.

Abilities
Without subtlety, a sword is but an iron bar.As one of the 12 Supreme Grade swords, Yoru ranks among the most powerful, highest-quality swords ever crafted, and is deemed a weapon suitable for the world's greatest swordsman.

Coupled with Mihawk's unparalleled swordsmanship, Yoru is shown to yield tremendous power, seen destroying a massive war galleon with a single swing. While Yoru is the sharpest blade in the world, it is also gentle. This was demonstrated when Mihawk deflected the course of bullets that were aimed at him with only a slight touch of the sword. Mihawk can launch massive cutting waves of compressed air (in the anime appearing as light-greenish energy) that can reach at extremely long distances, send spiraling waves at the opponent with pinpoint accuracy, and was able to slice apart lengthwise a massive mountain of ice from afar.

Techniques
Although Mihawk does not name any of his attacks in the mainstream of the series, there are several specific moves he has used during the series that are named in various video games. Below is a description of the variety of attacks shown.




 * Kokuto Issen (黒刀一閃): Mihawk swings his blade to launch an invisible flying slash, which is able to cut everything in its path, making a powerful long-range slice. A vertical version of this attack was first seen to cut Don Krieg's galleon in half, and a horizontal version was seen much later during the Summit War, in Mihawk's attempt to hit Luffy, but missed, instead slicing apart a mountainously huge, frozen tsunami lengthwise. This attack is unnamed in anime and manga, named only in Gigant Battle.




 * Kokuto Arahoshi (黒刀荒星): Mihawk jumps up high into the air, standing on the crossarms of his sword, and descends to impale his opponent. It was first seen being used against Luffy. This attack is unnamed in anime and manga, named only in Gigant Battle. A variant of this attack is part of Mihawk's moveset in Pirate Warriors.




 * Kokuto Saku (黒刀朔): A counterattack. Mihawk awaits his opponent's next attack holding his Black Blade with two hands over his back. Once the enemy does attack, Mihawk counters extremely swiftly with a powerful downward slash. It was first seen attempting to be used against Luffy's Gomu Gomu no Jet Bazooka, but Luffy realized that if he attacked Mihawk, his arms would be cut off and thus redirected his attack to the ground, giving Mihawk no chance to commit to his slice. The attack is unnamed in anime and manga, named only in Gigant Battle.




 * Kokuto Kogetsu (黒刀弧月): Mihawk attacks with his Yoru at great speed. This technique seems to be more powerful than a normal slash of the sword as it emits some kind of cutting air (but not enough to cover great distances). This was first seen against Luffy. This attack is unnamed in anime and manga, named only in Unlimited Adventure, Unlimited Cruise, and Gigant Battle.




 * Chi o Hau Zangeki (地を這う斬撃): Mihawk makes a downward swing to launch Flying Slash Attack that travels at great speed through the ground. This attack is able to cut through steel with ease and rapidity. It was first seen used against Luffy but was blocked by Mr. 1, who receives all of the damage instead, breaking his steel body in just seconds. This attack is unnamed in anime and manga, named only in Gigant Battle.




 * Mihawk launches a massive Flying Slash Attack (even longer than the Moby Dick) towards his opponent, capable of cutting through massive amounts of ice, and supposedly much more. "Diamond" Jozu of the Whitebeard Pirates was able to stop it, although it's unknown if it was because Mihawk lacks the ability to cut through diamond, because Mihawk did not expect Jozu blocking the attack (and thus, not wasting energy to send a slash strong enough to cut diamond), or because of a Haki issue. It is an extremely powerful technique, possessing incredible range and power. Because a marine in the manga calls it "The world's strongest slash" (世界一の斬撃), people often mistakenly think that it is Mihawk's strongest technique. However, a more accurate translation shows that the marine simply meant that it was a slash made by the world's strongest swordsman. Mihawk himself says that he just wants to test the difference between him and Whitebeard before using this technique, so it is quite possible this is not his most powerful attack. It was "named" by one of the war participants when he described the attack, when used as a long-range opener against Whitebeard but was blocked by Jozu's diamond body; in the anime, it was able to force Jozu back a distance.




 * Mihawk slices the opponent with a spiral-like Flying Slash Attack (very similar to Zoro's Sanjuroku Pound Ho) with great speed. This, alongside with Mihawk's outstanding eyesight, makes one of the fastest and most accurate attacks shown in the whole series (it was able to strike a Luffy in Gear Second while he is moving in the middle of the war of Marineford).

Video Game-Only Techniques

 * Kokuto "Samidare" (黒刀「斬乱」): Mihawk makes a chain of slices forward, finishing with a black flying slash. This attack is used in the Pirate Warriors games, where it is localized as Black Blade: Wild Slash.


 * Kokuto "Mu" (黒刀「無」): The area is blanketed in darkness, and Mihawk slices enemies with swift attacks, cutting them down over a wide forward range. This attack is used in the Pirate Warriors games, localized as Black Blade: The Void.

Anime and Manga Differences
The cabochons on the sword's hilt are red in the manga, while in the anime they are blue and green in color. Also, in the anime and video games, Yoru's blade is quite wide while in the manga, it is portrayed as comparatively slenderer. This may have been changed as of Episode 489, where the sword appears thinner like its manga counterpart.

Notably in the anime, during the Marineford Arc when Mihawk first prepares to enter the battle, Tashigi, in observing Mihawk's sword, offers a description of it, stating that the temper line of its jet-black blade is an irregular "jūka chōji" (double-clove) pattern; a type of temper line or "hamon" found on Japanese swords. It should be noted that not only does this description not occur in the manga, a double-clove pattern is not readily discernable in either the anime or the manga the way the blade is portrayed.

Otherwise, a difference noticeable in the anime is that the blade of the sword emits purple streaks when swung during its first use against Zoro (which is changed to green during the Marineford Arc).

Trivia

 * In Episode 515, Mihawk shows Zoro a humandrill with a sword identical to Yoru, but with a white blade.
 * For the 4Kids dub the sword's cross-shaped guard was shortened because it looked too much like a crucifix.
 * In Chapter 966, one of the Roger Pirates, CB Gallant, appears to wield on his back a sword whose size and hilt are similar to Yoru's.
 * In SBS Volume 95, Oda drew Yoru and the Kogatana personified as humans. Yoru took the form of a "cool older sister" with dark hair in twintails.

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