Today, Marvel Comics launched it’s new X-Men events. X of Swords: Creation is an epic fantasy X-Men story on the scale of Lord of the Rings. Also, as the title suggests, it has a lot of swords! SPOILERS for X of Swords: Creation #1 by Jonathan Hickman, Tini Howard, Pepe Larraz, and Marte Gracia follow. This issue saw a group of mutants traveling through the portal to Otherworld where they faced off against a horde led by Apocalypse’s children, the original four Horsemen, whom Apocalypse left behind when he’s sacrificed the mutant island Arakko to save Krakoa and the rest of the Earth ages ago.
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It’s a lot to take in, but there’s more. Opal Luna Saturnyne, the Ominiversal Majestrix who rules Otherworld, intervened and manipulated both sides of the mutants conflict into a kind of ritual tournament. Each side will choose 10 champions and those champions will face off in combat.
Each champion needs a sword, and those champions have three days to retrieve their weapons. The swords named by the children of Apocalypse are unfamiliar, but most of those named by Polaris on behalf of Krakoa are familiar to Marvel readers.
Here we’ll walk you through what we know about these blades.
X of Swords: Creation #1 is on sale now.
Muramasa Blade
The Muramasa blade is a weapon created by an immortal madman and wordsmith named Muramasa. Wolverine wielded the sword for a time after regaining his memories in Wolverine: Origin. Muramasa made the sword for Logan not long after World War II. Logan married a woman named Itsu, and they had a son named Akihiro, now known as Daken.
But the Winter Soldier came to their village and killed Itsu. Logan went to Muramasa and had him forge a blade with which Logan could exact his revenge. It took years, but Muramasa completed the red-bladed weapon using Logan’s blood and a fragment of his soul to channel his rage. Logan only returned to claim the sword after regaining his memories decades later.
Muramasa made the blade from an unknown alloy that can cut through nearly anything. It is also capable of slowing a healing factor, and Wolverine believes the weapon is the only thing on Earth that can kill him.
The Sword of Might
The Sword of Might is one of the two mystical artifacts that can bestow the mantle of Captain Britain upon an individual. Though Brian Braddock chose the other artifact, the Amulet of Right, to become Captain Britain, his sister Betsy is now Captain Britain and The Sword of Might is calling to him.
Grasscutter
Grasscutter is a powerful weapon forged by a blacksmith and given to the Japanese gods during their war with the Greek pantheon. It is said to be a perfect sword.
The Hand once stole the weapon, forcing Daredevil to team with the Chaste to retrieve it. Since then, Fandral has wielded the blade and later Phobos of the Secret Warriors used it.
Godkiller
The same blacksmith that created Grasscutter crated Godkiller at the same time and gave it to the Greek gods. Unlike, Grasscutter, Godkiller is flawed. It was lost, but appeared in stories and legends for generations.
In recent history, Kraken, one of the heads of Hydra, discovered the blade and gave it to the mutant Gorgon. Gorgon fought against Phobos, who wielded Grasscutter. Both weapons broke during the battle, but Gorgon used the shard of Godkiller to kill Phobos and left the blade in the slain god-child’s corpse.
Warlock
There is no known sword called Warlock, but there is a Warlock who is a member of the New Mutants. He is a mutant member of the alien race called the Technarch.
Warlock is a shapeshifter, and he often uses his ability to bond with Cypher in combat. Preview images suggest that Cypher will wield Warlock like a sword in X of Swords.
The Soul Sword
The Soul Sword is a weapon that Magik forged from her own soul and life essence during the years she was trapt in Limbo and forced by the sorcerer Belasco to learn the mystic arts.
The weapon possesses many mystical abilities. Other wielders of the Soul Sword include Kate Pryde, Nighcrawler, and Pixie.
The Light of Galador
The Light of Galador is an alien sword that Cable discovered lodged in the body of a monster inhabiting returned Arakko. One of the progenitors of the Spaceknights created the weapon. A group of Spaceknights came to Earth to reclaim the weapon but Cable outsmarted them and managed to hang onto the weapon.
The Unkowns: The Starlight Sword, The Scarab, Skybreaker
There are three swords named whose existence is, until now, unknown: the Starlight Sword, the Scarab, and Skybreaker.
The name of the Starlight Sword suggests a possible connection the Starlight Citadel, the seat of power of Opal Luna Saturnyne, Omnivesal Majestrix of the Multiverse, which is located at the center of Otheworld.
As for the Scarab and Skybreaker, we don’t have much to go on.
