Katana

A katana

A katana is a moderately-curved Japanese longsword that was historically used by samurai.

Description

A katana with a wakizashi acquired through an Animus mod

A longsword of Japanese origin, the katana is characterized by a single-edged and moderately curved blade forged from steel. Further distinguishing features include its typically circular crossguard and the long, round grip which serves to accommodate up to two hands, depending on the user's style of swordsmanship. Historically, it was a particularly powerful sword compared to others around the world—even into the 18th century.

The nearly identical wakizashi is a short Japanese sword which functions as a sidearm to the katana.

History

True to its heritage, the katana was a ubiquitous weapon among samurai throughout Japanese history. It saw widespread use during the Sengoku period in the hands of famed warlords such as Oda Nobunaga and Uesugi Kenshin and their generals. Japanese Assassins, notably Hattori Hanzō, also regularly utilized the weapon.

As an East Asian weapon, it was exceedingly rare in Europe but was nevertheless available for purchase by the French Assassin Arno Dorian in Paris during the French Revolution. Though expensive, it was a lethal and fast weapon with few exceeding it in terms of damage. Centuries later in 2014, while reliving the genetic memories of the Templar Shay Cormac through the Helix, an Abstergo Entertainment research analyst hacked the Animus to grant themself a virtual katana and an accompanying wakizashi.

The katana still remains a weapon of the Japanese Brotherhood to the present day; Kiyoshi Takakura regularly wields one, such as in 2017 when he and fellow Assassin Arend Schut-Cunningham raided the Abstergo Entertainment campus in Montreal in the hopes of kidnapping Animus specialist Felix Oladele.

Weapon statistics

Seven Years' War

Speed	Combo	Damage	Cost	Availability
2	3	4	N/A	Sequence 1*

*Must be unlocked through Uplay

French Revolution

Level	Damage	Parry	Speed	Range	Cost	Modifiers
* * * * *	6	6	4	2	25,000₣	Additional damage: +25%

Behind the scenes

In Japanese, katana (刀) is a term ascribed to any single-edged sword with a curved blade, roughly analogous to the English word saber and can be applied to sabers of other cultural origins. The katana appears as a weapon in Assassin's Creed: Rogue and Assassin's Creed: Unity.

In the former, it is unlocked as a Uplay reward and necessarily paired with a wakizashi as the player character, Shay Cormac, dual wields with a parrying dagger in the off-hand. The name of the weapon in the game is simply Katana and the sword in the off-hand is never identified as a wakizashi; it is merely a smaller sword sharing an identical model, but it is too short to be designated a katana. The in-game description for the weapon also specifies that it is only an Animus modification. This is in contrast to its appearance in Unity, where it is one of the most powerful weapons that can be purchased by the main character of Arno Dorian. However, Arno retains his usual fencing animations when using the katana which is improper form for the weapon.

Gallery

• 
  Concept art of a katana and wakizashi
• 
  Uesugi Kenshin fighting on horseback with a katana
• 
  Oda Nobunaga wielding a katana
• 
  Assassin Hattori Masanari training with a katana

Appearances

• Assassin's Creed: Memories (first appearance)
• Assassin's Creed: Rogue (first identified as "katana")
• Assassin's Creed: Unity
• Assassin's Creed: Uprising