The Blade
| The Blade | |
|---|---|
| |
| First appearance | Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars (1996) |
| Latest appearance | Super Mario RPG (Nintendo Switch) (2023) |
The Blade is a massive battleship in Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars, and the main base of the Axem Rangers. He resembles a giant axe, with a great eye in the middle of the main blade. Additionally, two smaller axes hang from the side of him. The Blade's main weapon is a massive face-shaped energy cannon that can fire the powerful Breaker Beam.
The Blade is first mentioned by one of Smithy's minions, Speardovich. Apparently, he was supposed to rendezvous with Speardovich once he had his hands on the fifth Star Piece, but the Blade did not meet at the predetermined time for unknown reasons. Johnny's pirates briefly saw the Blade while Mario and Speardovich were fighting before ultimately having to return to the sea, to which he mentioned in a note to Mario.
Later, when the Axem Rangers swipe the sixth Star Piece away from Mario inside Barrel Volcano, he arrives outside with slight tardiness. Mario manages to follow the escaping group by simply leaping onto him, leading to a battle on the deck. Once each Axem Ranger is defeated by Mario and company, Axem Red activates the main cannon of the battleship, allowing him to fire the Breaker Beam at Mario's party. At the end of the battle, the cannon overloads, and the Blade explodes in a magnificent fashion.
During the parade of Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars, Smithy can be seen riding on the damaged Blade.
Profiles and statistics
Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars
| Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars enemy | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Axem Rangers | |||||||||
|
HP | 999 | FP | 100 | Speed | 200 | |||
| Location(s) | Barrel Volcano | Attack | 0 | Magic attack | 120 | ||||
| Role | Boss | Defense | 100 | Magic defense | 100 | ||||
| Bonus Flower | None | Yoshi Cookie | None | Morph rate | 0% | ||||
| Evade | 0% | Magic evade | 0% | Spells | Breaker Beam | ||||
| Weak | Thunder | Strong | Fear, Poison, Sleep, Mute, Critical | Sp. attacks | None | ||||
| Coins | 0 | Exp. points | 50 | Items | None | ||||
| Psychopath | "It's a melee!" | ||||||||
Japanese thought
- 最初から、おれを使えよ‥‥。[1](You should have used me from the beginning....)
Super Mario RPG (Nintendo Switch)
| Super Mario RPG enemy | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Blade | |||||||||
|
HP | 999 | Weak Elements | 
|
Drops | N/A | |||
| Exp. | 50 | Weak Statuses | N/A | Rare Drops | N/A | ||||
| Found in | Barrel Volcano | ||||||||
| Monster List profile | Admittedly, its Breaker Beam attack would be cooler if it was called "Absolute Breaker of Champions Beam." But we're not getting paid by the word here. | ||||||||
| Thought Peek | "Why do they always wait to use me?" | ||||||||
| Animations | |||||||||
Gallery
The Blade's sprite at the Barrel Volcano scene
Idle sprite from Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars
Super Mario RPG (Nintendo Switch)
Names in other languages
| Language | Name | Meaning | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Japanese | オノフォース[?] Ono Fōsu |
Axe Force | |
| Chinese | 斧头之力[?] Fǔtóu Zhīlì |
Axe Force | |
| Dutch | De Beul[?] | The Executioner | |
| French | Grande hache[?] | Big axe | |
| German | Klinge[?] | Blade | |
| Italian | Axem Maximo Maximo[?] |
Axem Maximum; from the name "Massimo" (Maximum/Max) - |
|
| Korean | 액스포스[?] Aekseu Poseu |
Axe Force | |
| Spanish | Gran Hoja[?] | Big Blade |
Trivia
- In battle, the Blade is mistakenly referred to as "Axem Rangers" in the English version of the original game. The player actually fights the ship, not their combined forces. This is likely an oversight due to the Japanese name, "Axe Force," sounding like a potential alternate name for the group. This is corrected in the remake, where it is referred to as "The Blade".
- All of Smithy's factory administrators, aside from the Factory Chief, wield large axes that resemble the Blade.
- The Blade bears several similarities to the Air Force boss from Final Fantasy VI, specifically being a large airship with a face at the front, a laser gun, as well as having an overall similar build. In the Japanese version, the Blade even had a similar name to Air Force. Both Super Mario RPG and Final Fantasy VI were developed by Square.
- Tying in with how the Axem Rangers parody the Super Sentai franchise, the Blade's Japanese thought references a common in-joke among fans of the series questioning why the titular heroes always save their giant mechas for the end of their fights instead of using them from the start to win faster.[2] This reference is restored in the English translation of the Nintendo Switch remake, as the in-joke is also common among fans of Super Sentai's Americanized equivalent, Power Rangers.
References
- ^ https://web.archive.org/web/20150508022554/www.a-suma.com/old/guide/smRPG/enemylist1.htm
- ^ Clyde Mandelin (June 29, 2020). The Pop Culture-Obsessed Monsters in Japanese Super Mario RPG. Legends of Localization. Retrieved July 31, 2021.
