What type of Metal and Magic would the Master Sword be made out of

You seem to be correct. My apologies.

This information was given in the 1992 Legend of Zelda: A link to the Past Strategy Guide.

And how do you know it's correctly translated? ALttP is probably the game in the series that has suffered most wrong translations.

Well Thunderbird I don't know if it is correctly translated, but we can't disregard everything that is written in English to be wrong, just because of a few mistakes. If we do that then it would be better off for us to just play the Japanese games and not even play the games that are translated from it.

I think we can conclude that the Master Sword cannot be made out of a pure metal, since pure metals are soft and sucky, it have to be some kind of alloy. I would say high carbon steel would be the most likely considering it is both hard (so it won't go dull too fast) and viscous (so it won't break when it hits something). It is also probably within Hyrule's technological abilities to make such steel. The sword in OoT is a bit too shiny for high carbon steel though, but I suppose if you polished it really well...

One problem however is that the sword would rust pretty quickly if subjected to water (especially if polished), like it was in the water temple (Link couldn't use it underwater though. Could be because the sword had to be in the sheath to protect it from the water). Stainless steel by adding a bit of chrome could potentially solve that. The problem is that chrome is quite complicated to make, and even more so if you intend to use it in an alloy (has to be very pure). To my knowledge we've never seen anything indicating that the Hyrulians could produce chrome.

Another possible material would titanium, which alloys has the same properties as steel, but is much lighter and also don't rust. However, titanium is even more complicated to produce than chrome and requires more advanced technology so it's not very likely to have been used in the Master Sword.

As for the handle... well, it's blue (at least in OoT. Seems to be red in aLttP :confused: ) and there are no metals or alloys that are blue (not that I know of anyway). Cobolt can be blueish but it's more likely they used wood or leather or something coloured blue. The top part of the handle has to be at least part metal though since it's function is to block other swords, and wood isn't too great at that

Someone said the sword could have been made out of concrete? Sorry but, no. Concrete is very useful for buildings because of it hardness and other things, but it is also very brittle. It'd be like fighting with porcelain or glass or something like that. Weird idea really O_o


And now for what magic they might have used. Something that repels evil. Unfortunately we don't have any real life examples of anything like that (except for weird voodoo rituals involving lots of chickens, and they don't really work anyway). Of course, silver has always been attributed to repel evil in the myths. Maybe they added a little bit of silver to it for that purpose. It actually almost makes sense because, as someone already pointed out, silver arrows had to be used to kill Ganon. And you must use the Master Sword to defeat Ganon in OoT. It could be because it might have some silver in it (the whole sword cannot be made out of silver because it would be really soft and would probably bend by just swinging it fast enough. But it wouldn't be too heavy though; silver is just about 20 % heavier than steel).


This is all just speculation of course. Speculation is fun. And pointless

A little nitpick about silver being too heavy: Silver has a density of about 10.5 grams per cubic centimeter, about one-third heavier than iron's 7.9 grams per cubic centimeter. If you want something really dense, try gold, which is 19.3 grams per cubic centimeter.

The master sword was probably forged with a light, yet extremely hard metal that can only be found in hyrule. This metal could be a mixture created by the ancient sages, and no other sword is made with it. The kind of magic it has is a magic that can obliterate darkness. I just made this up off the top of my head, so feel free to criticise.

Hmmm..The handle?..I'm not so sure about...

The blade, I would assume would be steel...it has probably been blessed by some sort of god or sage, and could have an invisible "holy aura" around it so that it is indestructable, and would repel evil. *shrugs*

Some research over the net and I have found a metal which not heavy, but powerful. Magnesium could be what is made out of the blade, but as MasaMuneT, I'm not sure of what the handle is made out of.

Chemical Alteration can change the color of metal if sent at extreme temperatures, but i think it only works for a few seconds considering the material burns

Originally Posted by JabunHylian

Some research over the net and I have found a metal which not heavy, but powerful. Magnesium could be what is made out of the blade, but as MasaMuneT, I'm not sure of what the handle is made out of.

I wouldn't want a magnesium blade in a place like the Fire Temple; it would probably ignite! Magnesium is very reactive and just a few hundred degrees (remember, lava can be a few thousands of degrees hot) is enough to make it react with the oxygen in the air, making it burn with a 1 000 degree flame (the thickness of the blade would make it harder to ignite, but it could still happen)

And if we disregard wether the Hyrulian people would actually be able to produce the metals or not (and we have to if we're talking about magnesium; hydrolysis is needed to produce it), aluminum or titanium would be better in terms of strength.

You all have very good analogies to what made the sword. You seem to know your stuff about steel and adamantium and such. In fact I would love to learn how to make swords in the future, so I may have to learn from you guys.

As for what it's made out of, I would stick to the basics: steel. After all, everything in this world starts off small and becomes bigger. So I may be wrong but I think the sword could have actually been, simply, another sword. For a king maybe. Then it came upon an era where the wielder and this sword somehow changed history. Perhaps it was then that many suddenly deemed it 'the Master Sword' as it struck down the evil that came.

But I still say steel. I mean, look at Narsil/Anduril. It's made out like every other steel, and yet look how powerful it is. Or look at the sword of Conan in both films, the sword he found in the hands of a corpse-- possibly a dead king. The design for the Master Sword comes from the original design of Conan's sword. You will see that both blades are jaggered at the hilt.

But I would not doubt the fact that this sword was possibly, then at that time, consecrated with holy baptism by the sages vested in the powers of the gods. Knights of the old world certainly blessed their swords, so I do not doubt that the Master Sword was done so as well. Perhaps this sword was the sword of a very important king, and then kept with much respect and care for the next hero to wield it. It kind of sounds like the Arthurian legends, does it not?

There you have it. My theory in full CGI Ink.
-Tenial

I just love how these simple questions lead to indepth analysis and scientific research! Here's something, what if the blade was forged from the same elements that were used to make the triforce. I don't know much about this so if there's something that states that this is not true then please correct me. I have others though. What if the sword was created by the gods' powers. What I mean is that there was no metal, no forging, etc. the sword was just created out of nothing but pureness and light. Or what if the sword just came to be. It never was created, it was always there. I mean after all, it does control the flow of time. These are some suggestions that you guys can ponder on.

Originally Posted by vacumgod

dudes....It's magic silver...duh

By just putting 'magic' in front of the word and leaving it at that, I could say that the master sword was made out of 'Magic Plastic'... Really...

I was being sarcastic there, But I still stand strong next to my thoughts on the master sword being forged out of silver, or steel and silver

I would imagine the sword to be infused with light magic, the kind found in Fire Emblem (as opposed to dark or elemental magic), I doubt it would be the same material as the Triforce because the Triforce is just an artifact left behind by Din, Nayru, and Farore, kind of like a symbol of the creation of Hyrule, while the Master Sword on the other hand, is made to be specifically the bane of evil. So it probably isnt the same material as the Triforce.

The reason I think it might be made out of Silver is because the Master Sword is basicly made to take out Ganon/Ganondorf, and the Silver Arrows are too. It would sense from a theory point of view, but maybe not from a scientific point of view because as Dooey Jo said a pure metal would be weak as apposed to am alloy.

PIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ^_^

Nah, it'd probably be made of something like mythril (not real), and light magic and silver coat and...*blank* 0.o

As for what it's made out of, I would stick to the basics: steel. After all, everything in this world starts off small and becomes bigger. So I may be wrong but I think the sword could have actually been, simply, another sword. For a king maybe. Then it came upon an era where the wielder and this sword somehow changed history. Perhaps it was then that many suddenly deemed it 'the Master Sword' as it struck down the evil that came.

According the Japanese manual to ALttP there was a divine oracle who came and told the people to forge a sword that could repel evil. So, it's never been an ordinary sword.

Good point, Thunderbird. Though out of 'what' is the main question. The oracle could not have suddenly been granted powers to create a sword. That's not how, even in a fantasy world, things go. However, there are exceptions. But suddenly a sword 'poofing' is not really sensable.

For one thing, if it suddenly could do such a thing, how would it be able to be in the mortal world?

Well, he only told them to forge it, and as it's also said in the manual the Hylians have magickal powers because they're the chosen people of the gods. I believe it was forged by steel, but the smiths also granted it magickal powers. I might be wrong, but I think the Japanese manual mentioned that.

Well I have seen adamantium pop up several times in this thread, but that can't be a possible reason because Nintendo would need Marvel Comics permission in order to use that metal because they made it up. DC Comics has an equavilant to the metal adamantium, but it is called promethium. Though I do believe that the Master Sword is as durable as these two metals. It has been stated that adamanitum needed to be forged with the excess heat of 1,500 degrees fahrenhiet, and the Master Sword was tempered with the same amount of heat as shown in the Legend of Zelda: A link to the Past Player's Guide released in 1992. If you want actual proof from both that these statements have been made I can back that up as well, but the Master Sword couldn't be made out of adamantium though, because like I said Marvel Comics owns it, but it seems as though it could be just as durable.