Vorpal
|
|
Vorpal is a word coined by Lewis Carroll for the poem "Jabberwocky", used first in the line "He took his vorpal sword in hand" and "One, two! One, two! And through and through The vorpal blade went snicker-snack! He left it dead, and with its head He went galumphing back." . It is commonly assumed to mean "deadly" or "sharp" (or "capable of beheading", since the hero brings the dead Jabberwock's head home in triumph), and has been used this way in a number of role-playing games and similar works.
Appearances in popular culture
In Dungeons & Dragons, a vorpal weapon is one which has a high tendency to inflict critical hits or behead foes. In the game's reference manual Deities and Demigods, King Arthur's sword Excalibur is described as being a "vorpal weapon". Many MUDs (multi-user dungeons) also incorporate this adjective into some of their weapon descriptions.
The Vorpal Blade appears in NetHack, where it has a one in twenty chance of beheading any enemy (that has a head, obviously) with each hit; it also kills jabberwocks instantly.
The vorpal weapon's ability to do massive damage caused the killer rabbit that appeared in the motion picture Monty Python and the Holy Grail, to be referred to as a "vorpal rabbit" or "vorpal bunny" by fans of the film; the name does not appear in the film itself. The vorpal bunny appears in the games Quest for Glory IV, Ultima Online, Asheron's Call, and Final Fantasy XI, in which it shares at least some of the abilities of the Monty Python killer rabbit.
The word has also spawned a parody character called Vorpal king, and a parody of an alien race (Vorpals) which landed on Planet Earth with an asteroid.
There is a murder mystery novel by Colin Forbes titled The Vorpal Blade.
In one of Stephen King's novels, Vorpal is an acronym for Victory Over Ruin Pestilence And Lust.
Computer & video games
In Final Fantasy for the NES, PlayStation, and PlayStation 2, there is a powerful sword that the Knight, Ninja, and Red Wizard classes can use called the Vorpal Sword. This use of the word can probably be traced to the use in role-playing games like Dungeons & Dragons.
In Dynasty Warriors 4 for the PlayStation 2, there is a Vorpal Orb which, when equipped, caused the character's weapon to do massive damage.
In Tales of Phantasia for the SNES, PlayStation and GBA, the Vorpal Sword has no critical hit powers, but is enchanted with ice magic.
In the PC RTS Warcraft III: The Frozen Throne, the Night Elf glaive thrower can receive an upgrade called "Vorpal Blades", allowing its three-bladed, spinning projectiles to pass through multiple units.
A video game released in 2000 titled American McGee's Alice prominantly features a weapon called the Vorpal Blade.
In the Japanese RPG Grandia II (Dreamcast, PS2 and Windows) vorpal weapons allow the wielder to teleport directly to the target and a hit it without a possibility of being intercepted.