Which one is canonically stronger? The Master Sword or The Monado?

[AnchorTea]

Try your absolute best to not give spoilers for Zelda and Xenoblade.

Discuss.

 

[Smash_Veteran_Amtoj]

Both swords... well, if the Monado can be called a sword... are most effective under certain circumstances. Can't really say which is stronger since both are specialized to defeat different kinds of enemies.

EDIT: Forgot to mention this. There might not be much to compare when it comes to combat potential, but if you take into account the kind of tool the Monado is, it wins easily.

 

[Golden Sun]

The monado can see through the future and equips power ups
The master sword can vanquish evil and go back in time or in the future
master sword wins.

 

[BandanaWaddleDee]

Obviously the Banado

 

[Smash_Veteran_Amtoj]

The monado can see through the future and equips power ups
The master sword can vanquish evil and go back in time or in the future
master sword wins.

The Master Sword doesn't allow you to time travel at will. In Ocarina of Time, Link just wasn't ready to be the hero.

 

[Wintropy]

Kind of tricky to to discuss it without spoilers, so I'll do my best to keep this simple and say the Monado. The ability to see the future and alter your physical attributes at will is pretty godly in terms of potential practical applications, while the Master Sword is, at its core, just a very powerful enchanted blade that kills evil things.

 

[Golden Sun]

Kind of tricky to to discuss it without spoilers, so I'll do my best to keep this simple and say the Monado. The ability to see the future and alter your physical attributes at will is pretty godly in terms of potential practical applications, while the Master Sword is, at its core, just a very powerful enchanted blade that kills evil things.

True, but it has its downsides.

 

[smashingDoug]

Well if it was a fight. link would win, the Monado can't cut people

 

[Golden Sun]

Well if it was a fight. link would win, the Monado can't cut people

Brilliant
no one thought of tha-
wait, I thought it said the Monado couldn't cut homs(human but in Xenoblade terms) only, but could cut anything else
and Link is hylian, that's different from a human.

 

[Deleted member 278362]

Spoiler: He said no spoilers, but I think he only meant untagged spoilers.

The Monado's "shackles" are released by Zanza at Prison Island, making it stronger and able to harm Homs/Humans. Though the design changes slightly, and this is not the one featured in Smash Bros.

The Monado being unable to harm Homs probably has something to do with ether.

 

[Wintropy]

True, but it has its downsides.

Indeed. It can't harm homs, though whether that applies specifically to that particular race or in general to all organic life isn't really clear from what I recall.

I'm reminded of the old "how do we know Gandalf is powerful?" gag:

How do we know Gandalf is powerful?

Because he fought a Balrog.

And how do we know that Balrogs are powerful?

...Because one fought Gandalf!

It's kind of a circular argument here about which is more powerful. We know the Master Sword is powerful because it's the only thing that can kill Ganondorf, but how do we know Ganondorf is powerful? Because he wields the Triforce of Power, of course!

But how do we know that he's powerful in every universe and not just relative to his own? Maybe he's powerful in Hyrule, but on Bionis, he'd be like tissue paper?

Also, are we talking about the Monado as it is when Shulk first gets it, or at its full potential? There's a pretty big difference between the two, y'know?

That's the tricky thing with these "which is stronger / who would win in a fight?" arguments: they're all subjective and relative. If we want to consider the question independently of any sort of canonical idiosyncrasies and just determine which is stronger based on physical strength, then we just need to examine how much damage the Master Sword does to enemies on average relative to the standard benchmark of Link's default sword, and then do the same for the Monado at its full potential relative to the standard benchmark of the Monado at its base stats, and then compare the difference in damage ratios between the two.

 

[AnchorTea]

I'm talking about the very first form of The Monado.

 

[Wintropy]

I'm talking about the very first form of The Monado.

Oh well then the Master Sword hands-down.

It's shiny and kills evils.

 

[AnchorTea]

Oh well then the Master Sword hands-down.

It's shiny and kills evils.

Evidence?

 

[Golden Sun]

Evidence?

Monado cant do any harm to Link then.

 

[AnchorTea]

Monado cant do any harm to Link then.

So.... Master Sword wins?

 

[Golden Sun]

So.... Master Sword wins?

Guess so.

 

[AnchorTea]

Guess so.

Well. Technically, you said that Link isn't a human.

 

[Golden Sun]

Well. Technically, you said that Link isn't a human.

The Monado cant harm homs, which are humans but in Xenoblade terms(said in the wiki) Link is a hylian(difference are the pointy elf ears, etc) - oh lol now I know what you mean by that, I was thinking the other way around/

 

[AnchorTea]

The Monado cant harm homs, which are humans but in Xenoblade terms(said in the wiki) Link is a hylian(difference are the pointy elf ears, etc) - oh lol now I know what you mean by that, I was thinking the other way around/

The debate is still on!

 

[Wintropy]

The Monado is incapable of harming Homs, possibly all living beings. It's reasonable to believe that it would be incapable of harming any human-like creature as a logical result.

The Master Sword is the strongest weapon Link can acquire in the story in most games, with only the likes of Biggoron's Sword and the Tempered Sword surpassing it as optional super-weapons. It's also the only thing capable of delivering the final blow to Ganondorf, renowned as the immortal wielder of the Triforce of Power and a being of God-like potency and absolute physical fortitude.

 

[Golden Sun]

The debate is still on!

Welp, looks like Link wins
"The Hylians are a race of humans from the countries of Skyloft, Hyrule and the latter's flooded counterpart, the Great Sea. While it is unlikely that the people of Termina, a parallel world to the Kingdom of Hyrule, are also known as Hylians, they are their parallels. Descended from the people who lived among the goddess Hylia long prior to the establishment of Hyrule as a kingdom, they are a magic race with pointed ears who have inherited the blood, powers and abilities of their ancient ancestors. The most famous Hylians are the many heroes and princesses that share the same name as one another, the latter being of blood relation and naming tradition."

source:http://zeldawiki.org/Hylian

 

[AnchorTea]

The Monado is incapable of harming Homs, possibly all living beings. It's reasonable to believe that it would be incapable of harming any human-like creature as a logical result.

The Master Sword is the strongest weapon Link can acquire in the story in most games, with only the likes of Biggoron's Sword and the Tempered Sword surpassing it as optional super-weapons. It's also the only thing capable of delivering the final blow to Ganondorf, renowned as the immortal wielder of the Triforce of Power and a being of God-like potency and absolute physical fortitude.

Welp, looks like Link wins
"The Hylians are a race of humans from the countries of Skyloft, Hyrule and the latter's flooded counterpart, the Great Sea. While it is unlikely that the people of Termina, a parallel world to the Kingdom of Hyrule, are also known as Hylians, they are their parallels. Descended from the people who lived among the goddess Hylia long prior to the establishment of Hyrule as a kingdom, they are a magic race with pointed ears who have inherited the blood, powers and abilities of their ancient ancestors. The most famous Hylians are the many heroes and princesses that share the same name as one another, the latter being of blood relation and naming tradition."

source:http://zeldawiki.org/Hylian

Yep. Master Sword wins.
Feel free to take this down moderators.

 

[LEGOfan12]

I'd say Monado.

 

[Wintropy]

One last point:

Although the Monado can alter its wielder's stats at the wielder's behest, the Master Sword is naturally as powerful as it can possibly be, and it can only be wielded by a true hero. Consider how we only ever see Link wielding it, because he's the only one with the necessary willpower and courage required to control its awesome power. It even puts him to sleep until he's mature and focused enough to attain its true power - as a child, he is simply too weak-willed and innocuous to possess its godly strength.

Now, if we're talking about the full potential of those weapons, then the Monado wins easily, for reasons I shall not spoil. The Master Sword doesn't really scale or get any better, it's just a very, very powerful weapons naturally. It is, at its core, just a big shiny divine blade, and this is quite literally a double-edged sword: on the one hand, it has no supra-natural or magical powers to speak of, yet on the other, it's capable of killing anything that would ordinarily be killed by having a big sharp piece of metal stuck into its guts, whereas the Monado is physically incapable of harming organic life because reasons. That alone ensures that, purely as a martial weapon and a tool for combat, the Master Sword is the superior blade.

But at the end of the day, they're both cool, so the real winner here is good times!

 

[smashingDoug]

Brilliant
no one thought of tha-
wait, I thought it said the Monado couldn't cut homs(human but in Xenoblade terms) only, but could cut anything else
and Link is hylian, that's different from a human.

But it also can't cut high entia, so I said humans. but what I meant to say is It can't cut human life forum, so that would include human high entia hylian ect

 

[Golden Sun]

One last point:

Although the Monado can alter its wielder's stats at the wielder's behest, the Master Sword is naturally as powerful as it can possibly be, and it can only be wielded by a true hero. Consider how we only ever see Link wielding it, because he's the only one with the necessary willpower and courage required to control its awesome power. It even puts him to sleep until he's mature and focused enough to attain its true power - as a child, he is simply too weak-willed and innocuous to possess its godly strength.

Now, if we're talking about the full potential of those weapons, then the Monado wins easily, for reasons I shall not spoil. The Master Sword doesn't really scale or get any better, it's just a very, very powerful weapons naturally. It is, at its core, just a big shiny divine blade, and this is quite literally a double-edged sword: on the one hand, it has no supra-natural or magical powers to speak of, yet on the other, it's capable of killing anything that would ordinarily be killed by having a big sharp piece of metal stuck into its guts, whereas the Monado is physically incapable of harming organic life because reasons. That alone ensures that, purely as a martial weapon and a tool for combat, the Master Sword is the superior blade.

But at the end of the day, they're both cool, so the real winner here is good times!

But alas, the Monado has better design model

 

[praline]

Neither. The real stronger sword is the Ragnell.

 

[Golden Sun]

Neither. The real stronger sword is the Ragnell.

Did I mention Galaxia has a fire gem on it from a fire god and the owner's own cape can manipulate space?