Lightning Blade

Lightning Blade (雷神剣), alternatively Thunder Punch (雷神拳) and Lightning Dog (雷神犬), is a classic melee technique of the Tales series, usually with the element Wind or Lightning.

Arte Description and History
When the arte is used, the character thrusts forward with the weapon, and a bolt of lightning strikes the target upon contact. The arte will not continue if the initial thrust misses; the lightning bolt will appear only if the attack connects with an enemy.

In the original Tales of Destiny, the dummied character Lilith Aileron has her own version of this arte, translated within the dummied game files as "Thunder Punch" (雷神拳). Like the kanji difference between the weapon and unarmed versions of the Demon Fang arte, Lilith's version of this arte lacks the use of a weapon. Instead, she punches forward with an electrically charged fist, followed by a rising uppercut. Because Lilith's role within as an intended part of the party was removed by the developers, the arte remains as an unused remnant of data that was left within the game. But in the Tales of Phantasia remake versions for the PlayStation and PlayStation Portable, this arte was given to Lilith for her appearance in the colosseum cameo battle. However, in the remake versions of Tales of Destiny, this arte was removed from her movelist, with most of her other existing artes to allow Lilith to follow a cooking-themed fighting style instead of her original martial artist abilities.

The same arte name is used in Tales of Phantasia: Narikiri Dungeon, used by the "Heihachi" costume that is available to Dio. The costume itself is a reference to Heihachi Mishima from the Tekken series, who serves as the basis and origin of Lilith's original abilities prior to the PlayStation 2 remake of Tales of Destiny.

With the release of Tales of Eternia, Lightning Blade is formally introduced into the series as a sword-based attack. It is the first of the "thrust" type artes in Reid Hershel's movelist, followed by Super Lightning Blade, which combines Lightning Blade with additional wind-elemental damage. Both of these artes were carried over into Tales of Symphonia, available to both Kratos Aurion and Zelos Wilder. If Lightning Blade is used in a Unison Attack with any of Tiger Blade's base and master rank variants, it will become Thunder Tiger Blade. By using it with Photon in a Unison Attack, it will become Plasma Blade.

Tales of Symphonia also has another arte with similar effects, known as Lightning Thrust. This arte is available to Lloyd Irving only, as an altered arte variant of his Sonic Thrust if Lloyd has an active Lightning-elemental damage enchant. Lightning Thrust and Lightning Blade are considered to be separate and distinct artes. Lightning Thrust is derived from Sonic Thrust, and it is considered to be a part of its branch of artes, while Lightning Blade is separate from that branch, learned separately from Sonic Thrust and related attacks.

The "dog" variant of this arte, Lightning Dog, is introduced in Tales of Vesperia. Like with Demon Fang and its fist and dog versions, this name is based on a pun on the Japanese reading of the kanji for the word "dog" (犬), which can be read as "ken" when used as a part of kanji compounds. Lightning Dog is learned as an altered arte, which requires both the "Hell Fire" and "Gale" skills to be equipped while using Sonic Dog for 100 times during battle. After this, it is learned as a separate arte that can be used without the equipped skills.

In Tales of Hearts, Raijinken is available to Shing Meteoryte. By using the Connect Command panel system, Raijinken can be timed to be used with Arataka, used by Hisui Hearts, combining both artes into Voltic Line. Alternatively, it can be combined with Kunzite's Makuuga, to activate Senraiga.

Mothership Titles
Tales of Destiny - Lilith Aileron (Thunder Punch) Tales of Phantasia (PSX) + Full Voice Edition (PSP) - Lilith Aileron

Escort Titles
Tales of Phantasia: Narikiri Dungeon - "Heihachi" costume Tales of the World: Narikiri Dungeon 2 - Lilith Aileron costume Tales of the World: Narikiri Dungeon 3 - Lilith Aileron

Mothership Titles
Tales of Eternia - Reid Hershel (Lightning Blade) Tales of Symphonia - Kratos Aurion, Zelos Wilder (Lightning Blade) Tales of the Abyss - Luke fon Fabre, Asch (Lightning Blade); Reid Hershel (Sonic Blade) Tales of Vesperia - Traitor To Heaven (Lightning Blade) Tales of Hearts - Shing Meteoryte Tales of Graces - Richard (Lightning Blade)

Escort Titles
Tales of the World: Narikiri Dungeon 2 - Gail Swordsman costume, Thunder Swordsman costume, Demonic Swordsman costume, Master Fencer costume, Reid Hershel Tales of the World: Narikiri Dungeon 3 - Swordsman costume, Reid Hershel, Zelos Wilder Tales of Mobile: Tales of Wahrheit - Seltz Vacstome Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology - Magic Knight class, Reid Hershel, Kratos Aurion, Luke fon Fabre (Lightning Blade) Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World - Zelos Wilder (Lightning Blade) Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology 2 - Kratos Aurion, Zelos Wilder, Asch Tales of VS. - Kratos Aurion, Asch Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology 3 - Kratos Aurion, Zelos Wilder, Asch

Fan-Translated Names (Thunder Punch)
Tales of Phantasia (PSX) (Absolute Zero): ? Tales of the World: Narikiri Dungeon 2 (Kajitani-Eizan): Lightning Fist Tales of the World: Narikiri Dungeon 3 (Kajitani-Eizan): Lightning Fist

Fan-Translated Names (Lightning Blade)
Tales of the World: Narikiri Dungeon 2 (Kajitani-Eizan): Lightning Blade Tales of the World: Narikiri Dungeon 3 (Kajitani-Eizan): Lightning Blade

Tales of Eternia
Localized Description: "The enemy is slashed and struck with lightning."

Tales of Symphonia
Localized Description: "Lv. 3 Sp. Attack: thrust and shock the target with lightning."

Tales of the Abyss
Localized Description: "Arcane: An electrifying thrust attack."

Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology
'Localized Description: "Master: The enemy is slashed and struck with lightning."

Mothership Titles
Tales of Vesperia - Repede (Lightning Dog)