Lightning Blade (雷神剣 Raijinken?, "Lightning God Sword"[1] or "Thunder God Sword"), alternatively Thunder Punch (雷神拳 Raijinken?, "Thunder God Fist") and Lightning Dog (雷神犬 Raijinken?, "Thunder God Dog"), 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 user thrusts forward with their 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 Raijinken?). 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 coliseum 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. The arte itself is a reference to the Mishima family's karate-style in Heihachi's home series, which possesses a signature technique also known as Raijinken (雷神拳?), though localized as "Dragon Uppercut" within that franchise.
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 inu?), 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.
In Tales of the Rays, Thunder Punch is Wind-elemental and its repeated use with alter it into 10 Hit Combo.
Appearances (Thunder Punch)
Mothership Titles
- Tales of Phantasia (PSX / iOS) + Full Voice + Cross Edition - Lilith Aileron
- Tales of Destiny (PSX) - Dummied: Lilith Aileron (Thunder Punch)
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
Mobile Titles
Other
Appearances (Lightning Blade)
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 - Kor Meteor
- Tales of Hearts R - Kor Meteor (Lightning Blade)
- Tales of Graces - Richard (Lightning Blade)
Escort Titles
- Tales of Phantasia: Narikiri Dungeon X - Fencer costume, Magic Fencer costume, Royal Fencer costume, Chain Blader costume
- Tales of the World: Narikiri Dungeon 2 - Gale Swordsman costume, Thunder Swordsman costume, Demonic Swordsman costume, Skilled Swordsman costume, Reid Hershel
- Tales of the World: Narikiri Dungeon 3 - Swordsman costume, Reid Hershel, Zelos Wilder
- Tales of Eternia Online - Warrior class, Swordsman class
- Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology - Magic Knight class, Reid Hershel, Kratos Aurion, Luke fon Fabre (Lightning Blade)
- Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology 2 - Kratos Aurion, Zelos Wilder, Asch
- Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology 3 - Kratos Aurion, Zelos Wilder, Asch
- Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World - Zelos Wilder (Lightning Blade)
- Tales of VS. - Kratos Aurion, Asch
Mobile Titles
- Tales of Mobile: Tales of Wahrheit - Seltz Vakstrum
- Tales of Link - Reid Hershel, Kratos Aurion, Luke fon Fabre (Lightning Blade)
Animation
Other
Appearances (Lightning Dog)
Mothership Titles
- Tales of Vesperia - Repede (Lightning Dog)
Mobile Titles
- Tales of the Rays - Repede (Lightning Dog)
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
Lightning Blade
- Tales of the World: Narikiri Dungeon 2 (Kajitani-Eizan): Lightning Blade
- Tales of the World: Narikiri Dungeon 3 (Kajitani-Eizan): Lightning Blade
In-Game Descriptions and Battle Quotes
Tales of Eternia
Localized Description: "The enemy is slashed and struck with lightning."[2]
Tales of Symphonia
Localized Description: "Lv. 3 Sp. Attack: thrust and shock the target with lightning."[3]
Tales of the Abyss
Localized Description: "Arcane: An electrifying thrust attack."[4]
Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology
Localized Description: "Master: The enemy is slashed and struck with lightning."
Tales of the Rays
Thunder Punch
Japanese Description: 拳を振り上げ雷神の力を解き放つ連続入力を続けると…?
References
- ↑ Tales Series Translation FAQ by KusanagiLord02 GameFAQs (2006) Retrieved on 2008-03-21.
- ↑ Tales of Destiny II (PS) FAQ/Walkthrough Part 1/2 by Psycho Penguin GameFAQs (2002) Retrieved on 2009-03-07.
- ↑ Tales of Symphonia (GC) Technique FAQ by DarthMarth GameFAQs (2005) Retrieved on 2009-03-07.
- ↑ Tales of the Abyss (PS2) FAQ/Walkthrough by Gray Fox GameFAQs (2007) Retrieved on 2009-06-20.