Sword of Omens Affiliation: ThunderCats Appearances First: Exodus Last: The Book of Omens



For the new 2011 version, see Sword of Omens (2011 TV series).

The Sword of Omens is the legendary sword of the ThunderCats wielded by the Lord of the ThunderCats.

Overview/Abilities

The blade of the Sword of Omens can extend or retract, being in the form of a dagger when resting, and a full-length Longsword form when at full strength and power. The blade itself is near indestructible, shown to be extremely strong, durable, and razor-sharp. It is able to slice through hardened materials such as steel and solid stone with relative ease.

The blade is also highly reflective, and has reflected Mumm-Ra's own reflection back upon him on numerous occasions. It can shoot blasts of energy with varying abilities and degrees of strength, capable of stunning, electrocuting, melting through materials such as titanium and solid rock, blasting through and apart targets/structures with explosive force, and vaporizing various targets. It has also released enough power to overload the energy absorption defense mechanism of the Plundarian War-Bot and repel and overpower the full firepower of Ratar-O's starship, the Ratstar.

The Sword's power stems from the Eye of Thundera, which is embedded in its hilt. The Eye of Thundera is a ruby-red stone containing an all-seeing, all-powerful, galactic/universal energy force that is sentient in nature. It takes the form of a closed cat's eye pupil when dormant, and opens to become a black cat's head when fully awake.

The Eye of Thundera is the source of the ThunderCats's power, and possesses a level of sentience/consciousness that has led to it being described as "alive." As the Eye of Thundera and the Sword of Omens exist as one in a symbiotic relationship, this has led to the Sword being described as being "alive" also. When in danger, the wielder can summon the other ThunderCats by shooting the symbol of the Eye of Thundera into the sky, by shouting the battle cry, "Thunder...Thunder--Thunder--ThunderCats HO!!!" Upon saying this incantation, the Sword also transforms: the cross-bars of the hilt curl upwards, the blade grows from dagger form to full-sized sword form, and the Eye opens from its dormant state to awakened and full powered state, releasing the Eye of Thundera symbol into the sky.

Since the Eye is the source of the ThunderCats's power, releasing the Eye of Thundera's signal will give the ThunderCats a great surge of power upon eye contact with the signal. The Eye of Thundera's signal, which is an extension of the Eye of Thundera itself, has many other abilities apart from summoning ThunderCats, such as being able to blast through the full thickness of the planet from its core to the surface in a matter of seconds. Aside from its most powerful attack--the signal--the Eye can also produce extremely powerful ruby red energy blasts, powerful enough to repel and overcome the full firepower of Ratar-O's starship, the Ratstar, thus destroying it. It has also been shown to be able to heal as well, and possesses regenerative capabilities; spells cast by Mumm-Ra or others are broken, and if the ThunderCats have been put under any form of trance, mind control, or spells, summoning them with the Sword will break the magic holding them. The Eye contains such immense power that, in many episodes, releasing the Eye of Thundera signal against the enemy or opposing force often results in them being swiftly defeated/destroyed.

The Sword possesses many other abilities, such as generating force fields, manipulating temperature to create intense heat or flames, freezing targets in ice, and manipulating the energy it emits to be utilized by the wielder, such as creating bridges of energy and even pole vaults. The Sword can levitate and fly, and grants the wielder the ability to fly by holding onto the Sword as it travels through the air. The Sword has also been seen to transport Lion-O from one place to another, as referenced in the episode "Return to Thundera, Part 5." The Sword generally grants its wielder any command they give, such as when Lion-O tries to overload the energy absorption defense mechanism of the Plundarian Warbot by commanding the Sword with, "Sword of Omens, give me power beyond power--HO!!!" This was seen in the episode "Return to Thundera."

Perhaps the most phenomenal feat of power the Sword has demonstrated was in the episode "Return to Thundera, Part 5," whereby the Sword, after being thrown into the eruption of energies escaping from the planet's core as a result of the planet tearing apart, managed to hold together those energies, control them, and use its own power to restrain them and restore them to their normal state, thus holding the entire planet together and saving New Thundera.

The Sword can be recalled by its wielder, and will return to their hand no matter how far away it is or what is in its way; the wielder need but give the verbal command, "Sword of Omens, come to my hand." Once Lion-O restated this as, "Sword of Omens, I command you, by the Eye of Thundera, COME TO ME!!!" It can warn its wielder of danger by emitting a loud growl from the Eye of Thundera. The Sword of Omens also allows its wielder to see across great distances, find hidden things, and spot impending danger or allies that are in trouble with its iconic ability "Sight Beyond Sight," by saying the command, "Sword of Omens, give me Sight Beyond Sight!"

The Sword has passed down through Thunderean rule from generation to generation, only ever being wielded by the Lord of The ThunderCats. Its current wielder is the ThunderCats's current Lord, Lion-O. Whenever carried on the person of the Lord of the ThunderCats, it is kept inside the Claw Shield, which also serves as its scabbard.

The Sword of Omens, whenever not in use, is kept on a mounting rack all its own, together with the Claw Shield, inside a "Sword Chamber" built into one of the rooms of the Cats Lair. The Sword Chamber's mounting rack had survived the crash-landing, on Third Earth, of the Royal Flag Ship relatively intact.

The Sword of Omens is widely regarded and acknowledged as one of the most powerful, if not the most powerful of, weapons in existence. The only weapon ever proven truly to have matched it in strength and power is Excalibur, which managed to pierce its source of power, the Eye of Thundera, thus defeating it and rendering it useless until Merlin re-energized it with his ancient and powerful magic, fixing it and returning it to its original state. Mumm-Ra's weapon, the Sword of Plun-Darr, was able to crack the Eye of Thundera on one occasion, but Jaga's magic easily repaired it on that occasion and, in turn, the Sword of Omens has defeated and overpowered the Sword of Plun-Darr on numerous occasions. Hachiman's sword, the Thunder-Cutter, was once described as being as powerful as the Sword of Omens itself, yet since the two have never properly faced off against one another, it is difficult to formulate an informed conclusion. However, in the episode "Excalibur," when Mumm-Ra is desperate to find a power strong enough to destroy the sword, the only weapon that the Ancient Spirits of Evil deem powerful enough to truly challenge the Sword of Omens is that of Excalibur.

The Sword's power is so great that Mumm-Ra himself is obsessed with possessing it so that he may control the power of the Eye of Thundera and become more powerful than the Ancient Spirits of Evil could ever make him, to rule Third Earth unchallenged. However, one of the most iconic characteristics of the sword is that it does not respond to an evil command, as well as preventing anyone trying to use it for an evil deed from doing so. The Sword only comes to life to combat evil and, as such, is useless to Mumm-Ra or anyone else that tries to use its power for anything but good. Mumm-Ra is therefore jumping from trying to possess it and manipulate it to his will and trying to destroy it throughout the series.

When the Eye is covered with something strong enough, like black tar, the Sword can be completely disabled, as referenced in the episode "The Unholy Alliance." However, in the episode "Sword in a Hole," this is not a problem, as the Eye of Thundera simply disintegrates its bindings once Lion-O summons it. As was shown in "All That Glitters," if it is ever used to attack a fellow ThunderCat, it then initiates the Curse of Balthas, breaking the Sword and causing it to lose its power; the only way it can regain its power is to be reforged in star fire. However, there does not seem to be any difficulty in re-forging the Sword if it is broken by other means. (Bengali, once a blacksmith, did so when it was broken in Mumm-Ra Lives!) In fact, re-forging the Sword has been shown to make it more powerful than ever before, as seen in the episode "Return to Thundera, Part 2."

Whilst, usually, only the Lord of the ThunderCats ever wields the Sword, it has been used by other characters of 'pure spirit' on occasion; Willa of the warrior maidens once used its Sight Beyond Sight power in the episode "Garden of Delights," and the Sword has also responded to Lynx-O in "Ravage Island." In the episode "Tight Squeeze," Snarf used the Sword of Omens with no problem, and the Sword, in some other episodes, has allowed Snarf contact with itself. In "The Ghost Warrior," Lion-O gave Jaga's ghost the Sword to fight against Grune.

Pre-Production

Per Leonard Starr's early notes, the Sword of Omens was originally going to have the "Eye of Xanth", which was later renamed to the "Eye of Thundera". It was also originally going to be just a basic arming-sword, as depicted in the original promotional poster by Mike Germakain. The Sword of Omen's design was altered by Pacific Animation Corporation to what it's known as now. Leonard Starr commented on the change with the following:

"In fact, I was annoyed then the toys came out. My design had two magnifying lenses in the hilt, so 'Sight Beyond Sight' was really just a telescope or binoculars. I guess it would have been too expensive to make that way, but the toy sword was pretty dinky. And the animators didn't use the drawing I made for the sword, with two holes for Lion-O to look through, only a curved hilt for him to look past."

Toys

Two versions of the Sword of Omens have been released as role-play sized props.

The Basic sized Sword of Omens is 6 inches from tip to pommel and features a prominent Eye of Thundera, with the Eye form on one side and the ThunderCats logo on the other. Pressing a button extends the blade about 2 inches. The hilt of the sword can fold up, and the sword can be stored in the basic sized Claw Shield accessory.

The Deluxe Version is about 15 inches long, and includes electronic lights and sounds. Pressing the button below the Eye causes the hilt to swing out and expand, while pressing the button on the grip unlocks the blade so it can be extended. Both buttons activate sound gimmicks. Like the smaller version, the Eye has a different image on either side. A switch on the pommel turns the electronics on and off. It uses 3 LR44 sized batteries.

Additionally, most releases of Lion-O figures, both from the classic series and the new, include a Sword of Omens accessory. Many include a smaller, "retracted" version as well as an extended version.

Trivia

In the 2011 version, there is an enchantment on the sword that keeps it from being touched by hands of pure evil such as Mumm-Ra, which is somewhat different from the original series where it can be touched by an evil individual, but cannot be used for evil. (However, in the 2011 version, it can be touched-- but not used--by less evil beings such as Grune.) . Another difference in the 2011 version is that only those who are members of the bloodline of the Lion Race, such as Lion-O, may use the Sword, despite if the being is good--unlike the original series when Willa managed to use it.