Top 10 Sword Fights in Film — And the D&D Character Archetypes They Inspire

December 4, 2025

How cinematic steel can sharpen your next RPG hero.

Sword fighting on film is a unique blend of choreography, storytelling, and real-world martial traditions. Some movies present swordplay as dance, others as a brutal clash of wills, and a few show something very close to historically legitimate techniques. But beyond just being great cinema, each of these iconic duels can inspire unforgettable RPG characters.

Below are ten of the greatest non-lightsaber sword fights in film — and the character archetypes you can build from them, plus tips for bringing these inspirations to life at your table.

**1. The Duellists (1977)**

Iconic Sword Fight: Decades-long rivalry across multiple weapons and eras.

Character Inspiration: The Obsessive Duelist

A character defined by a rivalry — whether against a nemesis, a former ally, or even a twisted mentor. They treat swordsmanship as an art, a science, a religion.

How to use it in your character concept:

Give your PC a long-term rival that resurfaces at key moments, shaping your journey.
Let your character reflect the era-to-era evolution seen in the film: adopt new weapons, refine your philosophy, and change your tactics as you level.
Lean into ritual: polishing blades, studying manuals, treating duels with near spiritual reverence.

Player Tip:
Ask your DM to occasionally introduce your rival through rumors, letters, or unexpected encounters. It’s instant drama and character depth.

**2. Rob Roy (1995)**

Iconic Sword Fight: Cunning rapier duelist vs. powerful Highland broadsword.

Character Inspiration: The Underdog Warrior

Rob Roy’s final duel is about grim determination rather than flashy technique. One combatant fights with perfect precision, the other with heart and endurance.

How to use it:

Build a character whose greatest strength is refusing to give up even when outmatched.
Give yourself a signature weapon that suits your homeland or culture.
Maybe you aren’t the fastest or most technical fighter — but you refuse to fall.

Player Tip:
Lean into “heroic vulnerability.” Let your character be beaten, outplayed, or manipulated sometimes — and make your comeback matter.

**3. The Princess Bride (1987)**

Iconic Sword Fight: Inigo vs. Westley — witty banter and fencing mastery.

Character Inspiration: The Swashbuckling Charmer

Play a character who treats combat as conversation — full of quips, respect, flair, and real technique.

How to use it:

Incorporate actual fencing schools into your character’s backstory (Capo Ferro, Agrippa, etc.).
Use wit as much as steel. Charm enemies, banter mid-combat, compliment your foes.
Consider a rogue, bard, or duelist fighter archetype.

Player Tip:
When fighting, describe your motions cinematically: running up walls, exchanging flourishes, using the environment — without slowing the game down.

**4. Seven Samurai (1954)**

Iconic Sword Fight: Duels decided in a single, clean, lethal strike.

Character Inspiration: The Stoic Master

Your character says little but moves with absolute intent. They value discipline over bravado and strike only when the moment is right.

How to use it:

Limit your attacks to purposeful moments — even role-play “waiting for the perfect opening.”
Build a character with a calm, reserved attitude and a tragic or reflective past.
Mechanically, consider maneuvers, precision attacks, or reactions.

Player Tip:
Emphasize minimalism: one sentence responses, a single nod, and devastating efficiency in combat descriptions.

**5. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000)**

Iconic Sword Fight: Graceful wuxia duels full of agility and flowing technique.

Character Inspiration: The Wuxia Wanderer

Channel a hero whose sword is an extension of their spirit — acrobatic, elegant, poetic.

How to use it:

Choose a dexterity-focused style; prioritize leaps, spins, and aerial flourishes.
Tie your character’s sword to a philosophy, emotion, or personal code.
They may struggle between passion and duty.

Player Tip:
Describe your movements with fluidity: stepping lightly, redirecting force, balancing on tree branches, moving like water.

**6. The Last Duel (2021)**

Iconic Sword Fight: Armor-clad, dirty, suffocatingly real medieval combat.

Character Inspiration: The Armored Realist

Your character understands that fights are terrifying. They value gear, training, and survival above honor or flash.

How to use it:

Build a PC who meticulously maintains armor, tools, and battlefield tactics.
Play realistic: talk about exhaustion, fear, and physicality in fights.
Use grappling, shield bashing, half-swording, and other gritty techniques.

Player Tip:
Ask your DM to allow armor-based maneuvers or gritty options. This character shines in grounded worlds.

**7. 13 Assassins (2010)**

Iconic Sword Fight: Huge village battle with team tactics and gritty swordplay.

Character Inspiration: The Tactical Samurai

Honor matters, but strategy matters more. This character fights for a cause, with allies, and with a razor-sharp battlefield mind.

How to use it:

Focus on teamwork abilities: buffs, positioning, battlefield control.
Craft a code of honor tied to justice, loyalty, or sacrifice.
Use precise, efficient katana techniques rather than flashy moves.

Player Tip:
Be the player who calls out tactical ideas when it helps — party formations, feints, chokepoints, ambush plans.

**8. Kingdom of Heaven (2005 – Director’s Cut)**

Iconic Sword Fight: Purposeful crusader-era longsword and arming sword work.

Character Inspiration: The Knight of Principle

A character who strives to do the right thing even when politics, war, and faith clash around them.

How to use it:

Use a longsword or arming sword with a shield; fight cleanly and efficiently.
Develop a personal code — mercy, humility, honor — that guides your actions.
Present yourself as calm and resolute.

Player Tip:
Make moral decisions central to your character. Ask, “What is the right thing here?” and act even if it complicates the story.

**9. Troy (2004)**

Iconic Sword Fight: Achilles vs. Hector — fast, athletic, and grounded in real footwork.

Character Inspiration: The Heroic Athlete

Fast, powerful, mobile. A character more defined by training and physical talent than philosophy or honor.

How to use it:

Build a high-DEX athletic fighter or barbarian; jumps, rolls, lunges, sudden attacks.
Style your character as a living legend or a soldier forged through relentless training.
Use a short sword, spear, or agile weapon.

Player Tip:
When describing attacks, emphasize footwork — pivots, rushes, leaps, shield feints.

**10. The Sword of Doom (1966)**

Iconic Sword Fight: Cold, ruthless, psychological samurai combat.

Character Inspiration: The Haunted Blade

This character fights like someone carrying the weight of ghosts. Their sword is tied to trauma, guilt, hunger for perfection — or darkness.

How to use it:

Develop an inner conflict: curse, guilt, madness, or a dark mentor.
Use rapid, efficient kill strikes. Few motions. No flourish.
Bring a sense of danger to your roleplay — not evil necessarily, but intensity.

Player Tip:
Play with restraint: quiet fury, sudden intensity, fragmented philosophy. Let NPCs react to the aura you project.

Final Thoughts

Sword fights in film are more than action scenes:
they’re character studies.

By drawing on these iconic duels — from swashbuckling charmers to haunted killers to stoic masters — you can craft RPG characters who feel cinematic, memorable, and full of depth. The key is not copying moves, but capturing: