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History

Ancient Times[]

Origin[]

Ages ago there was a war between the Greek gods and the Japanese gods. Zeus and Amatsu-Mikaboshi separately told a single blacksmith to forge a weapon for them. The blacksmith crafted two swords: one perfect, called Grasscutter; the other flawed, called Godkiller. Grasscutter was given to Amatsu-Mikaboshi.[1]

Susanoo[]

After slaying Yamata-no-Orochi, the exiled god Susa-No-O-Izumo found the Grasscutter inside its belly and offered it to his sister, the goddess Amaterasu.[3]

Yamato-Take[]

In 110 AD, Prince Yamato-Take stopped at Ise Shrine to pray before his battle against the eastern rebels. The high-priestess of the shrine, Princess Yamato-Hime, gave him the Grasscutter, which he later used to cut down the high grass of a field the eastern rebels ignited to kill him.[5]

Modern Age[]

The Hand[]

Centuries later, the Hand tried to steal Grasscutter from a family that made swords for Clan Yashida, but Black Axe and Sunfire stopped them.[3] The Hand managed to steal it later though, prompting Daredevil to team-up with the Chaste to recover the sword.[4]

Fandral[]

Thor and the Warriors Three were sent to claim the sword as part of a wyrd.[8] They reached the temple it was located, finding the temple warriors battling Amatsu-Mikaboshi's demons. Spirits slain by the sword manifested themselves and guarded the sword as Thor approached.[2] After the tanuki in charge was told why the sword was needed, the spirits allowed it to be taken. This in turn freed them from their binding within the sword. The sword was then entrusted to Fandral.[9]

Phobos[]

Years later, Grasscutter finally fell into the hands of Amatsu-Mikaboshi again. He used it to conquer the Yomi as well as its demons, whom he used to destroy many of his brethren and absorb their powers.[4] Mikaboshi then planned to have Alexander kill his father Ares with the sword and take his place as God of War as one aspect of his attack on the Olympians.[10] Instead, Alexander killed Mikaboshi with the blade.

Prior to using Grasscutter to kill Mikaboshi, Alexander had stabbed his father with it;[11] his blood stained the blade, turning it permanently red.[1] Alexander, now called Phobos, wielded the bloodstained Grasscutter in battle against the Godkiller-wielding Gorgon. Both swords broke during the battle, but that didn't stop Gorgon from using his broken blade to kill his opponent.[12] Following Phobos' death, Gorgon claimed the broken Grasscutter for himself.[6]

Gorgon[]

Grasscutter was eventually repaired alongside Godkiller under unknown circumstances. The sword's restoration seemingly made it lose its red hue somehow.[7][13] Both Grasscutter and Godkiller were wielded by Gorgon in the Contest of Swords held in Otherworld.[14]

Notes

  • Grasscutter and Snake Sword are translations of Kusanagi.

See Also

Links and References

References

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