This is -completely- off the top of my head without doing research on ghost-killing swords, but (as someone who's pretty well-versed in Buddhism and East Asian cultures) it could come from the strong belief in spirits, ghosts, and zombies present in East Asia (some of which comes from Buddhism). I've never heard of stories of ghost-killing swords, but ghosts, spirits, and zombies are pretty popular, so it wouldn't surprise me that there's been a modern take on heroes that destroy them.
Ooh! That sounds like a great track for me to pursue. Thank you, I'll research that! (There have been swords like this in the movies and more that didn't "kill" ghosts, but "sent them on to the next life/Heaven/etc," which sounds like exorcism to me!)
Yeah, that was my first thought, the Sacred Sword, but it was a big bust as there was nothing there about ghost killing. I know that the sacred sword has been used to vanquish evil beings (like in "Sailor Moon," for instance), but there's never anything about ghosts in particular.
See, there it is again! :D These swords either kill ghosts, capture them, or send them into the afterlife.
something might be lost in translation there... try "demon-slaying sword". the kanji for demon (oni) is the same as the chinese character for ghost. A number of pop media references have been known to fall victim to this grey area of confusing the two
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But you are right, its even carried over in Comics, the DC Comics char 'Katana' has a sword that captures souls
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See, there it is again! :D These swords either kill ghosts, capture them, or send them into the afterlife.
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While doing my research, I read about Muramasa swords, which seem to fit more in the category of "cursed" or blood-thirsty swords.
Thank you for this input! It's very interesting and rich with ideas.
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