Revolver (Final Fantasy VIII)


 * Lionheart redirects here. For the Limit Break Lion Heart, see Renzokuken.

The Gunblade is the weapon of choice by Squall Leonhart, the main character of Final Fantasy VIII, and his rival, Seifer Almasy. It is a sword with a pistol (as with Seifer's Gunblade) or revolver (as with Squall's Gunblade) which serves as the hilt for the blade. Despite its name, it can not be used as an actual gun, meaning it doesn't fire projectiles, and can therefore only be used in melee combat, making it more like a gun supplementing a sword than a blade supplementing a firearm, e.g. a bayonet on a rifle.

Appearance and Mechanics
Triggering a round in the gun chamber sends a shock wave through the blade, increasing its damage potential, but the timing required is hard to learn, which is why it takes years to master wielding a Gunblade. The player can effectively utilize this ability during gameplay by pressing the trigger button (R1 in the PlayStation version) just as Squall Leonhart or Seifer Almasy is about to hit an enemy, thereby increasing the damage dealt to the target, similar to a critical hit.

Reloading
Like most guns Gunblades too need bullets to work effectively, the reloading style depends on what model 'handle' the gunblade features (eg. the Revolver model features a 6-shooter revolver handle while the Hyperion model features an automatic pistol handle). 6-shooter Revolver Handle (Revolver, Cutting Trigger, Twin Lance) The 6-shooter Revolver Handle features the swing out cylinder design for reloading. The cylinder is mounted on a pivot that is coaxial with the chambers, and the cylinder swings out and down (to the left in most cases). The cylinder may then be loaded, closed, and latched in place. The pivoting part that supports the cylinder is called the crane; it is the weak point of swing-out cylinder designs. Semi-automatic Pistol Handle (Hyperion) The Semi-automatic Pistol Handle relies on a removable magazine for supplying new ammunition to reload the chamber to be able to fire the gun again. The removable magazine is typically located inside the hand grip. Typically, the first round is manually loaded into the chamber by pulling back and releasing ("racking") the slide mechanism (which in this case is the blade itself), after which the recoil operation of the handgun when fired automatically extracts, ejects, and reloads the chamber. This mode of operation generally allows for faster reloading and storing a larger number of cartridges than the 6-shooter Revolver handle, although semi-automatic handles are potentially more prone to malfunctions than revolvers due to their more complex design and mechanism. Assault Rifle Handle (Lionheart) Similar to the Semi-automatic Pistol Handle the Assault Rifle Handle relies on a removable magazine for supplying new ammunition to reload the chamber but instead of being located inside the hand grip the detachable box magazine connects into the gunblade just forward of the trigger.

Revolver
Cost: 100G Length: 141.9 cm Limits: Rough Divide The gunblade's original model. What it lacks in power, it more than makes up for with it's reliability. Reloading is similar to a revolver gun in which the cylinder can be withdrawn to replace spent shells. An excerpt of this model is mentioned in the March Issue of Weapons Monthly Magazine.
 * Squall carries a customized version of this model as his default weapon, adding an etching of Griever on the blade and a Griever keychain attached to the base of the hilt.

Items Required for Modification to this model:
 * M-stone Piece x6
 * Screw x2

Shear Trigger
Cost: 200G Length: Limits: Rough Divide, Fated Circle An improvement over the Revolver, Shear Trigger uses the same blade as the Revolver, but the gun aspect is now more powerful. An excerpt of this model is mentioned in the April Issue of Weapons Monthly Magazine.

Items Required for Modification to this model:
 * Steel Pipe x1
 * Screw x4

Cutting Trigger
Cost: 400G Length: Limits: Rough Divide, Fated Circle This Cutting Trigger is made by replacing the blade of the Revolver with the powerful Cutting Sword; a sword forged from the horn of a Mesmerize. Reloading is similar to a revolver gun in which the cylinder can be withdrawn to replace spent shells. An excerpt of this model is mentioned in the May Issue of Weapons Monthly Magazine.

Items Required for Modification to this model:
 * Mesmerize Blade x1
 * Screw x8

Flame Saber
Cost: 600G Length: Limits: Rough Divide, Fated Circle, Blasting Zone The Flame Saber got its name from its red blade. This gunblade is very similar to the Cutting Trigger. The only difference is that it has the Shear Trigger's handle. An excerpt of this model is mentioned in the June Issue of Weapons Monthly Magazine.

Items Required for Modification to this model:
 * Betrayal Sword x1
 * Turtle Shell x1
 * Screw x4

Twin Lance
Cost: 800G Length: Limits: Rough Divide, Fated Circle, Blasting Zone The Twin Lance is a gunblade forged with two blades. The two blades work synergistically to inflict severe damage. Reloading is similar to a revolver gun in which the cylinder can be withdrawn to replace spent shells. An excerpt of this model is mentioned in the July Issue of Weapons Monthly Magazine.

Items Required for Modification to this model:
 * Dino Bone x1
 * Red Fang x2
 * Screw x12

Punishment
Cost: 1000G Length: Limits: Rough Divide, Fated Circle, Blasting Zone The Punishment looks almost identical to the Twin Lance, but is lighter and more powerful. The only gunblade more powerful than this is the Lion Heart. An excerpt of this model is mentioned in the August Issue of Weapons Monthly Magazine.

Items Required for Modification to this model:
 * Chef's Knife x1
 * Star Fragment x2
 * Turtle Shell x1
 * Screw x8

Lion Heart
Cost: 2000G Length: 176.3 cm Limits: Rough Divide, Fated Circle, Blasting Zone, Lion Heart Of gunblades, the finest model is the Lion Heart. It requires rare items to be remodelled to its highest quality. Sporting an Assault Rifle Handle this gunblade possesses the ability to switch between different fire settings (presumably Semi-Automatic and Full-Automatic fire). It is a themed model, modeled after the Guardian Force Greiver as shown by the lion's bust designed into both sides of the gun section and a half-closed wing protruding out the top. An excerpt of this model is mentioned in the September Issue of Weapons Monthly Magazine.

Items Required for Modification to this model:
 * Adamantine x1
 * Dragon Fang x4
 * Pulse Ammo x12

Hyperion
Limits: No Mercy, Demon Slice, Bloodfest, Zantetsuken Reverse Length: Seifer's Gunblade. It uses a semi-automatic pistol, closely resembling a Desert Eagle, rather than a revolver as a handle and it also has a unique blade. Due to a lack of mention in any source material involving gunblades it is unknown whether this is an actual model type or a custom designed model for Seifer's personal use.

In Battle
Squall's Lion Heart JFpZrXePd1c

The trigger of the gunblade is used as a part of Squall's Renzokuken and Seifer's Fire Cross Limit Break; when the trigger bar appears, hitting the trigger button at the correct time deals more damage to the enemy.  Squall's Limits  Level 1: Rough Divide Obtain Revolver or higher. Level 2: Fated Circle Obtain Shear Trigger or higher. Level 3: Blasting Zone Obtain Flame Saber or higher. Level 4: Lion Heart Obtain Lionheart.  Seifer's Limits  Level 1: No Mercy Level 2: Demon Slice Level 3: Bloodfest

Creation and Development
The weapons were also designed by Tetsuya Nomura. At the time when he was thinking of Squall's weapon, he was into silver accessories. He felt he wanted Squall to have a silver weapon as well. Another key factor in creating Squall's weapon was how he wanted some new way for the player to control the weapon in battle. With both of those ideas combined, he came up with a gunblade. Now that Nomura thinks back on it, he says it has a rather odd appearance.

Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children
A weapon unique in design to the mainstream Gunblades is the Velvet Nightmare which is used by Yazoo and Loz. It closely resembles a Gunblade, albeit smaller, but also fires projectiles like a regular gun.

Final Fantasy VII: Dirge of Cerberus
Weiss the Immaculate uses two katana-revolver hybrids that are similar to Gunblades in the last battle against Vincent.

Final Fantasy X
A sword called Lionheart is available for Tidus.

Final Fantasy XII
In Final Fantasy XII, Gilgamesh has the Revolver Gunblade amongst his collection of Legendary Weapons. However, like all his swords, it is slightly different, having an image of a Chocobo printed on the blade, and lacks the chain and Griever symbol.

Also, Squall's gunblade (complete with the Griever accessories) appears as the level 3 gun, named Ras Algethi.

Final Fantasy Tactics Advance
The name Lionheart appears as a Paladin or Defender weapon. To be exact; a Knight Sword with 34 attack, 2 defence, 1 magic resistance and able to perform the Defense ability.

Kingdom Hearts
A Keyblade named after the Lionheart can be obtained by defeating Cloud and Leon in the Hades Cup.

Parasite Eve II
A gunblade makes an appearance in Parasite Eve II as a weapon that the gorilla like Number 9 uses.

Also one of Aya's secret weapons (a 12 gauge rifle) is called a gunblade.

Etymology
The make of a gunblade is surprisingly similar to the real-life gun-swords.

Historically, some early flintlock pistols were constructed as gun-swords, with the barrel of the pistol attached to the side of the blade of a shortsword or dagger. Examples of these weapons can be found in the armoury of Wawel Castle (Kraków, Poland).

Pinfire Sword (Mid to late 19th century) revolvers were made by many famous arms makers, including Lefaucheux, Dumonthier, Lepage, and Devisme. At the Paris Universal Exhibition held in 1867, at least thirty different types of swords revolvers were on display. Combining the advaced pinfire cartridge revolver with the traditional sword was a temptation that few arms makers could resist. Although never officially adopted as a military service weapon, the sword-revolver found much favor among officer corps of many European nations. A large basket hilt sword with a 9mm pinfire revolver made in Liege Belgian before 1877. The steel scabbard has a depression on the right side which allows the barrel to lie outside and the gun could be fired with out removing the sword from the scabbard. The loading gate for the pinfire cartridge is located inside the basket hilt guard and can be easliy loaded. This sword and intergral 9mm revolver was made by T. A. Rauh and Co, Solingen. The revolver is loaded inside the German silver handguard and the barrel is parallel to the right side of the sword blade and is easily aimed. United States patent 52,504 was granted February 6, 1866 for the Rauh pistol-sword. This short sword (30 inches long) with a 7mm pinfire revolver built in, was made by E. Lefaucheux and the blade bears the name of a Peruvian importer-agent "Alfredo Herouard-Lima".