Ame no Murakumo (weapon)



The Ame no Murakumo or Ama-no-Murakumo, also known as Murakumo, Heaven's Cloud, Strato, and Emperor, is a recurring weapon in the Final Fantasy series. It is usually an high-ranking katana, but outclassed by top weapons like the Murasame and Masamune.

Final Fantasy III
The Murakumo is available for Level 99 Dark Knights in the Nintendo DS remake and is tied with the Muramasa as the strongest katana, with an Attack of 140. It also provides +20 Agility.

Final Fantasy V
The Murakumo is the strongest katana in the game (though the Mutsunokami is stronger in the Advance release). It can be stolen from Yojimbo or the front section of Neo Exdeath. It provides 114 Attack and 117 Hit, and has a 20% chance for critical hits.

Final Fantasy VI
The Murakumo, also known as the Strato, is Cyan's third-strongest katana. It can be won from Red Dragon, stolen from Samurai Soul, or obtained by betting the Ichigeki, Holy Lance, Masamune, or Magus Rod in the Dragon's Neck Coliseum. It has an attack power of 199, and enables the Bushido and Runic command.

Final Fantasy VII
The Heaven's Cloud is found in the Sunken Gelnika and is Cloud's third-strongest sword, providing 93 Attack and 100 Hit, as well as 31 Magic. It has six unlinked Materia slots with Normal Materia growth.

Final Fantasy X
Any of Auron's katanas may become the Heaven's Cloud if they have the Break Damage Limit ability as the dominant ability.

Final Fantasy XI
The Amanomurakumo is the Great Katana Relic Weapon of the Samurai job, available only to Level 75 Samurai after having completed an immensely lengthy and expensive quest (often taking months of time, hundreds of millions of gil, and the full assistance of an entire Linkshell community to obtain difficult Dynamis drop items).

It is widely recognized amongst the endgame community as one of the most powerful weapons in the game, and is hands-down the strongest weapon available to the Samurai class because of the unique way in which it modifies the Store TP attribute - pivotal for the heavily TP-reliant Samurai Job - and its high Damage statistic (the highest of all Great Katana present in Final Fantasy XI).

Final Fantasy XII
The Ame-no-Murakumo is the third-strongest katana in the game. It is unlocked on the License Board for 50 LP and is bought for 15,000 gil at Port at Balfonheim. It gives +78 to Attack and +5 to Evasion and is Wind-elemental. All katana have 2.39s charge, and 1.2s action time, making them average what it comes to attacking speed.

The weapon can also be bought from the Hunt Club after giving ten trophies to each bangaa, stolen from the Rare Game Etherian and bought at the bazaar for 13,800 gil after selling nine Water Crystals, five Iron Ore, and seven Screamroots. Ame-no-Murakumo can also found in a treasure chest within the Pharos at Ridorana, Subterra, Umbra level.

In the International Zodiac Job System version, Ame-no-Murakumo can be equipped by Mononofu.

Final Fantasy Tactics
The Ama-no-Murakumo is a mid-powered katana acquired in Chapter 2. It has an attack power of 11, evasion of 15%, compatible with both Dual Wield and Doublehand, and can be equipped by Samurai. It can be purchased from trade cities, such as Dorter for 8,000 gil. It can also be found with the Treasure Hunter ability as a rare treasure in Grogh Heights. In the PlayStation version it is called Heaven's Cloud. The katana's Iaido ability is called Cloudsea Curse, which deals non-elemental magick damage and can inflict Slow.

Final Fantasy Tactics Advance
The Heaven's Cloud is a mid-powered katana for Ninjas and Assassins. It is Holy-elemental, and makes the user absorb Holy attacks. It teaches the ability Unspell to Ninjas. It adds 39 to Attack and 5 to Resistance. It can be obtained from Cyril for 12,000 gil and from any other town for 13,500 gil.

Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grimoire of the Rift
The Ama-no-murakumo reappears in the sequel, with similar attributes to its previous incarnation. It now also teaches the Hoarfrost Blade ability for the new Parivir class, while teaching Unspell to Ninjas. It provides +34 Attack and +5 Resistance, is Holy-elemental, and allows the user to absorb Holy-elemental attacks. It can be bought for 4,800 gil in the shop after creating it in the Bazaar after using a Lightwing Crystal, Gemsteel, and Green Liquid.

Final Fantasy Legend III
The weapon is called Emperor (Kusanagi Sword in the Japanese version) in the game and it has a mystic sword icon before its name. This Mystic Sword is the second weakest of the four swords with an attack power of 75. It deals Mystic-elemental damage, causing double damage against certain bosses and undead enemies. It can even harm enemies who are strong against physical damage.

To get the sword, three components must be found, scattered across Pureland. All three items are the Katana, the Crystal, and the Emblem must be brought to Masa who will forge the sword and give it to Arthur once completed.

Dissidia Final Fantasy
The Heaven's Cloud is a level 100 katana that increases EX Intake Range by +6m and boosts +68 Attack. It can be traded for at the shop for 31,920 gil, a Kazekiri, and five Behemoth Horns.

Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy
The Heaven's Cloud is a level 100 katana that increases EX Intake Range by +3m and boosts +67 Attack and lessens Defense by -1. It can be traded for at the shop for 180,320 gil, a Murasame, a Kazekiri, and an Eureka Metal.

Final Fantasy All the Bravest
Murakumo grants +10 to Attack. It can be equipped by Samurai, Ninja, and Auron.

Etymology
The name of Ame no Murakumo is based on the legendary sword of Japanese myth. It was originally called Ame-no-Murakumo-no-Tsurugi (天叢雲剣?) which roughly translates as "Sword of the Gathering Clouds of Heaven", but its name was later changed to the more popular Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi ("Grass Cutting Sword"). In legend, the sword is found by the storm god Susano'o in one of the tails of the. It's also one of the three Imperial Regalia used in the ritual of imperial ascension.