Bandit LOAF
Long Live the Confederation!
Alright, I can't think of a good reason for this, but here's the Wing Commander knife post. To start, WC always loved using knives to show a character was troubled. The one Cobra is sharpening in WC III is a Marto-Brewer Explora, a Spanish survival knife from the 1980s.
Hawk’s thematically similar knife in Wing Commander Prophecy is called a hunting knife in stage directions but the actual prop is a United Cutlery Bushmaster survival knife. These are still made!
Seether’s knife in Wing Commander IV is a Hibben Double Shadow, a design often used in sci fi productions including Star Trek and Babylon 5. The script calls it a “laser-blade” which it describes as “a curved handle with a lethal thread of light that pulses from one end of the handle to the other”. As a result, the novelization refers to Seether’s blade as a “laser knife” and says they are “plunging weapons that could also inflict severe surface burns depending on whether the attack was a pierce or a slash.” Double Shadows are still sold by United Cutlery today and they’re a pretty affordable and cool Wing Commander token to have!
Another big knife is the Pilgrim dagger-cross from the movie. Here’s the official explanation of its meaning from the Handbook. (I want a glowing one!)
There are four Pilgrim Crosses in the movie: Blair’s, Paladin’s, Wilson’s (cut) and Sansky’s (glimpsed only briefly). Of course there are more in the followup novels!
Replica Pilgrim Cross knives were produced by United Cutlery back in 1999. They’re pretty collectible today! They came with a certificate with a little more lore background.
There’s even a Pilgrim Cross trading card included with one of the action figures!
In the original cut of the movie, Gerald battles Blair with a fighting knife on the concom. The novel says it is “not standard-issue to be sure” and that it “bear(s) a charge of winking silver.” (As of yet unidentified!)
Meanwhile, the Handbook tried to explain its origins by giving all the marines a standard knife. D’oh! Must refer to something else…
Another good Pilgrim Cross blade shot from the finished cut of the movie.
We've got to eat, too! Here are dinner knives at the meal Damon Karnes has for Blair and Maniac…
… and then dinner knives in the mess halls of the Tiger's Claw and the Intrepid!
Now let's talk about the novels! False Colors tells us that Landreich pilots carry utility knives; we see Jason Bondarevsky use his to help treat one of his wounded pilots during a boarding action.
The same novel also introduces us to FRL marine Colonel Bhaktadil Rai, who carries a kukri, a type of large curved combat knife from Nepal.
Confederation Marines carry durasteel knives. The First Commando Battalion's flag has crossed knives over a Kilrathi skull. Decker's men in Wing Commander IV are armed with trench knives, which they used for close fighting aboard the TCS Princeton.
There are two big knife fights in the books, too: False Colors has one Landreich delegate pulling a knife on another, a bit of a Brooks–Sumner Affair-style event intended to get across that the FRL is an analog for the rough and rowdy early days of the United States' legislature. Then there's a big moment in Action Stations where Ensign Tolwyn and company come across a group of aliens betting on a makeshift arena knife fight between two humans and a Kilrathi. And speaking of the Kilrathi…
Kilrathi typically do not use knives as combat weapons, favoring their own claws for close range fighting (and larger swords and polearms for medium combat). Nevertheless, knives serve a number of utility and ceremonial purposes in Kilrathi society.
The most famous Kilrathi knife is the vorshaki dueling blade or claw knife. These curved daggers can disembowel with the flick of a wrist. They are carried on the belts of noblemen and captured daggers have been adopted by Confederation marines.
Vorshaki blades feature notches representing the noble clans of Kilrah. They are used in ritual duels to the death and for other ceremonial purposes. Barons throw their daggers in the "Pledging of Knives" to vote their support for the Emperor (who carries a golden version). In practice, the dueling aspect of claw daggers means that they are often brandished threateningly by important kil during political or interpersonal disputes. They are also used in mourning: a lord will cut his forehead to display their honor for the dead.
Kilrathi also have ceremonial "zu'kara knives" used for ritual suicide which they carry in sheathes at their thighs. These daggers have ornate handles carved of rare wood from the sacred forest of Kovokum and are fitted to an individual's paws. Formal Zu'kara involves stabbing ones heart or cutting ones throat. If a kil's knife is not available, they may regain their honor using whatever is available: their own claws, the vacuum of space and so on.
Kilrathi interrogators use knives for what they call "kalkrath", a form of physical torture. Thrak'hra lords may not be interrogated via kalkrath without the express permission of the Emperor.
Their culture places significant meaning on the method of an execution. Knives occupy something of a middle ground in this spectrum, lacking the respect of being dispatched directly but also avoiding the insult of disintegration. (See Ragark's execution of Ghadhark nar Volles).
While Imperial guardsmen carried energy weapons and large polearms during the Kiranka regime, many of those competing for power after the surrender preferred knife-wielding warriors. Chancellor Melek's guards carried knives, as did those protecting Governor Ragark.
Sivar priestesses also carry ritual knives; Hassa prepares to defend herself with hers in Freedom Flight.
Finally, Kilrathi soldiers also carry utility knives; here we see one warrior using his claws to release a prisoner while the other wields a knife for the same purpose. And in Freedom Flight, the warrior who challenges Hunter to a duel specifically removes his utility knife.
If you can think of any other knives in the Wing Commander universe (keeping in mind that I avoided any ship name jokes!) add them here and we'll keep... on... knifing...
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Original update published on October 1, 2023
Hawk’s thematically similar knife in Wing Commander Prophecy is called a hunting knife in stage directions but the actual prop is a United Cutlery Bushmaster survival knife. These are still made!
Seether’s knife in Wing Commander IV is a Hibben Double Shadow, a design often used in sci fi productions including Star Trek and Babylon 5. The script calls it a “laser-blade” which it describes as “a curved handle with a lethal thread of light that pulses from one end of the handle to the other”. As a result, the novelization refers to Seether’s blade as a “laser knife” and says they are “plunging weapons that could also inflict severe surface burns depending on whether the attack was a pierce or a slash.” Double Shadows are still sold by United Cutlery today and they’re a pretty affordable and cool Wing Commander token to have!
Another big knife is the Pilgrim dagger-cross from the movie. Here’s the official explanation of its meaning from the Handbook. (I want a glowing one!)
There are four Pilgrim Crosses in the movie: Blair’s, Paladin’s, Wilson’s (cut) and Sansky’s (glimpsed only briefly). Of course there are more in the followup novels!
Replica Pilgrim Cross knives were produced by United Cutlery back in 1999. They’re pretty collectible today! They came with a certificate with a little more lore background.
There’s even a Pilgrim Cross trading card included with one of the action figures!
In the original cut of the movie, Gerald battles Blair with a fighting knife on the concom. The novel says it is “not standard-issue to be sure” and that it “bear(s) a charge of winking silver.” (As of yet unidentified!)
Meanwhile, the Handbook tried to explain its origins by giving all the marines a standard knife. D’oh! Must refer to something else…
Another good Pilgrim Cross blade shot from the finished cut of the movie.
We've got to eat, too! Here are dinner knives at the meal Damon Karnes has for Blair and Maniac…
… and then dinner knives in the mess halls of the Tiger's Claw and the Intrepid!
Now let's talk about the novels! False Colors tells us that Landreich pilots carry utility knives; we see Jason Bondarevsky use his to help treat one of his wounded pilots during a boarding action.
The same novel also introduces us to FRL marine Colonel Bhaktadil Rai, who carries a kukri, a type of large curved combat knife from Nepal.
Confederation Marines carry durasteel knives. The First Commando Battalion's flag has crossed knives over a Kilrathi skull. Decker's men in Wing Commander IV are armed with trench knives, which they used for close fighting aboard the TCS Princeton.
There are two big knife fights in the books, too: False Colors has one Landreich delegate pulling a knife on another, a bit of a Brooks–Sumner Affair-style event intended to get across that the FRL is an analog for the rough and rowdy early days of the United States' legislature. Then there's a big moment in Action Stations where Ensign Tolwyn and company come across a group of aliens betting on a makeshift arena knife fight between two humans and a Kilrathi. And speaking of the Kilrathi…
Kilrathi typically do not use knives as combat weapons, favoring their own claws for close range fighting (and larger swords and polearms for medium combat). Nevertheless, knives serve a number of utility and ceremonial purposes in Kilrathi society.
The most famous Kilrathi knife is the vorshaki dueling blade or claw knife. These curved daggers can disembowel with the flick of a wrist. They are carried on the belts of noblemen and captured daggers have been adopted by Confederation marines.
Vorshaki blades feature notches representing the noble clans of Kilrah. They are used in ritual duels to the death and for other ceremonial purposes. Barons throw their daggers in the "Pledging of Knives" to vote their support for the Emperor (who carries a golden version). In practice, the dueling aspect of claw daggers means that they are often brandished threateningly by important kil during political or interpersonal disputes. They are also used in mourning: a lord will cut his forehead to display their honor for the dead.
Kilrathi also have ceremonial "zu'kara knives" used for ritual suicide which they carry in sheathes at their thighs. These daggers have ornate handles carved of rare wood from the sacred forest of Kovokum and are fitted to an individual's paws. Formal Zu'kara involves stabbing ones heart or cutting ones throat. If a kil's knife is not available, they may regain their honor using whatever is available: their own claws, the vacuum of space and so on.
Kilrathi interrogators use knives for what they call "kalkrath", a form of physical torture. Thrak'hra lords may not be interrogated via kalkrath without the express permission of the Emperor.
Their culture places significant meaning on the method of an execution. Knives occupy something of a middle ground in this spectrum, lacking the respect of being dispatched directly but also avoiding the insult of disintegration. (See Ragark's execution of Ghadhark nar Volles).
While Imperial guardsmen carried energy weapons and large polearms during the Kiranka regime, many of those competing for power after the surrender preferred knife-wielding warriors. Chancellor Melek's guards carried knives, as did those protecting Governor Ragark.
Sivar priestesses also carry ritual knives; Hassa prepares to defend herself with hers in Freedom Flight.
Finally, Kilrathi soldiers also carry utility knives; here we see one warrior using his claws to release a prisoner while the other wields a knife for the same purpose. And in Freedom Flight, the warrior who challenges Hunter to a duel specifically removes his utility knife.
If you can think of any other knives in the Wing Commander universe (keeping in mind that I avoided any ship name jokes!) add them here and we'll keep... on... knifing...
--
Original update published on October 1, 2023