Vorpal Strike

«Vorpal Strike» (ヴォーパル・ストライク) is a heavy, high-level 1-hit, One-Handed Sword category Sword Skill in Sword Art Online, New ALfheim Online and Project Alicization. In Sword Art Online, the skill is unlocked when a player's «One-Handed Straight Sword» skill proficiency level reaches 950.

Description
«Vorpal Strike» consists of a single ultra high-speed and powerful thrust and induces a long delay after a player uses the skill. However, the reach of this Sword Skill is double that of the actual blade, possibly damaging more than 1 target if they are close together, and its power is comparable to that of a two-handed heavy pole-arm, which is more than enough to make up for the long delay.

The skill is mostly effective against monsters, as players can easily read the timing of the skill and dodge it, while monsters are unable to counter it with their simple Artificial Intelligence. When used, the skill lets out a sound similar to that of a jet engine.

The skill is activated by folding an arm with the sword towards the shoulder and slightly twisting the body. In New ALfheim Online, the skill has a damage property of 30% Physical, 30% Fire and 40% Darkness.

Trivia

 * The adjective "vorpal" is a word coined by Lewis Caroll in the poem "Jabberwocky", which the author later references in the Alicization Arc.
 * «Vorpal Strike» is Kirito's most commonly used Sword Skill in Sword Art Online. Kirito considers Vorpal Strike as a mark of the black swordsman.
 * The anime portrays the light effect of «Vorpal Strike» to be yellow, while in the novel it is stated to be crimson in all instances.
 * «Vorpal Strike» is one of the three Sword Skills in the Sword Art Online series which share their names with Incarnate attacks in the Accel World series, written by the same author. The other two skills being Starburst Stream and The Eclipse.
 * A modified version of Vorpal Strike was included in «Dengeki Bunko Fighting Climax» as a special move used by Kirito in the form of an Impact Skill. The skill is also used as a special move by Konno Yuuki in «Dengeki Bunko Fighting Climax Ignition», an updated version of the game, though her version of the skill is different from Kirito's.

Navigation
Golpe Vorpal