Random: Zelda Fan Jailed For Carrying Small Master Sword Replica

Arrested? Someone needs to teach him the Spin Attack.

Now all he has to do is find the master key to his cell door..... what a plonker!!

Thanks why I keep my 6 incher in my pants.

Yeesh that’s unfortunate. Granted if I saw someone with a 6 inch blade I’d probably keep my distance!

Oi mate, do you 'ave a loicense for that Master Sword?

Four months in jail seems excessive. Especially when you consider how lenient we are to other much more serious offences!

here in Oklahoma no one would think twice about someone walking around with a 6 inch fixed blade... unless they deemed them a dangerous "other" which can get you arrested or worse, blade or no blade. it's really bad here and I hope to move someday.

As a replica, shouldn't it have been made of plastic or something?

If it was made of metal (and actually had the function of a knife) I can definitely see why this would be an issue, and not very smart on his part.

@quinnyboy58 Seems fair to me actually. Could have poked an eye out.

Going to the slammer for essentially a letter opener sounds wild to me..

Meanwhile, over here in America...

Nuneaton... not surprised.

So I can kinda understand the concern and it would make sense if they gave him a warning or confiscated the item....but 4 months in prison???

@TheExile285 looking at the picture of the “menacing blade” the guy was put away for is shocking.. as in, how could anyone’s life be upended for something that looks like it came with an action figure..

Getting arrested and sentenced is very excessive if he was doing nothing wrong with it. I would understand them confiscating it under the ruling that it could be considered a concealed weapon and let him off with a warning about carrying such things. I’ve seen these things floating around on Facebook and considered getting a couple of my favorite swords

To be fair, he was wandering around the Ganon's Castle neighbourhood in Nuneaton, the local population of bokoblins did feel a bit threatened.

@quinnyboy58 Probably intended to be a knife crime deterrent, assuming it was metal with a sharp point and not a plastic toy, but I can't see imprisonment for possessing a plastic sword happening so I suspect the former.

Personally I'm not bothered if it's themed like Zelda or any other franchise, if someone you don't know is out in public carrying a 6-inch blade for all to see, it's reasonable and sensible these days to assume the worst. This guy just lacked basic common sense.

So now they're disarming law abiding Hylians?

After zooming in on the photo included in the Eurogamer article, the blade does indeed look plastic, which makes this whole thing absolutely ridiculous.

Coming from the US, it seems absolutely insane that you can be arrested over a literal toy in the UK.

@RR529

where I'm from, people regularly refer to their AR-15s as "toys." and yeah, you can walk around with them.

(when I was a pawnbroker, grown men would come to me and say "i'm here for my baby" and 10/10 times it was a f'n gun. 🙄)

@BHPM came here to make this comment.

Are these laws actually about keeping people safe? From an outsiders perspective I would say this arrest probably helped increase civilian safety zero fold.

Absurd. I guess they would arrest all members of the historical swordsmanship groups as well. They carry swords and worse (axes, spears) and train on public.

England…

That is absolutely ridiculous, unless it is a real blade. The UK needs to sort itself out.

@Gorlock They should be arrested. You know how dangerous a sword is? I once saw a man single handily kill an entire army.

In fact, I think I still have the dvd of that movie. Either way it's getting wild in England.

@-wc-

In Iowa, you can carry a samurai sword around as long as you're not trying to conceal it.

Last Halloween I played a show and no one at the venue batted an eye at my machete-sized, actually-sharp-as-hell Rambo 3 replica knife strapped to my leg.

I can see the headlines now...
HERO OF TIME LOCKED AWAY BY GANON'S SECRET POLICE

@SpeedRunRocks In the UK, police officers have actually tasered blind people in the streets on at least two occasions over the years because the cops are too dumb to tell the difference between a white guide stick and a samurai sword.

I'm genuinely curious what the endgame is for these sorts of laws. Are criminals really so set on knives and guns that they won't even bother with violence if they can't use their favorite toys?

@Anachronism Whatever it is, it won't be good.

This is such a culture shock to me as an American where lots of people have open-carry permits for guns. I can't fathom someone getting arrested for carrying a fake sword, unless it was actually a legit blade that could stab someone. I need more context about whether this was a metal blade or a plastic replica with a pointed tip. If it was the latter, I think the charges are pretty ludicrous and should be grounds for a lawsuit.

There was an incident in America just the other day, sadly, where a 13-year-old was shot and killed by police for wielding a realistic-looking gun. It was a sad situation, but in that case, the child was pointing the weapon at the police and refusing to put it away when told to do so, as I understand it. But if this guy had a toy that he wasn't even threatening people with or swinging around? I can't imagine having to serve a jail sentence for that.

I think i've seen these advertised on Facebook (yes i'm old school) as fidget spinners, but they can be sharpened, maybe jail was a bit much.
But if they were lax and everyone could walk around with gaming "memorabilia" as soon as one person get shanked by a Buster Sword its all the police's fault

I dont think people are freaking out ENOUGH. It's just a good thing he wasn't at full health or this could have been a shooting!

@Not_Soos it sounds exactly like this:
https://minikatana.com/products/master-sword?_pos=1&_sid=40ca7c47a&_ss=r&variant=40691765379153

A mini replica of the Master Sword, they also have one that looks like the decayed MS from TotK. I have a couple of the AoT swords from this place and unless you are actually daft, they would NEVER be mistaken for an actual threatening weapon. I can hear the arresting officers now, "Ats a Reahl Sord, init? Arrest'im, he's a fret to Sociehtee!" UK officers saving people from themselves.

This is so ridiculous, you can go and buy a chainsaw, nailgun, crossbow, baseball bat, Axe and a whole bunch of items that can be used as lethal weapons but carry a 6 inch replica blade and you are thrown in jail.

Another example of the useless policing that this country has. Completely and utterly pathetic.

Well, this was the weirdest thing waking up to see in the morning... Ganon must be stopped but the Hero has been arrested just for carrying the Master Sword.

Kid: “I love Nintendo and getting to be Link!”
Later that day: https://i.ytimg.com/vi/PmuEPfghKKM/maxresdefault.jpg

@RR529 @Unit_DTH I did some searching around and found what I believe to be the actual product from the images provided in Eurogamer article. It's full metal and actually looks really cool.

https://kokorokatana.com/products/master-sword-ultimate-bundle-legend-of-zelda

I thought Nintendo were being a bit harsh when I read the headline. Sub header helped clarify.

@BLAZINOAH

That is wild.. sorry you have to have to deal with that over there! Hopefully someday the Sharp Stick and Side-Eyed Glance Ban will be lifted and society can return to normalcy.

For sure this will deter any murderous criminal from carrying a knife.

It’s for self-defence, to deal with the scary yoofs of Nuneaton

@Not_Soos Oh, my. I had not heard about that one. Yeah, I am a Yankee too, and this is insane to me. Note to self... Don't visit England...!

Well, holding it in front of yourself while you're walking in public is probably not the brightest of ideas...

Proof that you need more than well-intended laws; you need brains that can enforce them properly.

@BLAZINOAH

i wouldnt be surprised if this has happened in the US, but cops here will reach for the other gun on their belt and say they "meant to" use the taser. 🙄

do cops there carry lethal weapons these days?

@DarthXenos

it even lists "unsharpened" in the features 😂

a pentel p205 is probably a more dangerous implement than this thing.

edit yeah its kind cool 😁

After looking into this a bit more it appears to be totally inexcusable.

Even if it were a sharpened blade, which it's clearly not, does an automatic four month prison term for essentially a letter opener seem reasonable? I know knife crime is an issue but that is not a sane solution. Start with a warning or a fine if it's not being brandished as a threat, then work up to prison. Is the current law popular with the British public? It seems absurd to an outsider.

In the specific case of this novelty toy this is the state cracking skulls to look as if they're doing something useful. A clear miscarriage of justice.

@DarthXenos I like the look of that one, but still who in their right mind would think that is a real sword/weapon? As I said before daft!

How is a "sharp, blade shaped item" a "fidget item?". Were rings and spinners not available?

@RR529 It's not about the material, it's about the potential use for it, lol. Have you seriously never used plastic utensils!? You can cut a lot more than butter with a plastic knife utensil.

@SuperShaun you can definitely get arrested for carrying a chainsaw or axe in public without a justified reason/license/something similar.

It sounds like he had the Pendant of Courage but not the Pendant of Wisdom. Also, Nintendo made the second model of NES Zapper orange to better differentiate it from a real gun. Maybe these products should be the goofier looking yellow or purple leveled up master swords.

Cmon, you can’t wield the master sword on Main Street!
Unless it’s the USA, and you’re President, or at least a republican.
Then the Supreme Court would have your back. 😓

@Kilroy, actually, I mostly use plastic utensils, lol.

Yes, they can cut, poke, & (theoretically) be a weapon of some sort (the same can be said of a pen, rock, any other myriad of items), but I'd never in my wildest dreams imagine mere possession of a plastic knife would be grounds for arrest.

Kind of a moot point anyways, as the link @DarthXenos posted does indeed show it to be made of some sort of steel alloy (albeit unsharpened). A prison sentence still seems absolutely wild to me though. Should have just been a warning or small fine at most.

@Kilroy You could potentially kill a person with many everyday items. If you add to that lists things that could be sharpened to deadly effect it's even more. If something wasn't designed to be a weapon, as a replica clearly isn't, than it is not a weapon unless it can be proven it was modified.

I don't much care for the 'well, you could've, hypothetically, been doing bad stuff' argument from the authorities here. The individual in this case clearly was a threat to no one and was not trying to fake as if he could hurt them either.

There's no need for reasonable people to make excuses for clearly wrong headed decisions. The law was created to stop knife crime, this isn't knife crime or leading to it by any reasonable definition. A fine would be petty, but whatever. A prison term is a massive injustice imo.

I can understand a fine, maybe, but 4 months in prison? Man the UK really hates freedom huh? Good thing the States declared independence.

@Dom_31 @SuperShaun Looked him up, he's got history - known as a serial burglar (the kind that comes into your house while you're in there), in and out of prison at least five times and a former heavy drug user. He's no saint. But ultimately I blame Nintendo myself.

https://www.coventrytelegraph.net/news/coventry-news/nuneaton-serial-burglar-jailed-four-3033221

@WiltonRoots Oh so dude's got a record? You'd think he would try to be squeaky clean by now.

Thank God my ancestors left England in 1850. I feel bad for the normal people there.

@Ryu_Niiyama Where he lives is quite a small town (less than 100k), the police will know all the wrong uns in the area. I had a friend (RIP) who lived in a town not far from him, he got on the heroin and was pretty much banned from every shop in the town centre because they knew he was only in there to steal things. Plus all the police knew him and he would get stopped and searched all the time, although they tend to be more lenient with heroin addicts.

I know a few people who over the past 20 years have always been in and out of prison or getting busted. For some people it's just a lifestyle and they'll always have a hustle on the go.

@prw_88 I wish there was normal people here!

What a joke. The citizens there really need to take back their country.

This is why we can't realistically have a GTA set in England. If you got caught with a gun, you'd come out of prison and the game would be over.

@-wc- Cops do not carry deadly weapons (guns/knives) in The UK as a general rule. It's such a weird things coming from our culture. Obviously there is still police brutality though, but death is less of an impulse. Wow, you're from Oklahoma? I guess that doesn't surprise me, but it's weird to find out where people are from. I'm from Maine, I can just go buy a handgun right now if I wanted and carry it around in my pocket.

İt is not looking good to that guy. Everything can happen İ am not surprised with this news. İ was expecting something like this.

But how is he going to cut his grass now?

arresting ppl for something they might do. evil world.

It reads like he was walking around holding it out threateningly as the knife it actually is then tried to claim fidget toy like a doofus.

Loving the first few comments too

@cvrator I know up to 18 months in prison and a $10,000 fine is bonkers compared to 4 months...

For a moment I initially thought it was Nintendo themselves who jailed this fan.

@WheresWaveRace He should be able to get out with Ascend.

Pointed sticks?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZwrCnrJOm-A

Seems extreme, yes, but the knife laws are there as a deterrent. It's a huge issue here these days. If they let this go, what's stopping an actual criminal from carrying one with intent to hurt people? Hell, maybe this guy is, who knows. These things are not sold as fidget devices, they're keychains (aliexpress, if you're interested) and as much as I think they're cool, I'd never put one on my keys for this very reason. If this dude is naive enough to walk around with it in his hand (so blatantly that CCTV spotted it) then that's on him. Keep it in your pocket if you want something to click...or get something that isn't a sharp object.

And to all those going oh the UK is so fascist, woke, totalitarian or whatever nonsense you think, you really do not know how daily life here is. It's nothing like the alarmist stories you're fed online.

I had a FFVIII Gunblade designed as a letter opener. I never got it out in public and kept it in its box until I gave it to my nephew.

@BLAZINOAH yes I remember reading about that

So many knee jerk reactions to this! Let’s have some perspective people.

The guy was walking around with what looked like a six inch blade, an activity that is illegal here. The police had to investigate.

It turned out it wasn’t a real blade but he was still walking around with something that looked like a six inch blade, causing unrest and fear amongst the locals. It’s disturbing the peace, another thing that is not ok here.

Plus he has a criminal record for multiple burglaries. There is precedent that he may be intending to use this pretend weapon to intimidate and threaten people who are unable to see if it’s real. It’s not, not a crime to threaten someone with a fake weapon.

Ultimately what the police did was correct, in so far as taking him in. It’s literally what they are employed to do, to not do anything would be the scandal.

Now whether or not the way the police function as a whole or the idea of jail is right and correct is a whole different debate not really for here.

@Gameplay4fun that's odd, I used to carry around a large pocket knife and whenever I would forget it was in my pocket when I went to the DMV or the airport they just made me go and put it in my car... It's been a couple years since then. Should I be expecting a summons?

@WiltonRoots

@Olliemar28

I have also read about that on another website, this is a very important information to the context and why he gets into jail, should be added!

I saw what that “blade” looked like. You would have to be an absolute moron to feel remotely threatened by that. People crap on dumb US moments involving arrests, but UK needs to sort themselves out as well.

@Azuris quite often people don’t look into the full story, just go from headline to comments, I took one look at the guy and immediately thought this guy looks like he’s got a history. Checked and oh wow, police have known him 35 years.

This seems quite excessive. But the UK has always seemed like a crazy place to me. I'm used to people carrying knives around. As long as you're not at a school, no one cares.

I know, different country, different rules. But as an American reading about this, keeping in mind he didn't seem to do anything threatening with his fake fantasy sword, four months in jail seems insane! But then again, I live in a state were everyone's carrying guns.

@Olliemar28 “ He has now been sentenced to a four-month jail term”

Slight error in the story. It is a 4 month prison term. Jail is a temporary holding facility you are placed in when arrested until you have been sentenced. Prison is where you go if convicted. The source article uses the correct wording.

@BASEDSAKRI he wasn't arrested for 'something he might do'. Why do you say that?

On paper, this seems ludicrous but there is clearly more to it. The way the police officer phrased his statement suggests he wasn't just fidgeting with it in his pocket. Need more info.

@DioBrando it's funny how people's circumstances change perceptions. You say the UK seems like a funny place to you, but to me, the US seems absolutely mental. You can pop out to a meal, to the cinema, to the local shop, and have no idea who is carrying a gun around. And the idea of sending my children to school in a country that has had more than 400 school shootings in the last 30 years would just absolutely terrify me. I literally couldn't do it. The UK seems to have this one correct compared to the US, though this particular story is a really weird one.

@Scrubchub

You're the only one who mentioned guns. This is about knives. You're throwing hate for the sake of throwing hate in a manner unrelated to the topic at hand.

@DioBrando I'm in no way 'throwing hate' and that is incredibly thin skinned if you saw my comment that way. You said the UK seemed a 'crazy place'. I responded saying that the US seemed such to me (and gave reasons why) and it's funny how one's circumstances affect their outlook. Have a good one.

Oi! You got a loicense fo dat smug attitude?

Lmao the things they arrest people for. I’d find it more humorous if it weren’t for the crap they DON’T arrest you for.

Oi bruv, 4 months is a bit much innit?

Y'know, Ganons first evil action is usually taking over the guard. . .

@cvrator depends where you live and the temperament of the person that spotted you. Try "fidgeting" a 6 inch blade in a Newark MVC where the Security Guard spots you and see what happens.