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Katar (dagger)

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Ornamented katar

A katar, also known as a Bundi dagger, is a type of short punching sword used in India and the Indian Subcontinent for swift and quick attacks. It is notable for its horizontal hand grip, which results in the blade of the sword sitting above the user's knuckles. Typically, katars were used in close range hand-to-hand combat, which is effective in armour piercing. The blade was often folded or corrugated for additional strength. Some katars have a mechanism responsible for making the blades split. This happens when the user pulls the hand grips together. In this variety of katar, two hand grips are used, so that the mechanism can be activated. This feature was often used to inflict a greater damage to the enemy, having the blades splitting inside of them and slashing their insides. "Hooded katars" are katars with a shield extending over the back of the user's hand. Katars ceased to be in common use in the 19th century.

The katar is the oldest and most characteristic of the Indian knife weapons. The peculiarity lies in the handle which is made up of two parallel bars connected by two, or more, cross pieces, one of which is at the end of the side bars and is fastened to the blade.The remainder forms the handle which is at right angle to the blade. The blades are always double-edged and are generally straight and with lengths from a few inches to about 3 feet. The blades of southern India are often made broad at the hilt and taper in straight lines to the point, and elaborately ribbed by grooves parallel to the edges. European blades of the 16th and 17th centuries were often used, especially by the Mahrattas and were always riveted to projections from the hilt. Katars with native blades are often thickened at the point to strengthen them for use against mail and are often forged in one piece with the hilt. The blades are sometimes forked at the point, and katars with two, and even three blades occur. The Indian armorers occasionally made katars that were hollow and served as a sheath for smaller ones: or with three blades that folded together, appearing to be one, until the handle bars were pressed together, when they opened out. Many katars have guards for the back of the hand made with solid plates but many are elaborately pierced. Among the Mahrattas the gauntlet sword, called pata, was evolved from the katar. The katar is a purely Hindu weapon and is never found outside of India.


The katar is unique because to stab an opponent one has to punch instead of thrust, unlike when using a regular knife or dagger. This leads to much more acrobatic fighting styles. It is more like an extension of the fist than a dagger, and it seems more natural to attack and defend with a katar. Sometimes, a katar is also used as a main-gauche in dual blade fencing. A longer bladed weapon similar to a katar is the pata. A similar style western weapon is the push dagger.

Katar is a also a basic term for any short bladed weapon with the same handle as the one in the picture above, although stabbing is its primrary purpose, many blunt ended Katars have been made, some with no tip at all.

  • The Katar was a type of unarmed combat (UA) weapon in Turbine's MMORPG Asheron's Call (1999).
  • The katar and a number of variations on the weapon's basic design, such as the Jamdhar, served as the class-specific weapons for the Assassin class of Blizzard North's computer role-playing game, Diablo II: Lord of Destruction, and may also used to perform a number of martial arts attacks as well.
  • It is an exclusive weapon for the Assassin class of Gravity Corp.'s MMORPG, Ragnarok Online.
  • Katars also serve as one of the two class-specific weapons for the "Twin Blade" class in the .hack franchise.
  • The Protoss Zealots in Blizzard's StarCraft wielded psychic energy blades similar to hooded katars.
  • In Square Enix's video game, Final Fantasy VIII, the character Kiros uses katars, though the game spells it "katal" due to poor romanization of its Japanese language form.
  • In Phil Foglio's Girl Genius, one character, Zeetha, is armed with a pair of long-bladed katars, although she uses them mostly for slashing (not punching).
  • In the Soul series of fighting games, the blind and acrobatic Voldo wields two Jamadhar katars called Manas and Ayus as his signature weapons. He can also use similar weapons from a mini-guillotine, to a pair of large drills, and even to giant scissors.
  • In the computer game Planescape:Torment, the character Annah wields weapons very similar to katars, using an acrobatic fighting style.
  • The DC Comics character Hawkman utilized katars, as well as many other types of Terran and extraterrestrial weapons.
  • In the manga Berserk, the character Silat uses katars.
  • Possibly the earliest use of a katar in comic books came in the 1970s Manhunter miniseries from DC Comics, and was written by Archie Goodwin and drawn by Walt Simonson.
  • A Katar was also seen in the James Bond movie Octopussy wielded by one of Kamal Khan's henchmen during the New Delhi Street Chase scene.
  • The Golden Tiger Claws Shen Gong Wu from the cartoon series Xiaolin Showdown resembles a Katar, although it is magical and used for transport, not a weapon.
  • Followers of Kali Ma pull out katars as they capture Indiana Jones in the movie Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.
  • In the GrimJack comic book series, one of GrimJack's arch-enemies was Katar, who wielded a pair of the weapon of the same name with the hands covered with cloth bindings.
  • Edward Elric, the Full Metal Alchemist, turns his mechanical hand into a katar to fight. Given the length of the blade, however, it could be considered a pata.
  • In the live action adaptation of Disney's The Jungle Book, a character displays a Katar whose blade splits into three separate parts and is said to be used in eviscerating an opponent.
  • In the anime Ragnarok The Animation the character Iruga uses a pair of katars.
  • In the MMORPG MapleStory, players in the bandit class wield Katars as their primary weapon.
  • The Drazi from Babylon 5 generally used Katars in fights.
  • Sora from the Anime .hack//Sign wields twin retractable Katars
  • In the Hellboy Film, The Character Karl Ruprecht Kroenen is shown wielding Two Katars that snap together at his wrists in his first scene in the movie
  • In Square Enix's video game, Final Fantasy X, the character Rikku uses a single katar, found in several forms throughout the course of gameplay, starting with her initial 'Claw' and culminating with her ultimate weapon, 'Godhand'.
  • In the Saw movie, the killer Jigsaw uses a retractable katar when the police invade his hideout.
  • In the Underworld (2003) movie, the Lycan Kraven uses a retractable katar as a weapon.
  • The katar is a light edged weapon in the text based MMORPG Dragonrealms.
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