The ThunderCats was a very popular animated show back in the 80s. It featured a group of fictional catlike humanoid aliens that drew their source of life from an item called the “Eye of Thundera”.
The Eye of Thundera is a very powerful orb that can have godlike powers. We’ll discuss much of its abilities later but to give you an idea, it can almost do everything. Because of its nature and powers, its existence was kept a secret from the rest of the Thunderians to protect it from being stolen.
As a young kid who used to watch the show back then, you might have your focus solely on what the sword can do and how it was used by the Lord of the ThunderCats to fight off evil. Because the sword was only shown to have a good nature, you might have thought that it could not cause danger to the ThunderCats. (if you want the sword for yourself check it out on Amazon here)
While that may be true, because the Eye of Thundera is the source of life of all Thunderans, if something bad were to happen to it, it could be catastrophic to all Thunderan life. Regardless on if the cause of the danger was the sword deciding on doing the harm itself or something else causing harm to the orb, the Thunderans would face serious consequences.
Through many generations, the Eye of Thundera has been passed down by the Thunderan rulers. Until such time, the Eye of Thundera was embedded into the hilt of the Sword of Omens. Only lords are able to wield the sword which gives them access to the infinite power of the Eye of Thundera.
Because the Sword of Omens employs the Eye of Thundera, it can be classified as one of the strongest weapons, if not the strongest weapon that ever existed.
What Does the Sword of Omens Look Like?
The Sword of Omens is actually more than just a sword because it can come in the form of a dagger and a full-length broadsword when its full power is unleashed. This means that the sword can either extend or retract its blade depending on how much power of the sword is needed.
Whenever the Sword of Omens transforms, the length of its blade is not the only part that changes. When in dagger form, the design of its hilt points downward and when the weapon turns into a sword, the design of its hilt curves upward.
The Eye of Thundera’s appearance would also change when activated. When dormant, the Eye of Thundera takes on the appearance of a cat’s pupil. When activated, the orb would display a black cat’s head.
In the original ThunderCats animated series, the hilt of the sword had green details and the grip had raised lines running through it. With the ThunderCats remake of 2011, much of the sword’s design stayed true to the original.
What is the Origin of the Sword of Omens?
While we might all be familiar with the Sword of Omens and its power, some of you might not know the origin of the Sword of Omens. For example, you might get to think that the material used in forging the sword is unknown, however, the creation of the sword was explained with the remake of ThunderCats in 2011.
The origin of the Sword of Omens is closely tied with the story’s main villain, Mumm-Ra. With Mumm-Ra’s goal for dominating the whole universe, he was told by Ancient Spirits that he needed a blade for the most powerful stone, the War Stone (Eye of Thundera).
But to create such a blade, a huge sacrifice was required in order for the materials to come into existence. Just to have the materials for the sword, Mumm-Ra needed the “blood” of a star which meant the destruction of a star system.
To be more specific, it was the destruction of the Plun-Darr Star System. With achieving his goals, Mumm-Ra had Leo and Panthera helping him out. However, destroying the Plun-Darr Star System was something Leo and Panthera were against.
In the end, this caused both of them to betray their master. Before they could do anything, Mumm-Ra was successful in destroying the Plun-Darr Star System. He was able to get the fragments and was able to have the Sword of Plun-Darr forged as well.
The Sword of Plun-Darr was meant to be the sword to house the War Stone. However, Leo was able to collect some of the Plun-Darr fragments and he was also able to recruit the same blacksmith that forged the Sword of Plun-Darr.
He made the blacksmith create another sword which would then become the Sword of Omens. Mumm-Ra, not knowing about Leo and Panthera’s betrayal, ordered Captain Tygus to seize the War Stone from the planet it was from.
Before Tygus could surrender the War Stone to Mumm-Ra, Leo and Panthera were able to get it from him and embed it to the newly finished Sword of Omens. The War Stone would then be known as the Eye of Thundera.
With it, they unleashed their coup and ultimately battled with Mumm-Ra. Against Mumm-Ra wielding the Sword of Plun-Darr, Leo with his Sword of Omens was able to beat his old master. This resulted in Mumm-ra retreating to his sarcophagus and being trapped there.
Because of their battle, the ship they were on got damaged and they crash-landed on the Third Earth.
What Are the Abilities of the Sword of Omens?
The Sword of Omens is so powerful that it could be considered as a weapon of a god. Because it was made from fragments that were collected from a destroyed star system, it has enough power to defeat anything and anyone that posed as a danger to its wielder.
It’s reminiscent to Thor’s Mjolnir from Marvel but you could argue that the Sword of Omens could do even more. Even if the Eye of Thundera is not activated, the sword on its own is still more than capable of cutting through anything.
Here are the abilities of the Sword of Omens:
- Extremely Sharp and Never Dulls – The Sword of Omens can cut through anything including any solid rock and even titanium. It also doesn’t need to be sharpened, as the weapon never dulls.
- Highly Reflective – While this may not sound like much, one of Mumm-Ra’s greatest weaknesses was actually seeing his own reflection. Because of this, the sword’s ability to reflect images is also an effective weapon against Mumm-Ra.
- Recall – Lion-O or the sword’s wielder can summon the Sword of Omens any time under any circumstances. This means that regardless of the wielder and the sword’s distance from each other, the sword could still travel back to Lion-O’s hands. With the command, “Sword of Omens, come to my hand”, the sword will return back to its wielder.
- Levitation and Flight – Needless to say, the sword has the ability of both levitation and flight. Whenever the sword is recalled, it flies back to the hand of its wielder. However, more than just levitating or flying on its own, the sword can also enable its wielder to levitate or fly with it.
- Can Change the Length of Its Blade – As mentioned earlier, the sword can come in the form of a dagger or a sword.
- Sight Beyond Sight – This ability enables the sword’s wielder to see what’s a distant area. More than just that, Sight Beyond Sight also allows the wielder to see through time, past, present, and future. It allows the wielder to see any potential danger and the Eye of Thundera could even create projections of the images so that others can also see the vision. This allowed Lion-O to become prepared for the danger he would face before it came and Sight Beyond Sight also helped him with persuading others to believe him too.
- Can Produce Beams of Lightning or Energy – One of the most commonly used abilities by Lion-O is the sword’s ability to produce lightning or beams of energy. The level of power of this ability can vary greatly depending on the wielder.
The Sword of Omens can be able to do simple feats such as stunning or paralyzing targets or destroy a whole planet.
- Freeze Targets – The wielder of the Sword of Omens can create ice around a target to freeze it.
- Creation with Energy – More than force fields, the Sword of Omens can even create bridges or pole vaults if needed.
- Astral Projection – The wielder of the Sword of Omens can create his own astral projection anywhere. When the Cat’s Lair (base of the ThunderCats) was under attack, Lion-O created a giant projection of himself at the base and used his sword to destroy the enemy.
- Can Sense Danger – Whenever there is a danger, the Sword of Omens would warn its wielder. Paired with the ability of Sight Beyond Sight, the wielder would then be able to easily pinpoint the source of the danger and would then know and be prepared on how to overcome it. More than that, the Sword can also warn its wielder if other ThunderCats are in danger as well.
- Can Heal and Give Power – With the beam that can be projected by the Eye of Thundera, it can cause other ThunderCats to become stronger, faster, smarter and heal quicker if they look at the symbol.
- Can Generate Force Fields – The Sword of Omens can create a very powerful force field that nothing can shatter or destroy.
- Can Cure Any Type of Curse – From mind control to petrification, the Sword of Omens can cure any target of any curse. This also includes the wielder of the sword. If the sword is placed in the hands of the petrified wielder, the sword will cure the wielder of its petrification.
- Can Bring Memory – With the Eye of Thundera, the Sword of Omens can give an understanding of ThunderCats to those that don’t know or have forgotten what it meant to be a ThunderCat.
- Can Summon the ThunderCats – When the wielder of the sword is overwhelmed or when he or she simply needs the company, the wielder can summon the ThunderCats with the Sword of Omens.
Upon being summoned, any curse of the ThunderCats will also be cured. This means that any mind-controlled or petrified ThunderCats that are summoned will turn back to normal after they are summoned by the wielder of the Sword of Omens.
- Teleportation – The wielder of the Sword of Omens can ask the sword for him or her to be teleported anywhere. This ability was used by Lion-O to get to where Mumm-Ra was.
- Sentient – The sword was actually described to be “alive” because it had some level of consciousness. Because it could sense danger, warn its wielder and do more other things that showed or displayed consciousness, the sword is more than just a piece of a special metal that has stored energy.
The Sword of Omens, with the Eye of Thundera, has a mind of its own. Against its fight with Excalibur, it even left the hands of Lion-O and dueled with the Excalibur on its own. Unfortunately, this action led to its demise. The Sword of Omens was defeated by the Excalibur.
- Kept A Planet Alive – The planet Thundera nearly tore into pieces after Mumm-Ra destroyed the Gyroscope that held the planet together. With the Sword of Omens, Thundera was kept together after it was thrown to where the gyroscope initially was.
- The Sword Can Manipulate the Weather – At numerous occasions, Lion-O used the Sword of Omens to change the weather. He was able to use the sword to summon rain, create a thunderstorm and even cause an eclipse.
- No Evil Can Touch The Sword – Knowing just how powerful the Sword of Omens was, Mumm-Ra was obsessed with the idea of having it for his own. One could only imagine what he could do if he had the Sword of Omens. Unfortunately for him, the sword had an enchantment that would not allow any evil being to wield the sword. Even Lion-O himself wouldn’t be allowed to use the Sword of Omens if he was evil.
Does the Sword of Omens Have Any Weakness?
Although the Sword of Omens is extremely powerful, it is still vulnerable and actually has a couple of weaknesses. Here are a couple of weaknesses of the Sword of Omens:
- Almost Indestructible – We say almost because the Sword of Omens can actually be destroyed and was destroyed a couple of times. Although extremely powerful, both the sword and the Eye of Thundera can still shatter or be broken.
Still, it’s a rare occasion and most of the time, the Sword of Omens is victorious against any weapon or any foe.
- Can Be Rendered Useless – At one point, the Sword of Omens got covered in Tar and this rendered the weapon useless. Because it got covered, for some reason, it did not obey the commands of Lion-O.
- Cursed – The sword has an enchantment that kept it from harming any ThunderCats. If a ThunderCat would use the sword to attack another ThunderCat, the sword would break. Such was the case when Lion-O was tricked by Mumm-Ra to attack Tygra. Upon trying to attack, the sword broke in half. Lion-O had to get the sword to the heart of a volcano for the sword to be repaired.
The Sword of Omens Against the Excalibur
For the most part of the story, Lion-O with his Sword of Omens would end up victorious. However, there was one special occasion wherein Lion-O and the Sword of Omens were defeated.
As Mumm-Ra and Lion-O fought with each other, both the Excalibur and the Sword of Omens left their wielders’ hands and fought on their own. From Mumm-Ra against Lion-O, it then just became the Excalibur against the Sword of Omens.
Ultimately, Excalibur was able to pierce the Eye of Thundera rendering it useless. Against the Excalibur, the Sword of Omens was the inferior weapon.
The Evil Equivalent of the Sword of Omens
Earlier, we mentioned the origins of the Sword of Omens and how only the remaining fragments from the Sword of Plun-Darr were used to forge the Sword of Omens. So, just what is the Sword of Plun-Darr and just how powerful is it?
Interestingly, the Sword of Plun-Darr is just as powerful if not more powerful than the Sword of Omens. Mumm-Ra even described the Sword of Omens to only be a flawed copy of his dark weapon.
Like the Sword of Omens, the Sword of Plun-Darr has the ability to change the length of its blade and even its very form. In Legacy, Mumm-Ra was able to change the form of his sword into a double-bladed weapon.
The Sword of Plun-Darr has also displayed abilities that the Sword of Omens. On some level, it could even manipulate reality. Mumm-Ra was able to tie up the companions of Lion-O with chains and ropes from nothing. However, in many occasions, Mumm-Ra, even with his Sword of Plun-Darr, would always end up losing to the Sword of Omens and its wielder.
Perhaps, if both swords were to have no power stone, the Sword of Plun-Darr would be the more superior weapon against the Sword of Omens. But since the Sword of Omens has the Eye of Thundera, Mumm-Ra, with his Sword of Plun-Darr, always loses, even if the Sword of Plun-Darr is actually the stronger weapon, with no power stone.
However, even without the Eye of Thundera, the Sword of Plun-Darr was a force to be reckoned with. Any wielder of the Sword of Omens still found it to be quite a challenge to go against the Sword of Plun-Darr.
Bonus: The Most Powerful Sword
As we have mentioned earlier, one weapon that clearly defeated the Sword of Omens was the Excalibur. After its defeat against the Excalibur, no rematch ever happened that could change the fact that Excalibur was the strongest weapon.
In other words, in the universe of the ThunderCats, the strongest weapon of all is the Excalibur. While both the Sword of Omens and the Sword of Plun-Darr were forged from the fragments of a star system, the Excalibur was created by Merlin.
Merlin was the most powerful wizard on the Third Earth. The fact that the sword he made was more powerful than the two weapons forged from the fragments of a star system only proved just how incredibly powerful he was.
He made the Excalibur for King Arthur and right before King Arthur died, he requested one of his knights to return the Excalibur to the Lady of the Lake. The Excalibur would remain there for thousands of years only waiting for King Arthur to once again claim it.
Mumm-Ra was able to acquire the sword by disguising himself as King Arthur. This was how he was able to fight against Lion-O with the Excalibur. While Mumm-Ra with his Excalibur was able to defeat Lion-O with his Sword of Omens, Mumm-Ra would still later be defeated by none other than Merlin himself.
The ThunderCats used to be a very popular show, especially in the 80s. Sadly, even with the 2011 remake, ThunderCats failed to gain the same amount of success that it did back in the day.
With this article, we hope were able to bring back some good old memories of your childhood back when the ThunderCats was still a very popular show. Share this article with your friends so they may also remember or know about the ThunderCats and the Sword of Omens.