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Beatrix defeated several Vipers who owned Hanzo swords (O-Ren's, Budd's she found when fighting Elle, and Bill's are three I can recall right now).

Why didn't she take either of those? (the scenes after defeating O-Ren and Elle clearly show her walking away with just her sword).

I can see at least 4 reasons for her to take the swords:

  • Respect for Hanzo work. Leaving the sword to Muggles would be disrespectful to the master.

  • Monetary value. Clearly Hanzo swords are extremely valuable and rare

  • Backup weapons if she loses her own Hanzo sword.

  • Trophies (Elle planned to take Beatrix's).

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  • 2
    O-Ren's sword wasn't a Hanzo sword
    – Hitchmo
    Commented Dec 26, 2016 at 7:07
  • @Hitchmo - do you have evidence?
    – DVK
    Commented Dec 26, 2016 at 15:33
  • 1
    @DVK - er yea... the film itself? In short, before the battle O-Ren commented on B's sword describing it as "impressive" and she was shocked to discover it was infact a Hanzo sword and B showed the emblam. There is not one frame in the film where you see a Hanzo emblam on O-Ren's inferior (but still highly deadly) curved shirasaya sword. (To my knowledge there wasn't any shirasaya on display in Hanzo's loft) The fact that O-Ren injured B while she wielded a Hanzo is testament to O-Ren's swordsmanship. Given QT's love of Japanese cinema The sword may have been a subtle reference to Zatoichi?
    – Hitchmo
    Commented Dec 26, 2016 at 17:46
  • @Hitchmo - asked as a separate question: movies.stackexchange.com/questions/65647/…
    – DVK
    Commented Dec 26, 2016 at 21:27

6 Answers 6

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I was under the impression that Hanzo swords were created for one person in particular and, whether through respect or tradition, this is why Beatrix never took any of the swords away from their dead owners.

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  • But Elle planned to take hers.
    – DVK
    Commented Dec 15, 2013 at 2:13
  • 3
    +1 for beating me , As for Elle she was shown to be more money minded and has no respect for tradition like beatrix remember how she disrepcted pao mei and got her eyes plucked ?
    – Dredd
    Commented Dec 15, 2013 at 2:15
  • 2
    Dredd makes a great point here. Elle had already proven she had little respect for tradition.
    – Nobby
    Commented Dec 15, 2013 at 2:18
  • Is there any official support (Q or U) for this answer?
    – DVK
    Commented Dec 15, 2013 at 3:36
  • 1
    Hanzo retired from making swords 28 years ago. Most Vipers are too young to have their swords custom made for them.
    – A-K
    Commented Aug 12, 2014 at 14:40
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The main theme of the Kill Bill is Revenge. There is no reason for the bride to take the sword after killing the people on Death list five.

As for Elle and Bud their motivations are purely monetary value but not beatrix she went to Hattori Hanzo to plead with him to make a sword for her to take revenge on his protege. In-fact I think the bride has a strong respect for Hattori Hanzo to even think about selling it.

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  • Wouldn't taking someone's prized posession - probably the best and most "intimate" item they own - be a great revenge even if one didn't sell it?
    – DVK
    Commented Dec 15, 2013 at 2:15
  • I dont think so not to beatrix atleast. she just wanted them dead and i dont remember seeing any scene in the movie where the bride is shown to be money/object centered.
    – Dredd
    Commented Dec 15, 2013 at 2:18
  • 1
    I'll +1 you anyway as the revenge theme is a solid addendum to my answer. :)
    – Nobby
    Commented Dec 15, 2013 at 2:19
  • 1
    I will take all +1s i can get gladly!!
    – Dredd
    Commented Dec 15, 2013 at 2:24
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To add to the existing answers, Beatrix is not shown to care much about money at other occasions:

  • When leaving Budd’s caravan, she does not take the suitcase of cash, even though she very likely knew of it’s existence:

    • Beatrix sees Elle arriving at Budd’s caravan and directly attacks Elle as soon as she leaves it. Given the length of Budd’s and Elle’s encounter, I would strongly expect that Beatrix could eavesdrop on at least some of it thus getting to know that there was possibly a considerable amount of money in the van.

    • Moreover, after Budd’s demise, Elle was collects the money in a manner that does not suggest thoroughness. Therefore it is likely that she left some bills around in the van, which could have hinted Beatrix at the fact that there was a great amount of cash to be had there.

  • Even after she killed Bill, there is no indication that she plundered his house, even though it is plausible that there are some valuables to be found.

So, either Beatrix has access to a hoard of money somewhere or does not want any, even after she learns that her daughter is alive and there is a life after her revenge.

From an out-of-universe perspective, Kill Bill is an homage to certain grindhouse action movies and caring with such detailed procedures as looting the bodies would just seem out of place. It’s very far from the main focus of the movie. It’s comparable to the fact that you hardly see anybody going to the toilet in movies, except if it’s essential to the plot.

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According to the famous movie entitled "Seven Samurai", using dead warriors' weapons is a big huge taboo. Presumably Beatrix is not using her dead enemies' weapons, because she is following samurai code of honor.

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It was out of respect for the owners. However, I feel that she should have taken them and returned them to Hanzo as he seemed to be collecting his work back and storing it, to prevent people from being hurt by it.

1

Having just re-watched the movie and agreeing with the above discussion about Beatrix’s personal code of honor (and Elle’s lack thereof), I believe that she left Budd’s Hanzo sword in the trailer due to the fact that she did not kill him herself, thus not feeling justified to take his prized possession as a trophy.

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