1 00:00:03,279 --> 00:00:05,600 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff to Blow Your Mind, a production of 2 00:00:05,640 --> 00:00:10,319 Speaker 1: I Heart Radio. Hi, my name is Robert Lamb and 3 00:00:10,360 --> 00:00:14,000 Speaker 1: this is the Artifact, a short form series from Stuff 4 00:00:14,040 --> 00:00:18,159 Speaker 1: to Blow Your Mind, focusing on particular objects, ideas, and 5 00:00:18,320 --> 00:00:26,200 Speaker 1: moments in time. The Nightmare on Elm Street film franchise 6 00:00:26,560 --> 00:00:30,639 Speaker 1: gave us an iconic but at times perplexing horror icon 7 00:00:31,240 --> 00:00:35,080 Speaker 1: in the form of Freddy Krueger. He's a disfigured phantom 8 00:00:35,120 --> 00:00:38,880 Speaker 1: of the opera esque character with a taste for Fedora's 9 00:00:39,400 --> 00:00:42,800 Speaker 1: and red and green striped sweaters. He does not wear 10 00:00:42,840 --> 00:00:46,639 Speaker 1: a mask, and he attacks his victims in their dreams, 11 00:00:47,080 --> 00:00:51,680 Speaker 1: making frequent use of his signature weapon, a clawed leather 12 00:00:52,120 --> 00:00:57,120 Speaker 1: right hand glove. Freddy's glove. While iconic, has only a 13 00:00:57,160 --> 00:01:01,160 Speaker 1: few real world analogs. Throughout in history, weapons like the 14 00:01:01,200 --> 00:01:04,000 Speaker 1: sword have proven to be more than effective as a 15 00:01:04,080 --> 00:01:09,280 Speaker 1: means of slashing adversaries with a forged blade. When we 16 00:01:09,360 --> 00:01:12,679 Speaker 1: do find weapons more in line with Freddy's claw, they 17 00:01:12,680 --> 00:01:15,440 Speaker 1: tend to either still require the use of a handle 18 00:01:15,560 --> 00:01:19,119 Speaker 1: or hilt, such as with various punch daggers, or they 19 00:01:19,160 --> 00:01:23,000 Speaker 1: function in a way comparable to, say, brass knuckles in 20 00:01:23,080 --> 00:01:27,479 Speaker 1: Japanese martial arts, the tiko kagi claw weapon perhaps serves 21 00:01:27,520 --> 00:01:31,040 Speaker 1: as one of the best parallels to Freddy's claw. I 22 00:01:31,080 --> 00:01:34,440 Speaker 1: was reading about this weapon in Classical Weaponry of Japan, 23 00:01:34,800 --> 00:01:37,960 Speaker 1: Special Weapons and Tactics of the Martial Arts from two 24 00:01:37,959 --> 00:01:41,920 Speaker 1: thousand and three by Sergei Mole. Mole draws special attention 25 00:01:42,040 --> 00:01:47,160 Speaker 1: to the Shuko and ashiko weapons hand and foothooks, respectively, 26 00:01:47,560 --> 00:01:50,120 Speaker 1: which are thought to have been used as quote unquote 27 00:01:50,200 --> 00:01:55,160 Speaker 1: ninja weapons for scaling walls, trees, or other obstacles. Their 28 00:01:55,200 --> 00:01:59,200 Speaker 1: main function was climbing, not combat, but Mole points out 29 00:01:59,240 --> 00:02:02,840 Speaker 1: that they could still have proven fierce in close corners combat, 30 00:02:03,240 --> 00:02:05,480 Speaker 1: and it certainly would have given the user a certain 31 00:02:05,560 --> 00:02:11,480 Speaker 1: psychological advantage. The tiko kagi, however, which means iron backhand claw, 32 00:02:12,280 --> 00:02:15,560 Speaker 1: was unlikely to have been used for climbing, he writes, 33 00:02:15,880 --> 00:02:20,120 Speaker 1: and its elongated blades were seemingly designed to slash and 34 00:02:20,240 --> 00:02:23,720 Speaker 1: rip up skin. Still, it should be noted that the 35 00:02:23,800 --> 00:02:28,280 Speaker 1: tiko kagi was not a glove. The human hand, after all, 36 00:02:28,480 --> 00:02:31,760 Speaker 1: has evolved for fine manipulation, it can also be used 37 00:02:31,760 --> 00:02:35,040 Speaker 1: for bare handed violence, and it has even been hypothesized 38 00:02:35,080 --> 00:02:38,400 Speaker 1: that the hand evolved to form an effective fist for punching, 39 00:02:38,840 --> 00:02:42,880 Speaker 1: but it certainly didn't evolve to slash. Oh, certainly, human 40 00:02:42,880 --> 00:02:46,160 Speaker 1: fingernails can dig in tear, but your fingers simply are 41 00:02:46,200 --> 00:02:49,640 Speaker 1: not suited for the broad slashes and of course occasional 42 00:02:49,760 --> 00:02:53,840 Speaker 1: torpedo style stabbing through the torso that a Krueger glove 43 00:02:54,160 --> 00:02:58,880 Speaker 1: seems designed to administer. Freddie's creator Wes Craven cited the 44 00:02:58,880 --> 00:03:03,160 Speaker 1: housecat as inspiration for Freddie's claw, and certainly cats are 45 00:03:03,200 --> 00:03:08,520 Speaker 1: pretty skilled slashers, but even their amazing retractable clause are 46 00:03:08,600 --> 00:03:11,920 Speaker 1: multi purpose, and as Douglas j Emlin points out in 47 00:03:11,960 --> 00:03:15,520 Speaker 1: the excellent book Animal Weapons, the primary purpose of the 48 00:03:15,560 --> 00:03:18,640 Speaker 1: clause during a kill are to catch and hold the 49 00:03:18,680 --> 00:03:21,760 Speaker 1: prey in place in order for the cat to deliver 50 00:03:21,880 --> 00:03:25,799 Speaker 1: a powerful killing bite. Not only does this latching on 51 00:03:26,120 --> 00:03:29,320 Speaker 1: with the claws enable the teeth to sink home in 52 00:03:29,360 --> 00:03:32,280 Speaker 1: the prey animal, they also hold the prey animal in 53 00:03:32,360 --> 00:03:36,560 Speaker 1: place through the death throws, and this prevents these movements 54 00:03:36,600 --> 00:03:39,880 Speaker 1: from snapping the cat's long canines off in the body. 55 00:03:40,320 --> 00:03:43,040 Speaker 1: Freddy Krueger, of course, is a fictional monster. He can 56 00:03:43,080 --> 00:03:46,320 Speaker 1: do whatever he pleases, while an actual human might well 57 00:03:46,400 --> 00:03:49,440 Speaker 1: break their own fingers. Using such a glove as a weapon, 58 00:03:50,000 --> 00:03:57,960 Speaker 1: all Freddy has to do his dream. Tune in for 59 00:03:58,000 --> 00:04:01,120 Speaker 1: additional editions of The Artifact or the Monster Fact each week. 60 00:04:01,480 --> 00:04:04,600 Speaker 1: As always, you can email us at contact at stuff 61 00:04:04,640 --> 00:04:15,160 Speaker 1: to Blow your Mind dot com. Stuff to Blow Your 62 00:04:15,160 --> 00:04:17,560 Speaker 1: Mind is a production of I Heart Radio. For more 63 00:04:17,600 --> 00:04:20,159 Speaker 1: podcasts from my heart Radio, visit the i heart Radio app, 64 00:04:20,360 --> 00:04:23,120 Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.