There's a reason back scabbards weren't really a thing historically.
Yes and no. Having large swords are actually impractical from the start depending on the weapon, much less having a scabbard in the back if not properly placed to draw on. It's a thing that seems most people don't know or draw at.
But it varies anyway. But that type of sword Link uses should just be in his hip instead in the back.
Yes and no. Having large swords are actually impractical from the start depending on the weapon, much less having a scabbard in the back if not properly placed to draw on. It's a thing that seems most people don't know or draw at.
But it varies anyway. But that type of sword Link uses should just be in his hip instead in the back.
Large swords (assuming we're talking about large two-handers of the 15th-16th Centuries, whether you call them zweihanders, spadone, montante, etc.) were usually treated more like polearms than swords. Soldiers who wielded such weapons (such as landsknecht doppelsoldners) would carry them around on their shoulders or otherwise just throw them on a cart when they weren't wielding them, like polearms. Japanese odachi/nodachi seem to be an exception, and would sometimes be worn in a scabbard on a samurai's back or carried by one of their retainers, and would remove both scabbard and sword from their back/retainer before drawing and discarding the scabbard for the remainder of the fight. In Link's case, the longsword-analogous Master Sword would realistically be too long to draw effectively from the back, especially considering how short Link is. He would also realistically have a bit more trouble wielding it one-handed like he does in the games, but he's clearly crazy strong anyway and that's besides the point.
strenght is not a factor in "drawing" a sword off from his back. It's practicallity, with the way how that scabbard is worn on Link's back and depending in the situation if he draw his sword that right during a fight... He would be dead before he could pull it out.
The only time I've ever seen a back-worn scabbard that might be remotely workable is in Rune Explorers where it opened down the side and you could realistically(?) swing the sword out from over your shoulder. Link's case certainly seems like a case of rule of cool.
It should be noted that the Master Sword canonically is magical and has changed its shape before. I am not unwilling to consider that it might adjust itself to fit the hand worthy of wielding it. Also, you frequently acquire it by drawing it vertically from a stone pedestal, and it replaces a previous sword Link is using seamlessly. No one ever questions where a size-appropriate scabbard comes from, and that's another potential hole in the argument of applying realism.
