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Description
The Master Sword looks exactly like you would expect if a person raised on anime and Katanas, who'd never seen a European sword, had it described to them and drew what they imagined. I love The Legend of Zelda, and I would never ask them to change this sword, because some decisions artists make because of the medium they are working with, like exaggerating proportions to make them easier to see. However, if I wanted to make a real, working replica of this sword that was a capable weapon, some changes would have to be made.

I've seen historical sword nerds attempt to redesign the sword before, but they frequently go too far with the "practicality" and "historically plausible" and when they're done it's unrecognizable. What's the point of redesigning something to improve it if no one can tell what it is anymore? Just make a new sword. My attempt here is to create a sword I can commission (or make myself should I find myself able to pursue that hobby) that would be both instantly recognizable as The Master Sword, but I could still do some cutting, and in a real battle scenario, would serve it's user well enough, allowing for sub-optimization for style.

Changes:

Step 1: The grip is too long. Link rarely fights without a shield, making this an arming sword, though the blade and handle are trying to make us think it's a claymore. I got it down to 14cm, which is still 4cm too long, but an improvement.

Step 2: The grip is a cylinder. This is a common mistake for Japanese artists, I've found. Look at any sword from any anime. The Soul-Cutter from Bleach, the Buster Sword from Final Fantasy, the Elucidator from SAO...
Swords are engineered with an elliptical grip so that you can feel with your hands which direction the cutting edge is facing. This is called indexing. This helps you train to instinctually know what tiny adjustments you need to make during a swing without looking at the blade. I flared out the top of the grip to add this ability.

Step 3: The weird flange above the grip highlighted in yellow needs to go. It first appeared in Ocarina of Time, and I have no idea what they were thinking. This adds weight past your wrist and offers no function.

Step 4: Delete devices of self-harm. The guard has a spike receding toward the user on each side (also highlighted). I'd rather not have to worry about not accidentally stabbing myself with my own weapon.

Step 5: Compress guard. The shape is wonky, but perfectly serviceable for stopping an enemy weapon. Excessively capable. Overengineered beyond the tolerance it needs. These dummy thicc wings could hold up a bulldozer. I have a sword with only 1cm diameter solid steel rods extending out the sides, and those will stop a bullet. In the interest of reducing how hard it is to swing the sword, I have shrunk them.

Step 6: A minor adjustment, less ricasso. The sword is already so long, it doesn't need this. I thought about reducing the blue section of the ricasso as well, but that was too hard. Maybe someday.

Step 7: Blade dieting program. Too wide, completely unnecessary. Every centimeter of steel past the edge is not doing any cutting, it's only supporting the edge, and it doesn't take a lot to do that. Another instance of just removing useless weight.

Step 8: Finally, simply reducing the entire scale. As an arming sword, it does not need a blade longer than 72cm. Both blade and handle were too long so I shrunk it to make the blade the right size.

Additional notes:
The hilt to blade ratio is whack on the original, so even with my adjustments, it still came out with a long handle, but again, I will make practical sacrifices to maintain the iconic image.
It also came out looking a bit like earlier versions from pre-3d games. I raised the green wrap to give it substance, but this is not my invention, it is modeled that way in-game. I didn't draw it in, but if I were to make this, the purple underneath the green would also be a purple-colored wrap. The bare material as shown in-game would not do.

Description
The Master Sword looks exactly like you would expect if a person raised on anime and Katanas, who'd never seen a European sword, had it described to them and drew what they imagined. I love The Legend of Zelda, and I would never ask them to change this sword, because some decisions artists make because of the medium they are working with, like exaggerating proportions to make them easier to see. However, if I wanted to make a real, working replica of this sword that was a capable weapon, some changes would have to be made.

I've seen historical sword nerds attempt to redesign the sword before, but they frequently go too far with the "practicality" and "historically plausible" and when they're done it's unrecognizable. What's the point of redesigning something to improve it if no one can tell what it is anymore? Just make a new sword. My attempt here is to create a sword I can commission (or make myself should I find myself able to pursue that hobby) that would be both instantly recognizable as The Master Sword, but I could still do some cutting, and in a real battle scenario, would serve it's user well enough, allowing for sub-optimization for style.

Changes:

Step 1: The grip is too long. Link rarely fights without a shield, making this an arming sword, though the blade and handle are trying to make us think it's a claymore. I got it down to 14cm, which is still 4cm too long, but an improvement.

Step 2: The grip is a cylinder. This is a common mistake for Japanese artists, I've found. Look at any sword from any anime. The Soul-Cutter from Bleach, the Buster Sword from Final Fantasy, the Elucidator from SAO...
Swords are engineered with an elliptical grip so that you can feel with your hands which direction the cutting edge is facing. This is called indexing. This helps you train to instinctually know what tiny adjustments you need to make during a swing without looking at the blade. I flared out the top of the grip to add this ability.

Step 3: The weird flange above the grip highlighted in yellow needs to go. It first appeared in Ocarina of Time, and I have no idea what they were thinking. This adds weight past your wrist and offers no function.

Step 4: Delete devices of self-harm. The guard has a spike receding toward the user on each side (also highlighted). I'd rather not have to worry about not accidentally stabbing myself with my own weapon.

Step 5: Compress guard. The shape is wonky, but perfectly serviceable for stopping an enemy weapon. Excessively capable. Overengineered beyond the tolerance it needs. These dummy thicc wings could hold up a bulldozer. I have a sword with only 1cm diameter solid steel rods extending out the sides, and those will stop a bullet. In the interest of reducing how hard it is to swing the sword, I have shrunk them.

Step 6: A minor adjustment, less ricasso. The sword is already so long, it doesn't need this. I thought about reducing the blue section of the ricasso as well, but that was too hard. Maybe someday.

Step 7: Blade dieting program. Too wide, completely unnecessary. Every centimeter of steel past the edge is not doing any cutting, it's only supporting the edge, and it doesn't take a lot to do that. Another instance of just removing useless weight.

Step 8: Finally, simply reducing the entire scale. As an arming sword, it does not need a blade longer than 72cm. Both blade and handle were too long so I shrunk it to make the blade the right size.

Additional notes:
The hilt to blade ratio is whack on the original, so even with my adjustments, it still came out with a long handle, but again, I will make practical sacrifices to maintain the iconic image.
It also came out looking a bit like earlier versions from pre-3d games. I raised the green wrap to give it substance, but this is not my invention, it is modeled that way in-game. I didn't draw it in, but if I were to make this, the purple underneath the green would also be a purple-colored wrap. The bare material as shown in-game would not do.