If I remember the comics correctly, Michonne's sword is part of her backstory. Nothing elaborate, it's just that she happened to live next door to a martial arts/sword fanatic and that's what she grabbed when the dead started beating down the door.
In terms of realism, remember these things (and their European & Middle Eastern equivalents before anyone starts throwing around fanboy epitaphs) are meant to cut through meat, bone and at the very least, basic leather armour. Not just arms and legs either. They were supposed to go in under the armpit, slice through the collar and shoulder bone and sever the head. Next to that, a rotting corpse is going to hold up about as well as warmed butter wrapped in soggy tissue paper.
I think World War Z mentions the use of edged weapons of all sorts being very viable, even preferable alternatives to firearms when faced with walkers in manageable numbers. I think one bloke even uses an actual antique claymore! They have two main advantages: 1) they're quiet. Nothing like the crack of a gunshot to alert every zombie within two miles (yes, the noise does travel that far, trust me.) And 2) short of the blade dulling or breaking, you're not about the run out of ammo or reload.
As far as Daryl's crossbow goes, it's sort of the best of both worlds. The longer than arms-reach range of a gun, with the stealth of a blade and for bonus points, the ammo is quickly recoverable. Yeah, against a oncoming horde it's not a lot of good, but that's not the point. The point is to not take on a horde because without anything short of a .50 cal and a warehouse full of reloads, that's suicide. What a crossbow, sword or silenced pistol is for is to quietly take out the odd one or two that's a direct threat.
In terms of realism, remember these things (and their European & Middle Eastern equivalents before anyone starts throwing around fanboy epitaphs) are meant to cut through meat, bone and at the very least, basic leather armour. Not just arms and legs either. They were supposed to go in under the armpit, slice through the collar and shoulder bone and sever the head. Next to that, a rotting corpse is going to hold up about as well as warmed butter wrapped in soggy tissue paper.
I think World War Z mentions the use of edged weapons of all sorts being very viable, even preferable alternatives to firearms when faced with walkers in manageable numbers. I think one bloke even uses an actual antique claymore! They have two main advantages: 1) they're quiet. Nothing like the crack of a gunshot to alert every zombie within two miles (yes, the noise does travel that far, trust me.) And 2) short of the blade dulling or breaking, you're not about the run out of ammo or reload.
As far as Daryl's crossbow goes, it's sort of the best of both worlds. The longer than arms-reach range of a gun, with the stealth of a blade and for bonus points, the ammo is quickly recoverable. Yeah, against a oncoming horde it's not a lot of good, but that's not the point. The point is to not take on a horde because without anything short of a .50 cal and a warehouse full of reloads, that's suicide. What a crossbow, sword or silenced pistol is for is to quietly take out the odd one or two that's a direct threat.
