In "Kill Bill: Volume 1," the retired swordsmith who forges a sword for The Bride is Hattori Hanzo.
Played by Sonny Chiba, Hattori Hanzo lives in Okinawa as a sushi chef after abandoning his former life as a legendary sword maker. The Bride travels to him because she needs a weapon capable of confronting Bill and the other members of the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad.
Hanzo initially refuses to make another sword, having sworn that he would never forge one again. He changes his mind after learning that The Bride intends to kill Bill, who was once his student. The film presents Hanzo's sword as an exceptional weapon and gives the character a memorable connection to Japanese sword-making tradition.
The name is also a nod to the historical Hattori Hanzō, a famous samurai and ninja associated with the Tokugawa period. Pai Mei is a different mentor who trains The Bride, while O-Ren Ishii is one of her targets.