Voiced By: Wataru Takagi (Soul Edge; Japanese), Toshiyuki Morikawa (Soulcalibur onward; Japanese), Scott Keck (Soulcalibur II; English), Douglas Rye (Soulcalibur III onward; English)
Your typical Samurai looking for a good challenge. In Soul Edge he seeks a way to defeat the Tanegashima rifle, and believes the legendary sword Soul Edge to be the blade that can do it. He eventually beats the rifle without the need of Soul Edge, but throughout Soulcalibur, SCII, and SCIII, he's still searching for it for the sole purpose of fighting Nightmare. In IV he realizes that there are no more worthy challengers for him, and seeks to fight otherworldly opponents instead. He found a Worthy Opponent in Algol in IV, but due to Soul Edge and Soul Calibur vanishing into a vortex, their battle was cut short as Algol vanished with them. And so Mitsurugi went home to Japan, where over the years he hung up his sword as the era changed - not literally, though, as he loses his Shishi-Oh to Setsuka sometime between IV and V. Now a farmer, when he heard that Soul Edge had returned, he sold all of his land for an opportunity to fight Algol again.Current director Dashi Odashima considers him the main character of Soul Edge.
Actor Allusion: In SCIV, Darth Vader fights Mitsurugi in his intro and as a Destined Battle. Toshiyuki Morikawa, Mitsurugi's seiyuu, is also the Japanese dub voice of Obi-Wan Kenobi.
Awesomeness by Analysis: During his training after his defeat against the rifle, Mitsurugi sought to fight as many varied fighting styles as he could so he would implement their fighting tactics to his own style. Suffice to say, he was quite successful.
Badass Normal: Mitsurugi, so far as we can tell, has no special powers and no connection to either spirit sword. The katana he uses is perfectly ordinary metal. He's made up for this by being so skilled entire armies of normal men, including ones with guns can't beat him, and he's considered a worthy adversary to blatantly supernatural fighters like Nightmare, Olcadan (who killed a god's messenger), and even Algol, a man so Badass Soul Edge has no power over him. In the 17-year time gap between IV and V, he gave up fighting because anything less than a god-king just wasn't enough of a challenge anymore.
Meaningful Name: "Mitsurugi" literally means "divine sword."
One-Man Army: He goes as far as to purposefully side with outnumbered sides so he has more people to fight.
Parental Abandonment: What he was expecting (them to die) to start his sword training.
Perpetual Poverty: In the early games, he has to make ends meet during travels by working as a mercenary. Which was a bit troublesome given he's the only one who faces language barriers. In SCV, he ended up becoming a farmer when Japan had no use for ronin and samurai, just to make ends meet.
Ronin: He actually refused to take a Samurai position when offered, preferring a mercenary lifestyle so he could find a Worthy Opponent.
Shout Out: One of his costumes in Soulcalibur II bears resemblance to Haohmaru.
Walking the Earth: As part of his desire for good opposition, he's been traveling all over Japan, amassing fame throughout the island for his skills. He's also probably the one character that has traveled the most throughout the series' course; during SCII he spent seven years traveling all over Eurasia.
Warrior Monk: The Japanese website for V indicates that he has become one.
Worthy Opponent: He considers Taki his only worthy rival during SCII/III after having a few unfinished encounters with her. In SCIV he considers himself so strong, only Nightmare can fill that spot. As of SCV, he seems to have some unfinished business with Algol.
Olcadan's quotes indicate Mitsurugi is one to him.
The stereotypical ninja of the series. Raised in a secret ninja village since her childhood, Taki has developed a mastery of sealing spells, and dedicates her life to sealing demons all over Japan. In Soul Edge, she leaves to Europe to find the cursed sword so as to empower her favourite sword, Rekkimaru. She's able to obtain a shard after defeating Cervantes, but ends instead fusing it with Mekkimaru, a sword with strong spiritual powers that has driven her master Toki insane. She is forced to leave her home when she's targeted by her own comrades after Toki discovers she has Mekkimaru. In Soulcalibur, she tries to destroy Mekkimaru by pitting it against Soul Edge. Being unable to, she settles on her desire to control its immense power.In Soulcalibur II, the ninjas against her try to ambush her, and she realizes Toki's now after Soul Edge. Realizing the dangers of a man like Toki to claim it, she travels back to face him, which she does successfully in III. In IV she realizes that Soul Calibur is as dangerous as Soul Edge (even if it is totally opposite in nature) from the battle between Siegfried and Nightmare, and resolves to destroy Soul Calibur as well — by any means necessary.During the time skip she finds an apprentice in Natsu, who succeeds Taki's position in V, while Taki herself has gone missing, having yet to return from a journey westward. Natsu sets out to look for her.
Catch Phrase: "Fuuma Kanryo!", literally "Demon sealed, the deed is done!"
Chekhov's Gun: Mekkimaru in Soul Edge is a mere extra weapon with little story relevance. Come Soulcalibur it became Taki's second main weapon and the focal point of her whole story up until Soulcalibur III.
Contract On The Hitman: Since Soulcalibur, up through IV. Having your best friend take over the clan will generally stop this.
Evil Weapon: Mekkimaru. Its powers corrupted Toki into a bloodthirsty madman. These powers were amplified when Taki merged a shard of Soul Edge in it, enough to make it the third strongest weapon after the soul swords.
Murder Is the Best Solution: By Soulcalibur IV, her primary solution to other people knowing about Soul Edge is to Kill 'Em All. No matter who the character is or how good or bad they are, Taki will indiscriminately show up trying to murder them at some point.
Painted On Pants: Her spray-on, fuchsia-or-blue body-glove is slightly ludicrous, given that ninjas usually wore clothing to disguise their shape, not draw attention to it.
Put on a Bus: It has been said that she'll return "Eventually" meaning she might return in a future installment.
Sphere of Destruction: A few of Taki's spells. Best seen in the intro for II, although her actual attacks of that caliber in-game are not nearly as widespread or destructive.
Took a Level in Jerkass: By IV, Taki is much more condescending and self-righteous than her previous incarnations and appears to have no sympathy for the many, many people she's trying to kill to keep them away from Soul Edge.
Wall Jump: A special skill of her (and others) in Soulcalibur II.
Siegfried Schtauffen
Origin - Ober-Getzenberg, Holy Roman Empire (Germany)Weapon(s) - Zweihänder
The actual protagonist of the series. Son of a knight of the Holy Roman Empire, when he was sent into a foreign expedition Siegfried fell into bad company and formed a gang of bandits. During a raid against a group of coward knights that ran away, he murdered his father by accident, and sought for Soul Edge to find his father's killer because the horror of what he'd done drove him insane, and he convinced himself that someone else did it. He obtains Soul Edge but becomes its new host and is transformed into Nightmare.He regains his sanity shortly after Nightmare was defeated by Kilik and Xianghua, but is unable to keep the sword under control, and falls again into its clutches. He is finally freed from Soul Edge's control in III, and is able to "seal" Soul Edge with Soul Calibur. During III he seeks a way to destroy Soul Edge for good, and eventually finds it in Soul Calibur itself, which has bonded with him in order to save his life from a fatal injury. In IV, he's out to get Nightmare, while shunning all those who try to help him in an attempt to avoid any more victims. He returns in V, now Older and Wiser, and has reformed his band of mercenaries "Schwarzwind" to combat Soul Edge. Hilde now accompanies him due to the fall of her kingdom during the timeskip caused by Nightmare. Z.W.E.I and Viola also accompany him to find a worthy successor to Soul Calibur.Director Dashi Odashima considers him the main character of Soulcalibur III and IV and considers Nightmare!Siegfried the main character of Soulcalibur II (read: "more than half the series"), but has explicitly confirmed he is not the main character for Soulcalibur V despite his return.
An Ice Person: Whereas Soul Edge (and by proxy, Inferno and Nightmare) is associated with fire, Siegfried seems to embody the element of ice in contrast (presumably through his contact with Soul Calibur). This can be seen with his Critical Finish in IV and Critical Edge in V.
Animal Motifs: His armor in SCV incorporates the eagle symbol of the Holy Roman Empire banner.
Apologetic Attacker: Only against those who want him dead for his crimes as Nightmare. He feels they are in the right to seek revenge for his crimes, but can't die before stopping Soul Edge. So he beats the crap outta them... and then apologizes.
The Atoner: He's spent practically every game since Soulcalibur (well, except for Soulcalibur II) trying to make up for murdering his father in cold blood and having been manipulated by the sword into killing thousands of innocents.
Badass Cape: In SCV. His alt. in III and 1P outfit in IV instead don a Scarf of Asskicking (the latter being long enough to technically count as a cape anyway).
Badass Crew: His group Schwarzwind (first◊ seen◊ in Siegfried's ending from Soulcalibur as what would appear to be a miniature Badass Army) has slowly grown into this, thanks to Siegfried's reforms post-IV. By the time of V, they're now◊ a band of noble mercenaries, a far cry from their original status as a band of thieves. They've also gained a traveling companion in Hilde, who is tagging along with them after the disappearance of her father and the fall of Wolfkrone, as well as enlisting Z.W.E.I and Viola into their ranks.
Bishōnen: Out of all the Soulcalibur characters, Siegfried is the one most deemed as this. Particularly, because of his girly-ish pretty face and slim (but masculine) build. He's aged well, for he's a Biseinen in V.
Deal with the Devil: In Soul Edge, the sword told him that it'd resurrect his dead father if he were to offer souls to empower it. He agreed and eventually was corrupted into Nightmare.
Determinator: His fighting style even has a somewhat desperate "push onward at all costs" feeling to it, emphasized by one of his more basic moves being a series of headbutts.
Enemy Within: In Soulcalibur II, Siegfried functions as a heroic version of this for Nightmare/Inferno, awakening after lying dormant for so long to try and retake his body. Cue Raphael stabbing the eye of Soul Edge.
Good Scars, Evil Scars: Sports a vertical scar across his right eye starting in Soulcalibur (it's more clearly seen in his 2P costume, as his default outfit has Peek-A-Bangs).
Heel Face Revolving Door: When he's not possessed by Soul Edge he's trying to destroy it. The best thing you can say about Siegfried is however badly he screws up, he never stops fighting.
Kick Them While They Are Down: Siegfried takes it a step further with a move that stomps around six times in rapid succession.
Knight in Shining Armor: Brutally subverted. He looks the part (especially in IV, where an intricate crystalline armor has grown over his regular silver suit) and it was his childhood dream to become one of these like his father, but he's far from being one. However, he could arguably be considered the more embittered variant of this trope.
Knight Templar: Only against those cursed by Soul Edge, and because he's not aware of any cure for that.
He hits this wall with regards to his father's death as well, which is how he temporarily frees himself during the latter part of the first Soulcalibur.
My Greatest Second Chance: Subverted in the interim between Soulcalibur and SCII (where he eventually succumbs to Soul Edge's sway once more), played straight from III onward. It's most evident in III, where his B ending has Siegfried believe that his father was the one who sent the lightning bolts that destroyed Nightmare and interpret it as his father having already forgiven Siegfried for killing him.
Parental Abandonment: Frederick was accidentally slain by Siegfried prior to the first game, whereas Margaret would pass away due to natural causes sometime before V.
Shout Out: To the legendary Norse hero Sigurd/Siegfried. A recurring weapon of Siegfried is Gram, the sword used by Sigurd to kill the dragon Fafnir (mistranslated as "Glam" until more recent games), and Siegfried himself gets to face Fafnir in Legends.
Unbreakable Weapons: In Soul Edge, where breaking weapons is possible, Siegfried has one specific weapon (the 7-Branch Blade) which restores the weapon gauge so quickly that it's virtually impossible to break.
Well-Intentioned Extremist: A particularly tragic example in Soulcalibur IV if Siegfried is truly ignorant of Soul Calibur's true nature. (If he is aware, then it's Knight Templar.) He might believe that Soul Calibur is a sword of redemption that will destroy the evil of Soul Edge. What he doesn't realize is that Soul Calibur will freeze the world over in the process.
Sophitia Alexandra
Origin - Athens, Ottoman Empire (Greece)Weapon(s) - Short sword and shield
The daughter of a Greek baker chosen by the god Hephaestus to destroy Soul Edge. She reaches Cervantes' lair, but ends up being gravely injured in the battle. Saved by Taki from certain death, she is able to return to her normal life. During Soulcalibur, she falls in love with a young blacksmith, Rothion. But the blacksmith god came back to ask her to go destroy the still-at-large Soul Edge. She does, but is unable to reach Nightmare before he's defeated, so she returns back and marries Rothion.In Soulcalibur, II, & III she becomes a Mama Bear due to her children being threatened by Soul Edge. She encounters Tira, who she fights after she makes a threatening remark about her family. Tira escapes, and in Soulcalibur IV, Sophie's daughter Pyrrha gets kidnapped and infected by Soul Edge, forcing her to make a Face Heel Turn.She is succeeded by her son Patroklos and, to some extent, her daughter Pyrrha. It is revealed that she was murdered by Tira some time during or after the events of IV, and Patroklos was raised by Rothion until he died.
Action Girl/Mama Bear: Since Soulcalibur II. Her Mama Bear-ness gets taken to the cruelest extreme in IV when her daughter Pyrrha is kidnapped by Tira and infected by Soul Edge. Basically either she has to kill Soul Edge's enemies or watch her daughter die.
Action Wife: She's the one who took on the battlefield, not her husband Rothion. This is a main source of his Die for Our Ship treatment.
Ancient Greece: Her look and costumes, including Grecian style skirts, togas tops, laurel-leaf hair decorations (in SCIII) and gladiatrix sandals.
Fan Nickname: "Soph" or "Sophie." The latter is used as a pet name by Cassandra.
Groin Attack: One of Sophie's favorite attacks. She's not above fighting dirty, but she'll apologize to male opponents if it connects. (See the video listed above for examples.)
Put on a Bus: Subverted; her marriage to Rothion was the game series' attempt to write her out of the action and have Cassandra flat out replace her. However in the console versions of Soulcalibur II, she became a recurring character again. Fans have often speculated that her Ms. Fanservice reputation is a reason why she didn't get Put on a Bus unlike the other Soulcalibur characters who did.
She may get in another bus for real in V, considering that unlike Cassandra, Patroklos will be the main character.
According to Patroklos' bio for V, Sophitia is actually dead. The catch is that this is according to Patroklos' thoughts, so Sophie might still be alive.
Rapunzel Hair: Her default costume in each game gives her the longest hair of any character (tied with Mi-na), although like Mi-na she keeps it in a braid.
Stripperiffic: This has become more and more prominent over the course of the series, which is sort of ironic given what kind of character she is. Her shirt is see-through (aside from on her nipples, naturally), has cleavage in front and on the side, and her skirt is very short, causing a Panty Shot practically whenever she kicks, is knocked down, there's wind blowing in the arena... EVERY MATCH.
Super Powerful Genetics: Sophitia's children inherited the evil energy of Soul Edge, which infiltrated her body through the wounds on her fight with Cervantes.
Token Good Teammate: Of Nightmare's gang in IV. As said above, she's none too thrilled about her Face Heel Turn, but has to fight for the sake of her children.
An Englishman who was orphaned at a young age due to his parents' murder at the hands of Cervantes. He ends up having to raise himself. Later he adopts a son named Bangoo. In Soulcalibur, Bangoo is kidnapped and he rescues him from Astaroth's cult, which used him as bait to take his soul. Afterwards he seeks to become stronger to prove his worth as a father of Bangoo.While missing in Soulcalibur II, due to believing that heading out to fight frequently instead of being there was not the way to raise him, he returns in III and IV, wielding a large mace instead of his axe. In IV, he confronts Astaroth and notes the similarity in their fighting styles, which worries him. It is currently unknown what became of him in V.
Charles Atlas Superpower: In his SCIII ending, he travels back to the New World... by swimming across the Atlantic.
Dub Name Change: His actual name is Rock Adams. The translator of the first game decided to turn it into a nickname and gave him the full name "Nathaniel William Adams". Worth noting this name only appears in Soul Edge, and all subsequent games have ignored/failed to mention it, while names of other (actual) nicknamed characters (Ivy, Lizardman) are always mentioned.
Great White Hunter: The man has apparently brought down bears, rhinos, bison, and even a freaking mammoth.
Evil Knockoff: Astaroth is this to him, as Rock was used as the base to create him.
Mighty Whitey: British in origin, he became known as the "White Giant" by the Native Americans after he was ship-wrecked in the New World.
Mistaken For A God: As seen in his SCIII ending. Sailors who witness him swimming the Atlantic, wearing his horned head-dress, mistake him for "The Protector of the Sea." Years later (presumably), this sighting becomes Shrouded in Myth and his ending finishes with an antique-looking illustration that shows a highly exaggerated, Titan-sized Rock emerging from the sea dwarfing a ship.
Nature Hero: He lived alone for most of his life on the New World, and has developed his fighting style as a way to communicate with mother nature. He also wears the fur/skulls of the animals he needs to kill in respect of the wild creatures he co-habits with.
So Proud of You: After being trapped in a crevasse for a whole night, Rock found Bangoo and asked him if this experience made him fear nature. He said that he didn't, and Rock realized he was ready for his rite of passage into adulthood.
You Can't Fight Fate: He reaches this conclusion after investigating Astaroth and realizing his connection with Soul Edge. He considers it his destiny to stop the vile monster.
Voldo
Origin - Palermo, Kingdom of Naples (Italy)Weapon(s) - Dual tri-blade katarsEasily the freakiest character in the series, and possibly of all fighting games period. Voldo is a guardian of the treasures that were gathered by his master, Vercci. He seeks Soul Edge because it is the only treasure that his master did not have before his death, but which he longed for so passionately.Most of the series he's just traveling around accomplishing nothing. In Soulcalibur IV, he finally reaches Soul Edge, and is tricked by the sword into becoming one of its servants/guards by imitating his beloved master. In V, he returns to the Money Pit and becomes its guardian once again, but when Soul Edge reappears, he seeks it out believing it to be Vercci. He is now a complete slave to the evil sword's will.
Animal Motifs: His costume in V references a tarantula spider, complete with tufts of arachnid-like hair and a horrific multi-eyed, spider face cod-piece.
Badass Back: This is a big part of his gimmick; that is, he has an entire moveset for while facing away from the opponent. Several of his moves have him swapping between back-facing and front-facing, and he is effectively a normal character no matter which direction he's staring at.
Badass Grandpa: As of SCV, he's 67 years old, but appears to have lost none of his freakish flexibility.
Collector of the Strange: Voldo's master was a fan of collecting weapons, specially eastern katars. He used to boast that "if it isn't in [his] collection, then it doesn't exist."
Disability Superpower: Due to the loss of his sight, he has greatly developed both his hearing and smell, allowing him to fight on-par with even trained veterans.
Dual Wielding: Katars do not need to be used in pairs but Voldo does anyway.
Everyone Looks Sexier IfItalian: He completely subverts this. Most other Italian fighting game characters play this trope straight — Robert Garcia from AOF/KOF, Rose from Street Fighter, Brad Burns from VF, etc. Voldo is VERY much the exception to the rule.
Gross-Up Close-Up: His end poses mostly involve him contorting himself into various wierd shapes, incorporating merciless close-ups of his aggressive looking cod-piece and thong-bound backside.
Handicapped Badass: Is blind AND mute, and also has a blindfold and a facemask.
Hearing Voices: He has been hearing Vercci's voice in his head ever since the first game.
Island Base: The Money Pit, located on an island Vercci obtained, was intended to safekeep the merchant's remaining possessions after the ones on land were confiscated. Voldo manages to restore it to its former glory around the time "V" kicks in.
Mad Man In The Attic: Kept in total darkness at the bottom of the vertiginous Money Pit.
Underwater Ruins: After a heavy rain, most of the lower levels of the Money Pit were drowned, and treasures found there lost forever.
War for Fun and Profit: Vercci did it in a smaller scale. He specialized in selling weapons, often to conflicting sides (like the Spanish Armada and Cervantes.) This made him and his business family gain the title of "Merchants of Death." However, it also backfired on him when the Italian Wars set off and all his possessions were confiscated, due to his very fame as a weapons merchant.
A Korean soldier given orders to investigate and destroy Soul Edge. Orphaned since a young age, he came to rely on others, and once he has grown he decided to help those in need by joining the Coast Guard of his country. Sent to find Soul Edge, under the idea that it would help them against his country's mortal enemy, Japan, in the first game; only to get back in a hurry after hearing rumors of his country being invaded.In Soulcalibur, he was sent to seek the runaway Mi-na under the guise of a second search of Soul Edge. During said quest he learns of the sword's evil, but no one in Korea believes him and he ends up demoted. After spies from Japan are found looking for the sword, the higher-ups sends him again as he's the most experienced, but he's decided to destroy the sword against his bosses' wishes. Ends up injured by Sophitia and letting Yun-seong keep the spot...
Bowdlerise: Before Arthur's introduction, Mitsurugi was switched out with him in Korean arcades. This made him a Secret Character in the western arcades.
Put on a Bus: Went missing after Soulcalibur, and enjoyed a brief return in Soulcalibur III and its arcade port. Even then, he still appeared on the sidelines in Yun-seong's story.
The Rival: With Mitsurugi in Soul Edge and Maxi in Soulcalibur.
Spell My Name with an S: Hwang Sung Kyung? Korean names always seem to have this problem. G's are sometimes K's, O's are sometimes U's...
The only daughter of Seong Han-Myeong. She at first leaves home to join Hwang in his search for Soul Edge, only to be dragged back home by Hwang. She leaves home again in Soul Calibur to search for Soul Edge (and to get away from a clingy student of her father's), but is dragged back home yet again by Hwang. She later commits the mistake of giving a family sword to Yun-seong, who later runs away with it; she then receives permission from her father to seek him and the sword. During the quest she discovers Soul Edge's true colors, and now seeks Yun-seong to stop him from searching for it.
Action Girl: Possibly bordering on Faux Action Girl. She does have the skills, but in-story her last won fight happened before her debut in SE.
Arranged Marriage: If her father had his way, she'd be settling down with Hwang... or as seen in her SC ending, the idiot son of the neighboring Kim family.
Blade on a Stick: Mi-na wields a giant halberd called a "zanbatou."
Cool Big Sis: To Yun-seong. Specifically states this in Broken Destiny's Gauntlet mode, and several of her interactions with the boy throughout the series serve to emphasize their relation.
Curb-Stomp Battle: She fought Ivy during the events Soulcalibur, and was completely overwhelmed by her Whip Sword (though her easy-to-anger impulsiveness got the best of her too), to the point Ivy utterly defeated and mocked her in front of a crowd.
Fanservice Pack: Played straight in Soulcalibur II (especially in the artwork) but inverted afterward as her outfits became more conservative and her figure became getting thinner (which is ironic considering on how just about all the other ladies went in the opposite direction).
Jumped at the Call: She is always seeking adventure, even defying her father and running away from home to do so.
Older and Wiser: Since Soulcalibur II. Even Han-Myeong notes it.
Overprotective Dad: Han-Myeong isn't too thrilled about his daughter's adventurous streak. Somewhat understandable if you remember that Mi-na's mother and younger brother died of illness.
Stripperiffic: Averted — she was headed in this direction (her outfit in SCII was basically a bra and loincloth) but unlike most of the ladies in the series, whose outfits have got skimpier with each new game, SCIV sees Mi-na actually cover up more than she ever has. In fact, one of her alternative outfits is a quite conservative hanbok.
Nunchaku user and mercenary. Believing Mitsurugi to have killed his mute lover Chie (daughter of the former head of Taki's clan, childhood friend of Taki, and in hiding with her father as innkeepers) he intends to get revenge. If Mitsurugi turns out to be innocent, to kill every swordsman he meets. Later, he was almost killed by Cervantes, but survived, albeit with his self-esteem damaged.While on the run from Ming assassins for disobeying orders, he was rescued by another mute girl. He stayed with her until his pursuers found him, which forced him to fight again in order to protect her. Having remembered what it was like fighting for someone, he decides to restore his confidence by fighting the sword that shattered it in the first place.
The Cameo: Makes a cameo appearance in Cervantes' Soulcalibur III story mode as a shadow enemy. Though this enemy appears in other stories, only Cervantes recognizes Li Long as this "Unknown Soul."
Contract On The Hitman: Sorta. The Ming Empire sent assassins to kill him for having disobeyed orders.
Disappeared Dad: Him. He's unaware he has a child (or that his wife actually survived).
Disney Death: Chie's "miraculous survival," considering the only mark she had was a huge sword one on her back.
Dual Wielding: In Soulcalibur III, he's given twin nunchakus to fight, probably to diffrenciate him from Maxi.
The Four Gods: He has four weapons in Soul Edge named after them.
Heroic BSOD: After being defeated by Cervantes, Li Long's confidence crumbled as he started doubting if his manhunt was righteous after all or just atrocious acts. Feeling condemned by everything, his guilt weighted on him until he could not hold his weapon anymore. After that, it took him quite a while to even stop his hand from shaking when in a fight.
Killed Off for Real: Most people assumed this was his fate after he stopped appearing. Soulcalibur III just confirmed to the west what the east knew a long time ago (he's alive).
Mentor: To Maxi, while under the alias of Zhang Wu. After losing a battle to him, Maxi asked Li Long if he could train under him while traveling together.
Put on a Bus: Has it far worse than Hwang, who at least was still around (mostly thanks to Yun-seong) story-wise during his in-game absences. Li Long has barely gotten even any mentions at all.
What Happened to the Mouse?: Him and his family. Finally resolved between IV and V. All There in the Manual for IV states that when they fought in III, Taki told him that Chie was still alive. Chie herself becomes the new head of the Fu-Ma clan. Taki's student Natsu may be her child, otherwise the child's fate is unknown. Li Long's fate since III is also unknown.
He comes back in V as a created character in Quick Battle.
What Could Have Been: If Natsu is not their child, then you have the child of a badass nunchaku wielder and the head of a ninja clan that's just not around.
Cervantes de Leon
Origin - Valencia, Spanish EmpireWeapon(s) - Soul Edge - Male & Female (Soul Edge), Long sword and pistol sword (Soulcalibur onward)
Voiced By: Takashi Nagasako (Soulcalibur-Soulcalibur III; Japanese), Jin Urayama (Soulcalibur Legends & Soulcalibur IV onward; Japanese), Warren Rodgerson (Soulcalibur II; English), Wally Wingert (Soulcalibur III, Soulcalibur IV, & Soulcalibur Legends; English), Michael Sorich (Soulcalibur V; English)
A BadassPirate who learned of Soul Edge's existence and took it for himself. When he took it, he went insane and killed his own crew. He is then controlled by Soul Edge into absorbing souls to increase its power. Sophitia fights him and destroys one of the two parts of Soul Edge, sending Cervantes into a berserk rage. Taki assists a wounded Sophitia and kills Cervantes.Normally he would have been dead from that fatal blow, but after Siegfried became Nightmare due to Soul Edge's influence, he was resurrected. And so as of Soulcalibur he became a Ghost Pirate, seeking out Soul Edge once again.In Soulcalibur II he regains enough pieces of Soul Edge to recreate one of his original weapons and became a Zombie Pirate, then went to look off for more pieces. In Soulcalibur III he finds out that his body is starting to decay because Soul Edge's influence has been sealed off. To preserve himself, he decides to take his daughter's soul... and he succeeds according to Soulcalibur IV. He reached his final evolution of Ghost Zombie Pirate, then headed to Ostrheinsburg once again to claim Soul Edge as a whole and become a god.When Soul Edge was sucked into a vortex at the end of IV, so too was Cervantes due to his deep connections with it. However, Cervantes escaped the void as well as Soul Edge's will, and gained a new body. Seeing that many seafarers had believed him to be dead, he set out to prove the contrary, now acting on his own free will without the use of Soul Edge.
A God Am I: His SCIV ending, and his character tier in all the games.
Must Have Soul Edge: Cervantes' obssession with Soul Edge is likened to an addict having a relapse. After recovering his memories he craved to find the sword again, even though he remembered quite well how it manipulated him.
Going Cold Turkey: At the end of IV he is sucked into a vortex along with Soul Edge, but somehow fights his way out of the void known as Astral Chaos, becomes human again, and realizes his hunt for Soul Edge wasn't worth it anymore because it led him astray from his true goal - becoming the most dreaded pirate in the Seven Seas.
My God, What Have I Done?: His non-canon good ending in Soul Edge has him break free from the sword's influence long enough to see the devastation it's made him wreak on his beloved Valencia, and he sacrifices his life to destroy Soul Edge.
Out of Continues: His immortal life is maintained by Soul Edge's influence. Without it, his body would start to rot away and he'd be Deader than Dead.
Apparently he's capable of body-hopping, as his bio for Soulcalibur V states that he is now inhabiting a new body. What, exactly, happened that let him do this is unclear.
This Banana Is Armed: His joke weapons are still able to use the bullet fireing moves.
Inferno (named "Soul Edge" only in the game of the same name)
Origin - ChaosWeapon(s) - Soul Edge - Male & Female (Soul Edge), All weapons (Soulcalibur onward)The physical embodiment of the titular Artifact of Doom Soul Edge, though only when it brings forth its own dimension, Chaos. Inferno is invisible and intangible in the real world up until Soulcalibur III, when Zasalamel allowed it to animate Siegfried's trademark blue armor, turning it into Nightmare. In Soulcalibur IV, Nightmare reclaimed Soul Edge and became its physical manifestation.
Final Boss: Most prominently in Soulcalibur III, though he's also in essence the Final Boss of Soul Edge (see "One-Winged Angel" below) and Soulcalibur.
Grand Theft Me: If the wielder of Soul Edge is unable to best Inferno in a Battle in the Center of the Mind, then he/she will become the sword's host. And even if they do win, it's only a matter of time...
Hive Mind: By the time of III, Soul Edge is able to act in at least three places at once: the cursed sword itself, Inferno, and Nightmare. This isn't even factoring in the invidual shards of the sword and entities such as Charade.
Made of Evil: Soul Edge was once a normal blade until it tasted too much blood on the battlefield, giving it sentience and an evil soul (Inferno).
Revive Kills Zombie: Throws do about as much damage as normal against him, while normal attacks do roughly 3/4 their usual damage.
Seven Deadly Sins: His voice samples in Soulcalibur are named after them.
Shapeshifter Weapon: Inferno can create weapons out of its body to accomodate any style he's willing to use.
Debuting in Soulcalibur
Kilik
Origin - Ling-Sheng Su Temple, Ming Empire (China)Weapon(s) - Rod (Soulcalibur-Soulcalibur IV), All weapons*
wielded by men
(Soulcalibur V)
Voiced By: Soichiro Hoshi (Japanese), Scott Reyns (Soulcalibur II; English), Grant George (Soulcalibur III onward; English)
One of the monks at the Ling-Sheng Su temple. He becomes a victim ofthe Evil Seed, but his adoptive sister Xianglian sacrifices herself to save him from the fate of insanity at the cost of her own. Because Xianglian removed her Dvapara-Yuga mirror from herself, she was driven to insanity by the seed and attacked Kilik with all her strength, but Kilik killed her in self defense and the shock from this event made him collapse.He was eventually found and raised by an old hermit known only as the Edge Master. He taught Kilik how to disperse and destroy the various evil energies linked to Soul Edge. He first tries to physically destroy the sword; once that failed, he tries to purify it itself even if it means becoming a hermit. As of IV, he's determined to this task, attempting to distance Xianghua from him so as to not share his sad destiny.Reappears in V, in an Akuma-esque manner as a secret boss. He has somehow mastered all fighting styles in the 17-year timeskip, and has devoted himself to training.
Animal Motifs: Birds, possibly. His Critical Finish involves Kilik leaping into the air while surrounded by golden feathers as the cry of a phoenix resounds through the air, while his helmet in V is distinctively fashion after a bird.
Badass Normal: In the canon ending to the first Soulcalibur, Kilik was the one to defeat Nightmare.
The Berserker: If he loses the Dvapara-Yuga (the mirror belt of sorts he wears), he's engulfed by a blind rage. Eventually, Kilik was able to overcome his influence of the Evil Seed and instead used a necklace holding a shard of the Dvapara-Yuga (which was broken in the fight with Nightmare) to purify other victims of the Evil Seed.
Celibate Hero: A more complex variation. Unlike in III (where he's shown to either flat-out ask Xianghua to stay with him or be oblivious to her hints), IV states that Kilik is well-aware of Xianghua's infatuation with him. Kilik himself wants to reciprocate that affection, but due to a variety of psychological factors (such as Xianghua reminding him ofXianglian or the dangers of their quest to destroy Soul Edge), he ultimately wants Xianghua to be happy without him. This comes to a head in IV: either he leads a live of seclusion to properly balance the energies of the soul swords within his Kali Yuga (his ending) or she desperately pleads for Kilik to not to sacrifice himself and goes with him. Furthermore, even with Xianghua's daughter in V possessing the Dvapara-Yuga necklace, it's been revealed that he is not the father.
Cool Helmet: Adorns a helmet that hides his face in SCV.
Defeat Means Playable: In SCV, defeat Kilik in Legendary Souls mode and you get him.
Ditto Fighter: As of SCV; although he has exclusive moves with his Rod.
Evil Makeover: Subverted in SCV; his character protrait includes everything fitting of the norm. Kilik hides his eyes in the dark of his helmet, his aura is a sickly red glow, his pose is now a menacing engulf-everything with-your-hands. However, his personality is more or less unchanged from previous titles.
The Faceless: His helmet in SCV hides his face, his eyes in particular.
The Untwist: If you break off his helmet, though, he looks perfectly fine.
Failure Knight: Has never been able to forgive himself for what happened at Ling-Sheng Su.
Fallen Hero: Possibly as of SCV, Kilik did not get to live happily with Xianghua, gave away one of the items that kept his good morality in check, automatically resulting in embracing his Evil Seed and posing as dark warrior master of all styles. It said said that if he gave away his other item, he would be cured.
Heroic Sacrifice: In Xianghua's ending, along with Xianghua in SCIV. Though he doesn't go alone. (See "Together in Death" in her section.)
Jossed: Many have assumed that Kilik became evil in V and while we do not know what happened between him and Xianghua, it was revealed through his winquotes that he was completely devoted himself to training and became a second Edge Master. Otherwise, he is more or less the same Kilik.
Legacy Character: Appears to have become this to Edge Master as of V. Why he devoted himself to training in all forms of combat is currently unknown.
I Regret Nothing: Tells Edge Master this upon defeating him in a match in V, referring to the above.
Power Glows: His character portrait in SCV has him engulfed by a red glow.
Secret Character: In SCV, he has to be unlocked, and is one the of last chracters to be so, as it requires finishing story mode, then playing the Legendary Souls mode to fight against Kilik to get him.
Or one can do it the easy way and fight him in the Asia route of Arcade mode. You don't even need to clear story mode. While it is an easier fight and acessable from the start, he is the final character in the route. Or one can hunt him down in Quick Battle
Simple Staff: His main weapon as a monk is a bo called "Kali-Yuga," one of the three sacred treasures of his temple. He gave it to Xiba offscreen sometime in V. Despite a new fighting style, he still has a fondness for staff fighting and has unique moves when copying Xiba. When fighting him in Legendary Souls mode, he fights only with his staff.
Spell My Name with an S: His name "Kilik" has been oddly romanized. Judging by the characters used in his original Japanese name, he is intended to be called Qi Li-Ke, which makes much more sense for a Chinese character.
Meaningful Name: However, he could well be named after Kilik Pass, a mountain trail in Xinjiang on China's border with Kashmir. This location also matches the look of his mountainous "Proving Grounds" stages in SC and SCIII.
Warrior Monk: Has always been this but is taken Up to Eleven in V where he seems to be following Edge Master's route. His stage is a cave with a stone Buddha statue holding his Kali-Yuga and his winquotes have him saying mantras.
Yin Yang Bomb: In more than one way. In early games, he was said to be heavily contaminated by evil energy, but it was contained thanks to the holy mirror he carried with him. Furthermore, in IV, his final weapon is Soul Embrace, the combination of both Soul Edge and Soul Calibur. Most likely as a reference to his ending in that game, where's he's seen absorbing the energies of both weapons into his staff.
Chai Xianghua
Origin - Peking, Ming Empire (China)Weapon(s) - Jian (Chinese rapier), Soul Calibur - Jian (Soulcalibur, during the battle with Inferno only)
Voiced By: Aya Hisakawa (Soulcalibur-Soulcalibur III; Japanese), Ryoko Shintani (Soulcalibur IV; Japanese), Wendee Lee (Soulcalibur II onward; English)
Xianghua is the younger sister ofKilik's adoptive sister Xianglian, daughter of a famous swordswoman and heiress to the Chai clan. Was sent by her Emperor to obtain the Soul Edge, but after finding out the truth of the sword, works with Kilik to destroy it.Since II, Xianghua has been feeling guilty for not informing her superiors of Soul Edge's "destruction", leading to the massacre of an entire city. She fails to help Kilik in III against Zasalamel, and is overwhelmed by the guilt, until she learns to cope with it during training in a Ming general's mansion. As of IV, she tries to stop Maxi from taking the sword, while worrying about Kilik's coldness towards her. As of V she is succeeded by her daughter Leixia, whom she entranced with stories of her adventures.Daishi Odashima considers her the main character of Soulcalibur. Her weapon in her debut marked the first appearance of the Soul Calibur when her Krita-Yuga sword transformed into it.
Lady of War: Has arguably one of the most elegant fighting styles in the game.
Parental Hypocrisy: Tells her daughter Leixia all about her adventures, and even promised to go adventuring together with her, but when she sees Leixia holding Kilik's necklace Xianghua tries to have her married off to the emperor. Leixia runs away in response.
Peking Opera: Her scarlet eye make-up and crown-like head band in SCII invoke this look.◊
Together in Death: Xianghua's ending in SCIV has her follow Kilik into death as he sacrifices himself to neutralise the two swords. She does this for no reason other than the fact that she can't live without him, having blamed herself way too much for not being able to help him before. Kilik pleads with her but in the end has no choice in the matter.
Voiced By: Nobutoshi Canna (Soulcalibur-Soulcalibur III; Japanese), Kenjiro Tsuda (Soulcalibur IV; Japanese), Shigeo Kiyama (Soulcalibur V; Japanese), Doug Boyd (Soulcalibur II; English), Steve Van Wormer (Soulcalibur III onward; English)
The Lancer of Kilik's 2-man-and-1-woman-band. Maxi seeks revenge against Astaroth because he killed Maxi's adoptive brother Kyam and his crew, as he sought Kilik due to the evil energy in him. In the Soulcalibur he apparentlydies after killing Astaroth but gets better in II, thought with his limbs weakened to the point of uselessness. His limbs get even better throught a ritual with a piece of Soul Edge, but he gains Laser-Guided Amnesia in exchange. In III he meets up with his former friends and remembers them, but because Maxi has a piece of Soul Edge inside him and Kilik's Dvapara-Yuga mirror wards off evil, Maxi can no longer travel with them. In IV he is manipulated by Tira into serving as a sacrifice for Soul Edge. After vanquishing Astaroth for good, he almost becomes a slave to Soul Edge's will, but Edge Master intervenes and teaches him to control the evil. Now one with the fragment of Soul Edge, he is entrusted with the care of Xiba in V, and journeys to investigate new whispers of the dark sword's return.
Badass: Seems to fight his way through just about everything. When it looked like he was going to die at the end of Soulcaliburhe got better and continued his unending quest to avenge his fallen friends. He was even willing to wield the Soul Edge just to strike down Astaroth, knowing full well that he'd have to be slain in order to stop the soul-stealing rampage that would follow.
Badass Normal: Beyond having a Soul Edge shard in him that seems to not empower him at all, he has no magical abilities, no magic weapon, and yet he's arguably the best fighter in the series—only the clearly supernatural characters/monsters beat him out (Olcadan, Edge Master, Zasalamel, and Cervantes) without needing the soul swords. And remember, he actually defeated Astaroth in one-on-one combat before having the shard of Soul Edge implanted in his body.
Expy: He replaced Li Long as the game's nunchaku fighter. And he looks like Elvis Presley. His moves make him the game's token Bruce Lee expy. That's three levels of Expy-ness.
He's known as "Kenny" amongst the users of 8wayrun.com, in tribute to South Park's un-killable namesake, as he too seems to die at the end of every iteration in the series and miraculously returns for the next.
Chilean fans refer to him as "Medieval René" because of his uncanny similarity to 90's kitsch singer René de la Vega.
Heterosexual Life Partners: Towards Kilik. (Not that it stops the Ho Yay.) Before that, there was him and his "sworn brother" Kyam (who was murdered by Astaroth, along with the rest of Maxi's crew).
He Who Fights Monsters: He's desperate enough in his quest against Astaroth that he's willing to pick up and use Soul Edge in the full knowledge that his friends will have to fight him to stop him. It's clear that his hatred has driven him past reasoning.
Older than They Look: Specifically stated to be so in V, even though he looks no different than he did back in the day. It's heavily speculated that his aging was slowed down by the effects of the Soul Edge shard that was inside of his body. This is even lampshaded by Maxi himself in his bio.
Older and Wiser: By Soul Calibur V he's finally avenged his crew, received some training from Edge Master himself, mellowed out a bit, and has taken to leading Lexia, Natsu, and Xiba.
Pirate: Of the dashing romantic hero type, he hails from the tropical island Kingdom of Ryukyu (modern day Okinawa).
Revenge: Towards Astaroth, who killed his adoptive brother Kyam and his whole pirate crew.
Revenge Before Reason: On the verge of falling this into this abyss as of IV. His ending even has him brandishing Soul Edge to defeat Astaroth, knowing fully that Kilik and Xianghua will have to fight him afterward because of the sword. Luckily, Edge Master swoops in to prevent Maxi from becoming consumed by his desire for revenge.
Spell My Name with an S: Maxi = Makishi - based on the Japanese for his name (マキシ). Makishi is a fairly common Okinawan name, so this makes sense. He probably uses Maxi because it sounds more international in his capacity as a world-roaming pirate.
Origin - Grand Shrine of Palgaea, Persia (Iran)Weapon(s) - Giant axe
Voiced By: Banjo Ginga (Soulcalibur; English), Ryuzaburo Ohtomo (Soulcalibur II onward; Japanese), Jay S. Gilbert (Soulcalibur II; English), Michael McConnohie (Soulcalibur III onward; English)
A large golem created by a cult that worshipped the God of War (No, not that one). His main task is to find Soul Edge and bring it to his master, Kunpaetku (Ares, actually). He slaughtered Maxi's crew under Nightmare's orders. He is later killed by Maxi himself, but gets resurrected in ''II' by Ares. Kunpaetku placed a curse upon him in an attempt to recover control over him, but it only made him more prone to berserk rages. Due to this, he sets out to destroy Kunpaetku, who had planned to betray the god and take Soul Edge's power for himself. Astaroth destroyed the whole cult and eventually found Kunpaetku, who revealed that Astaroth was a "failed experiment," and that he was modeled after a human.Astaroth tries fighting against the fact that he is based off a human until he encounters Rock, who he realizes is the man he was modeled after. Filled with anger, he attacks Rock and wins the fight. He then realizes that for all of his life, he had been serving someone, or something. He reaches the peak of his rage and sheds his humanoid appearance, becoming the golem that he was meant to be. He vows to use Soul Edge's power to kill Ares once and for all, and then kill everything else afterward.The original Astaroth was slain in a decisive battle with Maxi in IV, and his heart was harvested by Ashlotte and brought back to the cult. During the timeskip, a new sect of the cult lead by Kunpaetku created several new Astaroth-like golems using the heart, one of which appears in V.
But for Me, It Was Tuesday: When Maxi demands if Astaroth remembers him from their previous Mutual Kill battle or the massacre of Maxi's crew, Astaroth does not appear to have any idea who he is.
Astaroth (pre-battle): "Pretentious little bug!"
Astaroth (post-battle): "You all look the same to me."
We Can Rebuild Him: The Astaroth in V is supposedly a new golem not even a year old.
Younger than They Look: He's actually younger than Talim. As of II, he's only seven. This goes double for the new Astaroth in V, who isn't even one yet.
Isabella "Ivy" Valentine
Origin - London, British EmpireWeapon(s) - Whip sword
Cervantes' daughter. She was conceived when Soul Edge schemed to create a new host should Cervantes become unable to fulfill his duty. Cervantes, under this influence, raped the daughter of the owner of the Black Tail Inn, who gave birth to Ivy and left her in the care of the noble Valentine household in London. After her adoptive father passed away, she sought to continue his research of Soul Edge through alchemy. She eventually discovered its true properties and sets out to destroy it in memory of her parents. She joins Nightmare, unaware he wielded Soul Edge, and serves him in slaughters under the belief she'd get to Soul Edge throught this. Later confronted by Taki, she discovers the truth of her birth and her father's identity from her.After a lot of soul searching, she decides to destroy everything related to Soul Edge. She conducts even MORE research on finding a way to destroy Soul Edge and learns of Soul Calibur, the cursed sword's polar opposite. She closes in on finding a way to wield Soul Calibur, but Cervantes attacks her by surprise and steals her soul. Luckily she finds a way to escape that fate by using the artificial soul of the homunculus she was creating into herself. Her whip sword's style changes accordingly to her new body, and she sets out one last time to destroy Soul Edge once and for all. She encounters Cervantes and defeats him, bearing witness to the disappearance of Soul Edge into a vortex in the process. Knowing that this was not the end, she went back to her home and began researching into the strange anomaly she saw. Devising a potential new way to destroy the sword over the course of 17 years, her homunculus body remains unaged, and she sets out to destroy the sword once and for all.
Ambiguously Gay: Has some occasional slight Les Yay moments with Sophitia and Taki and her more masculine outfits (such as in Soulcalibur II) do give her a Butch Lesbian vibe.
Big Fancy House: The Valentine Mansion, London. The grand staircase and library are used as fighting arenas in SC and SCIII respectively. The Mansion returns in SCV, after an absence in IV, with the fight taking place in a large atrium complete with a giant stained-glass window and two huge statues holding moonlight reflecting mirrors.
British Accents: She is one of the only characters in the series to be voiced with their native accent. An appropriate London RP accent, to be precise.
British Stuffiness: Played straight with her commanding, heightened RP accent and the witheringly dismissive attitude she displays towards her opponents, but completely subverted with her increasingly gratuitous costumes. However, her more conservative alternate costumes generally play this straight too.
Byronic Hero: She exhibits many of the required character traits — sophistication, confidence and seductive magnetism but at the same time, emotional conflict and a troubled past.
Celibate Hero: Amazingly enough. She doesn't want to risk having a Soul Edge-tainted kid. This is perhaps a shout-out to fellow celibate hero Elizabeth I, the "Virgin Queen" who ruled England at the time Soulcalibur is set. The question, of course, is why the hell does she dress like that?!?
Combat Stilettos: Uses her heels to trample her grounded enemies.
Crossdresser: Her alternate costumes in SC and SCII are of a distinctly masculine, period military style. She even slicks her hair back in the SCII alt.
Did Not Do the Research: A minor point, but her father should be referred to as Earl Valentine, rather than Count — a mistake seen in-game and in source materials. The title of "Count" is not used within the English aristocracy (an Earl is analogous to the continental title Count). "Countess" however, is the correct form of address for the wife of an Earl — so her parents should be referred to as Earl and Countess Valentine.
This has since been corrected, as of her official SCV bio.
Does This Remind You of Anything?: She wields a whip, wears BDSM costumes, and a lot of her soundbites and voice grunting is... suggestive. Oh, and several of her throws are dominatrix-esque. Yeah, there's no way this wasn't intentional.
Ivy: "Well aren't we cheeky? This'll be fun!"
Dominatrix: One of the (obvious) major influences of her character design, and commanding personality.
Evil Brit: She is considered evil by many due to her Machiavellian philosophy, especially in SC, where she teams up with Nightmare. However, she becomes more neutrally aligned from SCII onwards, attempting to atone for her past mistakes.
Kneel Before Zod: As seen in her reverse throw, where she forces the opponent onto their knees, with her whip-sword around their neck like a leash and her heel in the base of their back.
"BEG FOR FORGIVENESS!"
Knight Templar: Her resolution after discovering her cursed heritage is to erase all traces of Soul Edge from Earth: the sword, its shards and those corrupted by it... even if they are innocents.
Mad Scientist: Averted because she does it for a good cause. But she does dabble in alchemy...
She Cleans Up Nicely: Despite her highly revealing in-game outfits, when Ivy isn't off questing for soul-destroying swords, she tends to dress more suitably◊ for an English Countess in late 1500's London.
Shown Their Work: The culturally accurate Tudor Rose of England symbology used throughout her costume in SCIV and V is a surprisingly well-researched touch, especially as the rest of her look is... unrealistic.
Statuesque Stunner: At an amazonian height of nearly 6 foot, Ivy towers above all of the other ladies in the series... and most of the men.
Stripperiffic: Perplexingly, given her vow of chastity, her outfits can make several prostitutes blush. Not for nothing is she deemed the Ms. Fanservice of the series...
Chainmail Bikini: If you could call that a bikini. It's more like a few conveniently placed strings.
Thong of Shielding: "Thong" would be an understatement. Unless it's an overstatement.
Underboobs: As seen in her SCIV costume. Censored on the official US site.
Oddly enough, her art for SCV is finally showing the trend REVERSING. True, she's still wearing a fetishy dominatrix outfit which leaves hardly anything to the imagination (except it covers a little more, albeit with a lingerie style cleavage holder), but compared to her frankly absurd SCIV outfit, it's actually much more modest, a la some of her pre-SCIV outfits.
Unwitting Pawn: Nightmare/Soul Edge planned her birth, gave life to her sword so she'd owe him and join his group, and would keep her at all times at his side (even though she wanted the sword's destruction) in the case the sword needed an emergency host. And Ivy was blissfully unaware of all that.
Used to Be a Sweet Kid: As seen the family portrait◊ hanging in the Valentine Mansion in her SCIII stage, in which she looks to be about 11-12 years old, sports a cute (platinum) Bob Haircut and has a hand placed lovingly on Earl Valentine's shoulder.
Origin - The living incarnation of the cursed sword, Soul EdgeWeapon(s) - Soul Edge - Great Sword, Phantom Soul Edge - Great Sword (Soulcalibur III only)
Voiced By: Nobuyuki Hiyama (Soulcalibur & Soulcalibur II; Japanese), Fumihiko Tachiki (Soulcalibur III; Japanese), Kosei Hirota (Soulcalibur IV & Soulcalibur Legends; Japanese), Yasunori Masutani (Soulcalibur V; Japanese), Ted D' Agostino (Soulcalibur II; English), Patrick Ryan (Soulcalibur III & Soulcalibur IV; English), Michael McConnohie (Soulcalibur Legends; English), Charles Rubendall (Soulcalibur V; English)
The main antagonist of the series and avatar of Inferno. Nightmare was originally what Siegfried became at the end of Soul Edge, but in Soulcalibur III Nightmare was "resurrected" by Zasalamel in III, and becomes a physical manifestation of the cursed sword in IV. "It" now seeks to restore itself completely so that it can devour the souls of all life on Earth and plunge it into complete despair. Was felled by Siegfried during the events of IV, but has gained a new host by the time of V, in which he decides to forego an all-out slaughter for subterfuge and politics.The body he uses for V is that of Raphael.
Badass: Armies of men have tried and failed to stop his crusade of carnage. His own following is only about six or seven strong and he does a lot of the legwork in battle.
Belly Mouth: In IV. Goes all the way around his body, separating his (floating) torso from his groin.
Body Horror: Soul Edge's possession does this to any of its wielders, usually warping their right arm into a hideous and grotesque claw. Siegfried was no exception. His "Siegfried!" appearance took this further, with his armor being even more organic, as if it were a fusion of flesh and metal.
His 2P costume in V is fairly horrifying. Without his armor covering him up, we can see that his new body looks like it was horribly cobbled-together, with bone and diseased-looking grey flesh and metal grafted to his very skin. Maybe we don't want to see what Graf Dumas's face looks like...
Catch Phrase: "Blood, darkness, COME UNTO ME!" and "Need more souls!"
Chekhov's Gunman: He first made an appearance in Siegfried's bad ending from Soul Edge and served as an extra costume for him in Soul Blade ("Siegfried!") with no ending. Suffice to say, few thought this development would be canon. Nightmare's entire existence serves an as aversion to No Canon for the Wicked.
The Chessmaster: Evolving into this by the time of Soulcalibur V, which marks a departure from hisusualself.
Continuity Nod: His look in Soulcalibur IV is partially based off of Night Terror, meshed with his Soulcalibur III look.
In Legends, Soul Edge appears in its Cocoon form when Siegfried finds it, which is how it was depicted when wielded by "Siegfried!"
Nightmare's look in V incorporates elements from all of the character's past outfits from Soulcalibur to Soulcalibur IV (although II is the most prevalent thanks to the horns and mane of red hair) and wields a version of Soul Edge nearly identical to the sword's original, pre-IV depiction.
Early-Bird Cameo: In Soul Edge as "Siegfried!" Had that design of his been carried over to subsequent games, Nightmare would have instead been "The Crimson Knight."
Enemy Without: Of Siegfried. He used to simply be Siegfried's alter ego, but then in SCIII, they became separate entities, and it was revealed that Nightmare is a physical manifestation of the cursed sword. Now, in V, it appears that Nightmare has found another host.
Evil Sounds Deep: Played somewhat straight in Japanese for Soulcalibur, as Nobuyuki Hiyama used a deeper, more sinister tone as opposed to Siegfried. However, in II, Hiyama's pitch for Nightmare returned to that of Siegfried's normal voice, and all subsequent actors on both sides of the pond either made Nightmare a raspy voice or a voice that was dark, but not bass. Definitely played straight starting in IV, where Nightmare now has a booming, distorted voice.
Extra Strength Masquerade: His story-line in SCV reveals that he operates behind the scenes under the alias "Graf (Count) Dumas," ruler of the Kingdom of Hungary.
Fallen Hero: Subverted in that Siggy wasn't exactly the nicest or noblest of souls in his debut, but becoming the host of the cursed sword is still a pretty damn hard fall.
Foreshadowing: In II. His third alt. is that of a fully human Siegfried and his ultimate weapon is the Soul Calibur. Nightmare's ending even has Siegfried break free and throw Soul Edge into an endless chasm. All of this perhaps served as a clue towards Siegfried's character progression in the next game.
From Nobody to Nightmare: A young boy goes from the leader of a band of thieves to the greatest evil the world has ever known thanks to the evil influence of one sword. And yes, the pun is intended.
Hannibal Lecture: Delivers a SOUL-crushing one to Siegfried in the latter's ending in III.
"You will never run away from your sin! You have no right to live! It is a sin for you to be alive!"
He Cleans Up Nicely: Look at his design from IV. Now look at his design from V. Big difference.
Granted, when you see what he has to work with beneath that more presentable-looking armor, suddenly his overtly monstrous form in IV doesn't seem so bad...
Legacy Character: An interesting example as the character who left the title behind continues to persist in the storyline (Siegfried in Calibur and Calibur II, then what was Soul Edge/Inferno for III and IV).
He's back to a more humanoid form in V, but retains his fighting style and Siegfried remains a separate entity. According to his bio, Nightmare has a new host (a swordsman), but it's unknown who exactly is under the armor. Or, given what we see of him in a less-armored form, perhaps what might be a better word...
Made of Evil: Starting in III, same deal as Inferno.
Obviously Evil: You can have your pick of what stands out to you but the best bets are the gigantic mutated right arm or (in IV) the gaping maw with the glowing core.
Replacement Scrappy: An in-universe example. Tira hates what he's become by the time of Soulcalibur V because he's no longer slaughtering everything left, right, and centre and is instead trying to control the world rather than destroy everything on-sight. Tira being Tira, she believes that this is because he's an impostor.
Series Mascot: After the Soul series got popular enough to warrant its own separate developer team, namely after Soulcalibur II, Nightmare became the logomark of Project Soul (up until SCV).
Shout Out: His 2P attire in V is reminiscent of his 2P outfit from II, but includes an iron mask that obscures his facial features (most likely done to not prematurely spoil his true identity). Thus, he's The Man in the Iron Mask. Coincidentally (or perhaps not), he goes by the alias of Dumas during this time.
Tin Tyrant: Played straight by his 1P costumes, but usually averted by his 2P costumes.
Villain with Good Publicity: Soul Edge itself qualifies as this. Everybody seems to want it. Only a few people know that it's utterly evil.
Voluntary Shapeshifting: How does he fool everyone as Graf Dumas with his giantclawedarm? By hiding it and assuming a more presentable appearance, that's how.
A Worldwide Punomenon: Several of his quotes deal with nightmares. His most iconic of the bunch?
"I will show you the greatest nightmare!"
Yandere/Stalker with a Crush: His obsession with Siegfried has been lampshaded by Tira, and he tries to force Siegfried to reclaim Soul Edge in Legends. Even when he acquires a new host, he still uses Siegfried's fighting style, which is referred to as being "What the sword desires."
Lizardman (Aeon Calcos)
Origin - Sparta, Ottoman Empire (Greece)Weapon(s) - Short sword and shield (Soulcalibur), Axe and shield (Soulcalibur III and Soulcalibur IV), Twin axes (Soulcalibur V)Like Sophitia, Aeon Calcos was one of the 24 warriors chosen by the Greek god Hephaestus to destroy Soul Edge. Aeon was unfortunately struck by the Evil Seed and turned into a berserker. In the midst of one of his crazed rampages, he was captured by the Fygul Cestemus order (the very same cult that created Astaroth) and transformed into Lizardman, a loyal servant sent to obtain Soul Edge. He eventually breaks free of their control, and realizes what he has become. Believing that Hephaestus has abandoned him, Aeon renounces his faith and resolves to destroy Hephaestus. Unfortunately, his mutation gets worse and in IV his mind and heart completely degenerate into the monster that he was transformed into. He gathers other creatures like him to search for Soul Edge to reclaim his lost soul and regain his humanity.In Soulcalibur II he is a bonus character, only serving as a guardian for both the maze and labyrinth sections of the Weapon Master Mode. This version of him is not the real Aeon Calcos, but rather the 3 variants of Lizardmen that he commands, who now serve Fygul Cestemus as a shard-gathering troupe. In V he returns, now with wings and goes by his human name Aeon Calcos, searching to devour both Patroklos and Pyrrha.
His background in III is very similar to another famous spartan, except for that he's out to kill Hephaestus, not Hades (and later, Zeus).
One of his kicking moves in III really resembles Leonidas's infamous kick, and you can ring-out opponents with it. Evidently, Spartans have a kink for kicking enemies into pits.
Shrouded in Myth: Aeon Calcos had a family. They were once this trope to him (they mean nothing to him now) and to everyone else aware of that fact.
Took a Level in Badass: He became something of a joke in IV and Broken Destiny. In V, he's regained all his earlier menace and then some.
Winged Reptile: In V he sports a pair of rather angelic feathered wings.
Yoshimitsu
Origin - Base of Mt. Fuji, JapanWeapon(s) - Katana and sashimoto
Voiced by: Nobuyuki Hiyama (Soulcalibur-Soulcalibur III; Japanese), Norio Wakamoto (Soulcalibur IV onward; Japanese), Phil Sheridan (Soulcalibur II; English), Mitch Urban (Soulcalibur III onward; English)
Not that one.His ancestor.Yoshimitsu is the leader of the Manjitou Clan of ninjas. They are chivalrous thieves, much like Robin Hood. At first, after his clan is killed by Oda Nobunaga, he sought Soul Edge to get revenge, but later found that doing that wouldn't make him any different than him. In III he creates the Manjitou in order to help the poor, as well as destroy Soul Edge. In IV, he discovers that Tira killed most of his men, and brings the remaining ones to assault Nightmare's castle.The Yoshimitsu of Soulcalibur V is a new man wielding the Manji leader's titular blade. He is said to have trained under the original, and slew him in order to succeed him.
Artificial Limbs: Like his descendant, one of his arms is a wooden mechanical limb. This seems to be a defining trait of the one who takes over as the leader of the clan, as the man who inherits the title "Yoshimitsu" in V also bears a mechanical arm.
Canon Immigrant: Actually, an aversion. The character itself was added to the roster due to the strong compatibility Yoshimitsu (from Tekken) has with the world of Soulcalibur but his story is completely unique for this universe and isn't simply the same person being adapted for a different setting. It does suggest that he is an ancestor of the Yoshimitsu seen in Tekken but who he is and what he does exists purely for Soulcalibur.
Confusion Fu: A staple of his character, carried over from his future successor.
Named Weapons: While virtually every Soul series character has a weapon with a unique title, Yoshimitsu's is special as it is the same as its wielder ("Yoshimitsu"). Due to the fact that the man who participates in the King of Iron Fist tournaments also uses the same title, it can be implied that the sword actually denotes the leader of the clan and the man behind it is also referred to as "Yoshimitsu" in deference to the blade (essentially making this an inversion).
Soul Jar: If Tekken in any indication, Yoshi I's soul should be inside of the Yoshimitsu katana after Yoshi II killed him to become his successor.
Rule of Funny: His character in a nutshell. Made all the more in hilarious when Norio Wakamoto voices him in IV.
Seppuku: A move that only he can use, and if done right, one of the best ways to achieve a Double Knockout. (In later games he can do other, more productive things with the move, even regain a full health bar, provided he has enough health left after using it.)
Warrior Poet: Many of his win quotes, and his SCIV victory speech, show elements of this.
The mysterious master of all fighting styles in the world, teacher and advisor of the Ling-Sheng Su, foreteller of all events in the series. Trained Kilik after his temple went down, and later taught him the art of purification so he would purify Soul Edge. He remains for the rest of the series sitting down in his hermitage/home, doing something from time to time (like teaching Mi-na in III).He returns in V, unaged from his original appearance, revealing himself as an immortal resident of the realm where Soul Edge and Calibur reside, Astral Chaos.
Badass Beard, Badass Mustache: If Broken Destiny's self-admitted non-canon Gauntlet mode is to be believed, dude's been growing the former for 10,000 years.
The Blacksmith: He has forged for himself every one of his weapons.
The Bus Came Back: His only appearance in the series was the first Soulcalibur. After a few games of being succeeded by other copycat fighters, he will finally be returning in Soulcalibur V.
Deus Exit Machina: Somewhat fitting of his Obi Wan-esque status. Edge Master is most likely one of the strongest characters in the series, up there with Algol, but he never directly gets involved in the story, instead observing events from afar and giving advice and tutelage to those who seek him out, such as Kilik and Seong Mi-na. V marks the first time he's actually contributed to the plot, even if it's only for all of five monutes.
Ditto Fighter: Subverted, as he had two unique moves with Kilik/Seong Mi-na. In V's Legendary Souls mode, Edge Master only mimics Alpha Patroklos' style.
Mr. Exposition: He could be this, but he refuses to speak about his past, or that of the sacred weapons he supposedly carried into the temple.
He does speak a bit about the nature of Astral Chaos to Patroklos, as well as giving him advice on following his own path and controlling his own sword.
Named Weapons: Averted completely. Edge Master's philosophy is that a weapon is just a tool and only a strong soul makes a strong warrior. To reflect this, all his weapons are nameless.
The story behind Xianghua's sword in II implies that it was originally his. The fact the sword is unnamed conforms with this.
Yin Yang Bomb: Inside his body he stores evil energy, which he can make use of to simulate being a victim of Soul Edge's corruption. And he's a master of purifying techniques as well.
Arthur
Origin - Southampton, British EmpireWeapon(s) - Katana
British orphan raised in Japan. Hated by his peers, he sought to do great things to be respected. He sought Soul Edge, thinking it was the greatest deed there was to do, but later found it was meaningless and returned home to marry a prostitute. Later, the shard he gave her as a gift got her killed, so he placed the guilt on himself and set out to destroy the sword and redeem himself.
Always Someone Better: At first he wanted to do some legendary stuff so he'd be respected by his peers. A year into his quest, he just realized he wasn't really that good and that there were many better fighters out there.
Ascended Extra: At least he went from obscure to bonus character spot...
The Cameo: He makes two in Broken Destiny, one as a random foe for quick play and in another he is part of a conversation in The Gauntlet where he is referred to as "Blond Samurai." He also makes a small cameo with the player characters in the intro to Weapon Master in SCII.
Bowdlerise/Palette Swap: Korea has bad blood with Japan (for very good reasons), and especially regarding samurai, so Mitsurugi's character model was modified to have blonde hair and an eyepatch. Thus was born Arthur.
Shout Out: He's highly reminiscent of William Adams, an English navigator who travelled to Japan in the year 1600 and became the first western samurai.
Debuting in Soulcalibur II
Raphael Sorel
Origin - Rouen, French EmpireWeapon(s) - Rapier
Voiced By: Yasunori Masutani (Japanese), Paul Jennings (Soulcalibur II; English), Charles Rubendall (Soulcalibur III onward; English)
A French noble who was marked for death due to supporting an acquaintance who was corrupted by the Evil Seed. He is saved by a young girl named Amy. He decides to take revenge against those who did him wrong by obtaining Soul Edge, but there is a second objective: to repay Amy for helping him, by creating a better world for her. He eventually finds Nightmare and fights him, but loses the battle. However, as Nightmare attempts to kill him, Siegfried begins to resurface and Raphael exploits this vulnerability by stabbing Soul Edge's eye. This releases Siegfried from the sword's control, and Raphael collapses.In III he returns to Amy, severely injured from his Soul Edge-induced scars. As he recovers, he starts noticing changes within himself. He noticed his skin began to turn pale white, and his eye color had changed to red. He also noticed that he felt very weak during the day, and a powerful thirst at night. By the time he had even considered the fact that he was being "malfested," however, the process was already completed. Both himself and Amy had become vampires, no longer able to co-exist with humans. Thus, Raphael concluded that if he and Amy could not change for the world, then the world would change for them. And so he began infecting people and turning them into his minions, but this would not last long as a traveler began curing the people by giving them "Holy Stones." He set out to take the stone, but upon touching it he was burned and repelled, and Raphael destroyed the stone. He set out to once again find Soul Edge to destroy the other Holy Stones and create the perfect world for Amy.Raphael eventually comes to believe in IV that the "Holy Stones" are actually fragments of Soul Calibur, the polar opposite of Soul Edge (though they aren't: they are parts of Kilik's mirror). Thinking that Soul Calibur is even more powerful than Soul Edge, he now seeks to use its power to finally give Amy her world.Rendered unconscious in IV, he awakens in a dungeon in V, and returns to his home to find that Amy has disappeared. Understandably pissed, he sets out on a new quest to find her.It turns out his body is being used as Nightmare's vessel, and the playable Raphael is actually his lost spirit, tethered to the world by his willpower and his love for Amy.
Dance Battler: Very much a male equivalent of the Lady of War archetype with his artsy fencing techniques and rhythmic kicks. His weapon demonstration even involves him dancing before picking up his sword.
Thanks to his fencing prowess, the headgear also gives him the air of a Musketeer of the Guard.
Before the official announcement, people thought he was Jotaro based on his window on the character select screen.
It's likely based on the "Ankou," a personification of death from early French folklore who is often depicted wearing a wide-brimmed hat, as shown here.◊
Our Vampires Are Different: In IV, one of Raphael's throws (that only works on females) as well as his Critical Finish involve biting the neck and drinking deep. He's corrupted not by another vampire but by the evil of Soul Edge.
Spanner in the Works: Raphael might have possibly saved the world due to being foolish enough to face down Nightmare in II. If he hadn't thrust his rapier into Soul Edge's eye, Siegfried might not have been able to finally break free of Soul Edge's control.
Tragic Keepsake: In V he is seen holding one of Amy's hairbands, meaning something bad may have happened to her during the timeskip. This only serves to fuel the theory of "Viola = Amy" even more.
Talim is a priestess (the last priestess, to be specific) of a tribe who worship the winds. She seeks to restore the balance of nature by purging the powers of the two swords. She heads out and tries to catch the forces of evil, and ends up getting entangled with Yun-seong and Seong Mi-na.
Last Of Her Kind: Due to turmoil caused by the influences of Spanish and Portuguese culture in the region, she was reared to be the last priestess (Babaylan).
Little Miss Badass: One of the youngest fighters, along with Amy. Talim is 15, while Amy could be anywhere from 12 to 14 years old.
The Messiah: She never hates anyone, but only has the purest intentions. This is especially evident in her SCIV ending...
Miko: Of a sort, due to the religious role she plays in her culture.
Nice Hat: As seen in her Soulcalibur III alternate costume and her Soulcalibur IV main costume.
Also seen in her unlockable third Soulcalibur II costume.
Philippines: She's a native. Of the region at least — a good portion of her move-list uses native Tagalog words. Her name Talim is itself the Tagalog word for "Edge" or "Sharp."
Yin Yang Bomb: Her ultimate weapon(s) in Soulcalibur IV makes her the only character, besides Algol (the final boss), that can use Soul Edge and Soul Calibur at the same time. Kilik and Zasalamel carry something similar, but not quite.
Hong Yun-seong
Origin - Jirisan, KoreaWeapon(s) - Chinese sword
Voiced By: Kosuke Toriumi (Japanese), Jim Singer (English)
A student of Seong Mi-na's father, and Ascended Fanboy of Hwang. Following his hero's example, he goes after Soul Edge in order to prove to him he's a great fighter. He gets ludicrous levels of stubborness in IV, where Talim, Mi-na, AND Hwang all tell him the sword's pure evil, only for him to dismiss them and continue under the excuse "I want to see it by myself."
Human Pack Mule: A few endings of Mi-na's have this fate befall him.
Idiot Ball: By this point, he's actually starting to believe there might be some truth to the whole "Soul Edge is evil" thing, but still wants to see for himself.
Idiot Hero: Hwang tells him not to go after Soul Edge, but he goes anyway, and he's not even listening to Seong Mi-na anymore.
Patriotic Fervor: His goal to find Soul Edge is a direct result of his hopes to protect his homeland. There's also this exchange with Mitsurugi in III, the second he sees him:
"Enemy of my country... prepare yourself!"
Shonen Hair: He sports an impressively spiky quiff.
Origin - Athens, Ottoman Empire (Greece)Weapon(s) - Short sword and shield
Voiced By: Reiko Takagi (Japanese), Debra Jean Rogers (English)
Sophitia's younger sister. She heads out to destroy Soul Edge so that her family can live in peace. As of IV, she fought against Raphael but got tricked and lost her shard of Soul Edge, and later follows Siegfried's trail believing he has the "Holy Stone" that can destroy Soul Edge (well, he does have one big crystal that can do that, anyway...)Is succeeded by Pyrrha in V, but it is unknown what actually happened to her.
Dumb Blonde: While there isn't any canon evidence of her intelligence (or lack of), the supplemental manga and Broken Destiny campaign has her fulfill this role.
Expy: The original idea was for her to replace her big sister Sophitia.
Required Secondary Powers: An interesting example of a completely mundane character displaying a lack of this — despite being skilled with Sophitia's weapons, she doesn't know how to take care of them. Her Soulcalibur III profile mentions she got Rothion to fix them up after II, and in IIIher weapon breaks when she uses it to destroy Soul Edge. If Sophitia finds out in her ending, she sends her straight to the forge to fix it... cut to Cassandra having a sobbing fit, wailing that she doesn't know how.
Valley Girl: A fairly subtle version, but it's there in her vocalization (in English) and precocious personality.
"Have you looked in the mirror recently?"
Necrid
Origin - UnknownWeapon(s) - Pure energy capable of taking any formA man that got trapped into Soul Edge's dimension and corrupted into a monstrosity. He got free during the climax of the first game, and sought Soul Edge as it can appease his inmense pain. Created by Todd McFarlane as a home version-exclusive character.
The Unintelligible: Speaks in incomphrensible gibberish, to the point that his quotes are labelled as basic emotions conveyed by his speech.
Was Once a Man: Noted in its bio and surmised by Talim in their Destined Battle.
Charade
Origin - UnknownWeapon(s) - All weaponsAn unnamed man once sought fame, and was convinced by a merchant to buy and start hoarding shards of Soul Edge. The man was killed by thieves after bragging about his possessions on town. The man's obssession with fame and strength permeated the shards, who animated his corpse, which gave them a semi-sentient form. It looks to become one with Soul Edge out of raw instict, and got its wish in IV, as it merged together with all the shards.
Put on a Bus: As usual for the Ditto Fighter characters, its story just... stopped. It comes out of nowhere for an event match in III, and then finally joins with the rest of Soul Edge in IV.
Shape Shifting: How it changes to match each player character's style, it readjusts its skeleton.
Shapeshifter Visual Cue: Played with. All of its forms are a brown skeleton with a giant eye in its torso. However, they all also have the habits of the character it's masquerading as, mostly useful to this audience in distinguishing it as Sophitia from it as Cassandra (Cassandra is ironically bouncier).
Guy with a scythe wearing a cloak which he ditches in Soulcalibur IV. Looks suspiciously like Samuel L. Jackson. Zasalamel is cursed with Immortality, which makes him reincarnate himself endlessly. It seemed awesome at the time, but over the years constant resurrection became a real bitch for him, and he just gradually stopped caring, wanting to end his life. He decides to Evil Plan to obtain both Soul Edge and Soul Calibur so that he can finally die.He obtains them and ends his "curse," but as this happens he witnesses a vision of the modern world. He was so amazed by this that he suddenly stops the process, keeping his "curse," and puts in motion a Good Plan to regain both swords so that he can become Chronos, Lord and Master of Time and guide humanity to realize its potential.His current status is unknown as of V.
In the Hood: His primary and secondary attires in III and IV, respectively.
Master of Illusion: In IV, his encounters with Siegfried, Kilik, and Algol has Zasalamel create illusory copies of people dear to those characters (Siegfried's father Frederick, Kilik's adoptive sister Xianglian, and Algol's son Arcturus) just to spite them for no reason.
The Middle East: It's likely he may originally be Babylonian, judging by the names of his attacks being named after figures of Babylonian myth and legend: Ereshkigal, Nergal, Shamash, Tiamat, etc.
Twenty Minutes into the Future: His ending in Soulcalibur IV, in which he achieves true Immortality. 400 years from the events of the game, he is seen in New York City, now a man of great importance (possibly the President), looking at how much the world has changed and giving a nice little monologue before he boards a helicopter for an important meeting.
Xanatos Gambit and Xanatos Roulette: His plan to finally die. However, he discards of it before IV due to his visions and Zasalamel feeling the energies of the swords warping him into Abyss.
Who Wants to Live Forever?: Zasalamel's goal in Soulcalibur III is to find the cursed sword so that he can finally achieve a peaceful (and permanent) death.
A young girl who uses a ring blade and looks like she wandered off from the Cirque du Soleil. Tira is a former assassin who once worked for an organization called the Bird of Passage. When the Evil Seed shone down on the leaders, the group disbanded. Tira had become addicted to killing during her time in the group, however, and couldn't live a normal life. When she heard about Nightmare, she empathized with him because he was a similar being to herself, and she became his servant. She then went after Sophitia's children.In Soulcalibur IV her mind gets shattered by the meeting of Soul Calibur and Soul Edge and her already bi-polar nature becomes a full split personality. She becomes very cunning and manipulative and has most of the cast under her thumb. Unfortunately, Soul Edge is destroyed, and she suffers a mental breakdown, returning to the shadows. She finds solace in her plans for Pyrrha, and upon Soul Edge's return she returns to Nightmare. However, she is not pleased when she finds out that the new Nightmare wants to privately seek control over the world, instead of slaughtering everything. Deciding that this Nightmare is an impostor, she sets out to seek a new host in V.
All There in the Manual: Averted — unlike nearly all of the other warriors in the series, her bio contains no information on her birthplace and this is simply listed as "unknown." Fans have suggested several possible origins, ranging from Scandinavia, Germany, and Romania.
Ancient Conspiracy: The Bird of Passage was responsible for many notorious murders of prestigious figures and officials, and from its safe position in the shadows, it influenced the history of medieval Europe.
Badass Normal: She can fight on equal grounds with Sophitia, who has literal god-given skills and a divine weapon... with a completely unenchanted weapon.
Cargo Ship: In-universe. She's in love with Soul Edge, the sword itself, not the sword's current body/host. This is made clear when she let Z.W.E.I. kill the current host of the sword, "Graf Dumas." She then let Pyrrha dispose of Z.W.E.I. and starts talking to the sword like a long-lost lover.
Circus of Fear: As seen in her costumes and highly acrobatic movements.
Early-Bird Cameo: Not Tira herself, but her raven (no pun intended) was the same one seen in the intro to II handing out pieces of Soul Edge to various warriors.
In SCIV, it's possible to give her a crude Harley Quinn outfit.
Evil Sounds Deep: Her voice alternates according to her mood, ranging from squeeky and perky in her "jolly" state, to incredibly gruff and gutteral in her more powerful, angrier "gloomy" state.
Power Makes Your Voice Deep: In one of her endings from III, Soul Edge takes over Tira's body. The end result? She gets a much sultrier voice.
Fairy Tale Motifs: Her throws are named after elements from fairy tales, such as Glass Slippers, Death Spindle, and Poison Apple.
Meaningful Name: Her weapon, Eiserne Drossel, translates to Iron Throttle from German. Drossel can also mean Thrush, which fits in with her association with birds.
With regard to her own name - "Tira" is the feminine form of "Tir/Tyr," a Norse name referencing (appropriately) the God of combat. This lends weight to her possible Scandinavian origin, mentioned above.
Split Personality: Manifests fully in the fourth game, but was present in SCIII too. Gameplay wise, this is presented as a more acrobatic "jolly" move-list and a more damaging (including self-damage) "gloomy" move-list. She switches between these styles throughout the match.
Stripperiffic: Her default outfit in Soulcalibur III. It's a wonder her boobs don't slip out or get bruised.
Then again, her default outfits in IV also qualify. V's wouldn't, but her shirt is completely torn apart, so it counts.
Yandere: Lampshaded in Broken Destiny, which portrays her as Nightmare's unwanted Stalker with a Crush who will kill anyone who comes between their love.
Setsuka
Origin - Raised in JapanWeapon(s) - Shikomi-zue concealed in an oilpaper parasol
A European-Japanese woman who wields an Iai sword hidden in an umbrella. She seeks revenge against Mitsurugi for killing her master, the only man she ever loved. In IV she gets self-doubts about her mastery of the sword, and retrains in order to reach Himura-esque speed.Between IV and V, Mitsurugi's backstory states that she defeated him sometime during the time skip, taking his Shishi-Oh in the process. By the time of SC V, she has left Japan and started a new life in Istanbul under the alias of 'Neve', where she also had a hand in training Patroklos.
All There in the Manual: According to the official site, after the events of Soulcalibur IV, Setsuka understood how mistaken she was to pursue revenge. She took on the name 'Neve' and travelled to Istanbul (Turkey) where she became a self-defence teacher to orphaned children, including Patroklos.
Combat Sandals: She wears 6 inch high okobo sandals, even in combat.
Distaff Counterpart: In a sense, she could be a considered to a very loose female counterpart to Arthur.
Fancy Hair Decorations: Her hair is gathered high on top of her head in an elaborate coiffure and held in place with various combs and ornamental pins in a Geisha/Oiran style.
Geisha: Her design basis, although she is more reminiscent of an Oiran, a type of high-ranking Japanese courtesan distinguished from geisha by their more elaborate kimono and hair decorations, front-tying obi, and higher status.
Mentor Ship: Was in love with her master, as mentioned above.
Mighty Whitey: She's actually European. She dyed her hair black in the 3rd game but returned it to her natural blonde color in the 4th game. Subverted in that she was shunned from early childhood for her overtly non-Japanese appearance before she was taken in and cared for by her aformentioned master.
Parental Abandonment: Presumably. However, it's not explained in her bio how she came to be an orphan in Japan.
Parental Substitute: While training Patroklos in the art of iaido, she was disappointed that the boy was so steadfastly clinging to revenge as a motive and urged Patroklos to not go down the same path she did, causing him to eventually turn his back on her. It is only later that Patroklos realizes that Setsuka was a second mother to him.
Revenge: She wants to kill Mitsurugi to avenge her slain master.
Revenge Before Reason: Setsuka vows to take revenge upon the man that defeated her master in a duel, which accidentally gave him an infection that killed him. Despite the fact that his dying words were that the swordsman was a good and honorable man, and that she should not hold a grudge against him.
Stand Alone Episode: Her story. Unlike the other characters in the series, who are all connected to or effected by Soul Edge or Soul Calibur in some way, Setsuka's storyline has nothing to do with the legendary swords or their power and is purely concerned with her attempting to kill Mitsurugi. She is not accompanied by any other characters in SCIV's Story Mode and this must be completed using her alone.
Exemplified in her ending in SCIII, in which she's the only character to completely ignore Soul Edge after beating Abyss.
The Unfettered: Her single-minded goal is to avenge her slain master, nothing more.
Setsuka actually moves past her revenge in both games' endings. In III, she even counsels a woman in a predicament similar to hers and helps her move beyond such petty things as well.
The above might not hold true, given what is mentioned in Mitsurugi's V backstory.
While training Patroklos, she advised him to not give in to dark desires such as revenge, as she was once consumed by that same drive in the past, implying that she did get over her vengeance after defeating Mitsurugi and saw something of her younger self in Patroklos.
Raphael's adopted daughter. She was orphaned at a young age, and had become distant from the world. She saves Raphael from the authorities, and starts to open up her heart again to the world.In III she becomes a fully playable character, and gets revamped for the Arcade Edition of III, and then gets even more revamped for IV. Bored of waiting for Raphael to return with Soul Calibur, and possibly not too happy with him constantly leaving her, she heads out to search for him.After following Raphael, she ends up amnesiac, and becomes the fortuneteller Viola.
Ascended Extra: Goes from a background character who makes a cameo in the intro to II to a bonus character in III to a full-fledged memeber of the roster in III: Arcade Edition and IV.
Early-Bird Cameo: She makes a short cameo in the opening movie of II, before becoming a playable character in III.
Meaningful Name: Amy, coming from the old french Aimée, means "beloved." This is played up with the mission you need to complete to unlock her in SCIII, named Beloved.
Origin - Unknown (An ancient civilization)Weapon(s) - All weapons
Voiced By: Shigenori Souya (Japanese)
A warrior from an ancient time when the soul swords were in their infancy, who mocked the gods and got in exchange an owl-headed curse. Trapped in a time-still labyrinth for many years, the Evil Seed finally released it in the 16th Century. After getting used to the new era, he sets out to fight the power that released him.
Badass Grandpa: SRSLY... Possibly one of the oldest characters in the series (his in-game bio claims that Soul Edge was only "young and weak" in his era).
Worthy Opponent: He fought Edge Master to a draw, and can see Edge Master's influence in Kilik's style. The only person he's considered as approaching worthy since then was Mitsurugi.
Zasalamel's ultimate form after being affected by the energies of the abyss he used for his plans. In Soulcalibur III, supposedly he'd morph into this as an after-effect of the ritual he performed to merge with the energies of both swords. Soulcalibur IVretconned this, and instead Zasalamel cut short the ritual after feeling his body starting to be transformed.
Body Horror: He looks like a decaying body with a hole in its chest...
Origin - ChaosWeapon(s) - Soul Edge - Great SwordA What If? character intended to show Nightmare's ultimate form after he merged both Soul Edge and Soul Calibur with itself. While the character itself never came to be (well, canonically, anyways), his design was the base for Nightmare's SCIV form, possibly to show he's approaching that magnitude of power all by himself.
BFS: Shames anything else in this series several times over.
A female knight who hails from the kingdom of Wolfkrone. Having been in charge of Wolfkrone since her father went Berserk, she's been defending it from Nightmare for a long time. After Siegfried's appearance on town, she took it as an omen and decided to lead a full-scale attack behind him, hoping for ultimate victory. She was recently revealed to return in Soulcalibur V, now traveling with Siegfried's band of mercenaries after Wolfkrone fell into darkness. She has also apparently become a mother, but whose child she bore is unknown as of now.
Fire-Forged Friends: With Siegfried, apparently. In IV, the man wanted nothing to do with her. Come V, they're "sworn allies" and traveling companions, their forces banding together to stave off Nightmare's hellish influence on Europe.
Mad Man In The Attic: Her father, the King, is kept locked away in the highest tower of the Royal castle, having been corrupted by the destructive power of Soul Edge.
Meaningful Name: Her full name is derived from Old Germanic words hild and gard, meaning battle and protection respectively.
Princesses Prefer Pink: Averted. She wears red under her armor and her alternate oufit is a blue dress. That doesn't stop the player from altering either outfit to be (or giving her a whole new one that is) pink however.
Royals Who Actually Do Something: She personally leads her kingdom's army into battle to fight Nighmare between SCIII and SCIV and and seeks out Sigfried to try and aid him in destroying Nightmare.
Stripperiffic: Averted, she wears a full suit of armor and a helmet. Considering the rest of the series' female cast, one could call it subverted. However, this doesn't keep the players from being able to put her in one via Character Creation mode.
Wise Beyond Their Years: Taking the throne at a young age due to her father's insanity, Hilde didn't get to experience a normal childhood, having to act like an adult and become strong both physically and emotionally to protect and guide her kingdom, as well as repel Nightmare's forces. It's telling when 35-year-old Hilde is virtually indistinguishable from her 18-year-old self.
Yodel Land: She hails from the fictional Wolfkrone Kingdom, apparently located somewhere within the German-speaking region of the Holy Roman Empire, which comes complete with a giant rotating cuckoo-clock as a fighting arena.
Advanced Ancient Acropolis: It's the late 16th century. The Wolfkrone Monument stage is a carousel complete with animatronic musicians.
Algol
Origin - An ancient dynasty whose name has been lost to historyWeapon(s) - Soul Edge, Soul Calibur, and weapons concealed in his body
The boss of Soulcalibur IV. Algol was a hero who got hold of Soul Edge and build a kingdom, becoming a beloved ruler. His son became jealous of his power and stole Soul Edge, becoming a berserk monster who ended up being killed by Algol himself.After, he started working on creating a blade that could counteract Soul Edge. This "spirit sword" would eventually become Soul Calibur. He used a shard of Soul Edge in the process, and gave up his life for it. The sword, however, ended up being as evil as Soul Edge, and his soul ended up trapped inside it. His supporters sealed him within the sword, and after years of purifying, turned it into the Soul Calibur we know and love. His supporters would eventually become a cult that would pass down Algol's legend for generations.Flash forward to the 16th century, where he finally wakes up due to the immense power radiated from Soul Edge and Soul Calibur. The first thing he wants to do as soon as he wakes up: kick some ass and regain his full power in concordance with his warrior spirit.He fights Mitsurugi in IV, but his battle is cut short when he vanishes along with Soul Edge and Soul Calibur. When Soul Edge made a reappearance in V, so too did Algol.
Animal Motifs: The bird, although other motifs such as lions and dinosaurswere considered. This can be seen is his long, almost talon-like nails. His throne, on the other hand, is shaped like the hood of a cobra.
Anti-Hero (Type III or IV)/Anti-Villain (Type III or IV): Despite his claims to destroy all who stand in his way and his ambition as a king, Algol is pretty much Orcus on His Throne for the duration of IV, coming across more as fatalistic than evil. Many of the Good and Neutral-aligned characters spare the guy in their endings, and many of them say that he's not even evil to begin with. The worst thing that happens? He defeats Siegfried (but seemingly doesn't kill him) in his ending and begins his reign anew, creating a utopia with the implications that his rule was instated to prevent the world from befalling the same fate as his son.
Artificial Stupidity: He sometimes rings himself out because his AI likes using an uppercut followed by a forward leap to cross up the opponent. He does this all the time, even when it's not necessary.
Averted when, thanks to a patch, his AI has been completely rewritten. He's a lot smarter now and doesn't use the move anymore.
Autobots, Rock Out!: Two of Algol's themes, "Thanatos" and "Regalia," are pretty metal compared to the rest of the soundtracks they come from.
Badass: The man blocks Soul Edge's unimaginably powerful cursed power with his bare hands, and he is able to subdue it through willpower alone.
It's worth noting that Algol is the only person in the entire series*
however, see Voldo
that Soul Edge was completely unable to corrupt or control.
Blood Knight: "Fighting is my all. It is my existence!"
Clap Your Hands If You Believe: Two sources. One: He maintains his own existence and that of his tower by thought alone. If he runs out of power, he dies. Two: He's supported by the energies he gained from both swords, which allows him to create any matter from thought. Should the energy runs out, he ceases to exist.
Actually he is, just not during the events of the game itself. His backstory is quite noble.
Meaningful Name: He is named after the Algol Star. The star's name derives from the Arabic ra's al-ghul, meaning "head of the ogre" (al-ghul = "ghoul"), which was given because of its position in the constellation Perseus, representing the head of Gorgon Medusa. The English names of Demon Star and Blinking Demon are direct translations.
Rated M for Manly: Only person known to have tamed the evil in Soul Edge and not be controlled by it, wields both the Edge and Calibur simultaneously, and has a definite Houkuto no Ken vibe about him. He fits.
Shout Out: In addition to having Raoh's looks and the general Hokuto villain Slouch of Villainy, he also perfectly fits into the racial template of the Pillar Men from JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, even having their signature "Rib Attack."
Con artist and general douchebag that wants to live in luxury, but being unable to get it the honest way, becomes a bandit. He cons his servants into servitude and uses them as hostage to get money off of rich uncles. Upon seeing Hilde, fell madly in love with her... but still wants to sack Wolfkrone. All in all, a man of principles.Will be returning in V, as a pre-order bonus character, where he decides to exploit Nightmare's crusade for cash.
All There in the Manual: Averted — his bio is especially strange and ambiguous, with his birthplace and age listed as "changes every time someone asks him." It's likely he is Italian and there are a few clues: He refers to himself as "Le Bello" in his quotes, meaning "the handsome one" in Italian. Also, the vast majority of Dampierre's moves are named after either characters from the Commedia dell'arte, a form of improvisational theatre that began in Italy in the 16th century, or places and things from Venice ("Canal Grande," "Misty Waters of Laguna," "Gondola Dreams," "Adriatic Pearls"). Finally, his stage, the Voiceless Volpe Bridge, is Italian in design and "volpe" is the Italian for fox.
Further evidence was recently revealed in his SCV story, which states that "everyone in Italy's financial world had heard of Lord Geo Dampierre..." and also - ..."(he) enjoyed success in a variety of ventures centred around the City of Venice."
Lethal Joke Character: Might possibly be the only character to beat out Yoshimitsu in terms of sheer whimsy and insanity. While his overall tier ranking is low, his effectiveness depends almost entirely on the player's ability to bait their opponent. Seeing the entire thing in action is gut-bustingly hilarious.
Older than They Look: Possibly. His appearance in V is similar to that of Broken Destiny, suggesting that he's one of the few characters besides Ivy and Raphael to have not aged. Considering Broken Destiny is non-canon, though, it's possible that this is his first "real" appearance and he actually is that old/young.
Son of Sophitia and main character of the 6th game. Uses a "sharper" variation of his mom's moveset. Sets out to find his older sister Pyrrha and to cleanse the world of the malfested, as they apparently killed his mother. He eventually succeeds Siegfried as the wielder of Soul Calibur, becoming Alpha Patroklos.
Ascended Extra: Previously mentioned in his mom's profile.
Character Development: He goes from a guy who just wants revenge against the malfested and will kill anyone who even barely looks it to almost becoming Soul Calibur's Knight Templar to moving past his hatred to save his sister.
Expy: Alpha Patroklos has inherited Setsuka's fighting style. Minus the parasol and Japanese sword.
In-story, Pat starts out as cocky and self-righteous. He then goes on to suffer a My God, What Have I Done? reaction from his actions in the story, is manipulated by one of the soul swords, and eventually wisens up and seeks atonement, haunted by his callous deeds in the past. Sounds a lot like Siegfried doesn't it?
Gratuitous Japanese: Alpha Patroklos will say certain moves in Japanese, probably as a side effect of the below.
Heroic BSOD: He gets a HUGE one after realizing that all of those people Dumas had him kill were actually innocent people, NOT malfested. This comes within literal minutes of him discovering Dumas is actually Nightmare in disguise, and that his sister actually IS malfested. Needless to say, he doesn't take the triple-whammy well.
Iaijutsu Practitioner: As Alpha Patroklos, oddly. This is apparently how he fought before using the sword and shield, having been trained by Setsuka whilst living in Istanbul, prior to SC V.
I Am Not Left-Handed: Sort of. Patroklos initially learned iaijutsu and iaido from Setsuka (and he was a very quick learner), but then decided to switch to using his mother's Athenian style out of respect. The style was entirely self-taught, and while Z.W.E.I. notes it to be a pale imitation of Sophitia's and tells Patroklos essentially to Be Yourself, Patroklos still holds up well up until he switches back to his original teachings (from which he goes on to trump enemies he had problems with in the past). That's... pretty Badass, actually.
Contrived Coincidence: The above... which was required to keep the iaido style within the series, whilst dropping the previous wielder, Setsuka.
Jerkass: He's extremely cocky, taunts his opponents openly, and does some highly questionable things throughout story mode, such as killing an innocent man just because Patroklos thinks he's a malfested.
Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He does however, show that he cares deeply for his sister and strives to save her.
Set Right What Once Went Wrong: His entire thought process after killing his own sister could be summed up as, "Uh, whoops... I need a rewind button." Luckily Edge Master granted that wish.
Shoryuken: Uses one here as the finishing blow of his Critical Edge.
Shown Their Work: His last name was recently corrected (in-game) to the more accurate Alexander, which follows the Greek principle of attributing gender-specific endings to family names.
Single Stroke Battle: Alpha Patroklos's Critical Edge. It's basically a less flashy version of Setsuka's Critical Finish. With crystals.
Spiritual Successor: To both Cassandra and Sophitia, although his cocky and free-spirited fighting style and personality are more akin to his aunt.
Tell Me About My Mother: He had been raised by his father, Rothion. Rothion would convey stories about Sophitia and her holy mission to destroy Soul Edge. Patroklos, as a result, desired to become a holy warrior, just like his mother.
Unwitting Pawn: His head-strong passion and sense of justice, as well as his naivety, make him an ideal enabler for Graf Dumas' machinations...
Pyrrha Alexandra
Origin - Athens, Ottoman Empire (Greece)Weapon(s) - Short sword and shield, Soul Edge - Short sword and shield
Voiced By: Nozomi Sasaki (Japanese), Laura Bailey (English)
Daughter of Sophitia, also a main character. After being kidnapped by Tira, she ended up released from Soul Edge's influence at the hand of her mother. Sadly, unlike Patroklos, she ended up not knowing of her family and became an orphan. She now sets out in search of the truth, not knowing that her life is being manipulated by Tira, who kills every man Pyrrha falls in love with. She eventually succeeds Nightmare as the wielder of Soul Edge, becoming Pyrrha Omega.
Action Survivor: Rare female example and highly unusual for the series. Unlike the other combatants, it's strongly suggested that Pyrrha has little experience in battle, as evidenced by her timid guard stance and somewhat clumsy repertoire of throws.
Jossed: Despite fan speculation that was only encouraged when her brother was named main character, she no longer appears to be corrupted by Soul Edge as she was in IV. Subverted when she becomes Pyrrha Omega.
Made a Slave: Prior to the events of SC V, Pyrrha was purchased by a nobleman's son named Jurgis (the Greek equivalent of 'George') in a slave market, and began working as a Maid.
Release Your Slaves: Jurgis fell in love with Pyrrha, and eventually proposed to her.....
Unwitting Pawn: That night however, he was murdered. Pyrrha was blamed, arrested and imprisoned. Soon afterwards Tira, the real culprit, appeared outside her cell and with skillful words, she wormed her way into Pyrrha's heart....
Not Evil, Just Misunderstood: Everyone around Pyrrha dies and she is blamed for it. The culprit, Tira, even mentions this to her. Tira mentions it again when Pyrrha became Pyrrha Omega. At first, Pyrrha still had the same personality, but she pushed away from the brother (who, without her, would have eaten a Soul Edge to the face) just because she became malfested.
Red Right Hand: Just like Nightmare, Pyrrha's entire right arm mutates after she is confirmed a worthy candidate to be Soul Edge's wielder. Unfortunately, unlike the other wielders who got back their normal bodies after rejecting Soul Edge's influence, this one sticks. Good thing Patroklos loves his sister just the way she is.
A girl who is apparently Taki's disciple. Uses two short ninja swords in combat. Is the host of a demon called Arahabaki. Sets out with Leixia, Maxi, and Xiba to find her sensei, who has disappeared. She also doubles as Leixia's bodyguard.
Mukokuseki: Despite being Japanese by birth, she sports utterly unrealistic strawberry-blonde hair. The incongruence is compounded by the fact that the game is set in the early 1600's, when it would have been impossible to dye brown/black Asian hair such a light shade. It seems odder still, because Namco took care to explain that Setsuka's fair hair is a result of her being ethnically European.
On the other hand, she does have comparatively (realistic) European features compared to the other Asian characters (i.e. her eyes are a bit wider and less almond shaped than Leixia's). It's quite possible that she's actually of European descent, as well... making her the THIRD blonde, Western castaway in the series...
A mysterious, intimidating man who wields a short sword, but utilizes a strange tonfa-like grip in renders (but a normal grip in gameplay screenshots). Is capable of summoning a wolf spirit familiar named "E.I.N." to aid him in battle. He is currently working with Siegfried to find Soul Calibur's new wielder.
Badass: Anyone who has the guts to take on Nightmare and win deserves this acclaim.
Back-to-Back Badasses: With Siegfried in the story, during a skirmish with Graf Dumas' forces.
Hero with Bad Publicity: Z.W.E.I. definitely has strange powers, but he uses them for good. That doesn't stop the average person from thinking otherwise. Opposing a political ruler's Malfested Hunts might have something to do with that.
Jossed: When he was first revealed, many assumed he was meant to be a new antagonist. His story profile later stated that he is in fact on the side of good.
Multicolored Hair: Mostly black, with several patches of white randomly scattered about.
No Name Given: Z.W.E.I. is just what he calls himself.
Reverse Grip: More of a side grip, but arming swords typically were not held like that. Subverted in his actual gameplay shots; he knows how to hold a sword.
What Happened to the Mouse?: The last time he is seen in the story, he was thrown off of a cliff. It's not known if he survived.
Arranged Marriage: Xianghua would far prefer her daughter to become one of the Ming Emperor's wives, than pursue her dreams of seeing the world outside Ming (China).
Distracted by the Sexy: When Leixia suggests Patroklos might be a strong opponent, Natsu and Maxi accuse her of deciding this entirely on attractiveness.
Flower Motifs: Her primary costume is designed around a lotus flower.
A mysterious girl who serves Z.W.E.I. Fights using a metal claw and a summoned energy orb. She is apparentlly amnesic, and follows Z.W.E.I out of necessity, believing that he can lead her to the truth.She is Amy.
Fairy Tale Motifs: Her official bio is especially whimsical, listing her birthplace as "a place of roses and lilies" and her blood type as "twisted strings of red and blue," which is in stark contrast to the more factual bios of the rest of the cast.
Shout Out: Her oddly lyrical birthplace bio entry owes its origins to Tennyson's 1855 poem Maud, in which it is said of the titular heroine: "You have but fed on the roses and lain in the lilies of life," suggesting a sheltered, protected upbringing.
Fortune Teller: Has the look of one. Her theme in V is even entitled "Wandering Seer."
Stocking Filler: She sports fish-net stockings with a spider-web motif incorporated.
Suspiciously Similar Outfit: Her overall look is strikingly similar to Amy's (the hair, dress, tights, etc.) leading to theories that she is actually Amy...
Shrug of God: The staff has stated that she is not related to Amy, but they were quite vague on that statement, possibly referring to her fighting style and not her looks. The plot thickens...
Kilik's apparent replacement for SCV. Edge Master told Maxi that to save Kilik, Xiba would have to inherit the Kali-Yuga. And so, off they go, on their journey to the west. He inherits the Kali-Yuga offscreen from Kilik.
The origin of the voice that called out to Cassandra as she touched Soul Calibur in her ending in IV. As Inferno is the embodiment of Soul Edge, so too is Elysium to Soul Calibur. While Inferno seeks to bring chaos to the world, Elysium wishes to bring order. However, her methods for doing so are that of a Well-Intentioned Extremist who is willing to remove all obstacles in that path. She appears to Patroklos in the image of his mother, flat-out lying to him that there is no way to save Pyrrha from her fate.
Stripperiffic: Is possibly the least clad character in the entire series. Yes, even less than Ivy at her worst. Luckily, the 2P outfit is much less revealing.
Origin - Detroit, Michigan USWeapon(s) - Double-blade axeTodd McFarlane's Badass demon appears in the series due to a deal with Namco to publish his character Necrid in exchange for toys created of the series' characters. Malebolgia sends him to the Soul World to retrieve Soul Edge. Exclusive to the Xbox version.
Voiced by: Akio Ohtsuka (Japanese), Victor Stone (English)
Origin - HyruleWeapon(s) - Sword and shieldA Hylian hailing from The Legend of Zelda series. Travels to the Soul world to destroy Soul Edge, which had threatened Hyrule. Exclusive to the GameCube version.
Easter Egg: Winning with Link causes the Item Get chime to replace the normal victory fanfare. There's also the matter of the game's rendition of the Zelda main theme.
Heroic Mime: Even with all the opportunities given, he still doesn't speak here.
This Looks Like a Job for Aquaman: Link is abysmal-tier in Soulcalibur II (he's used to it), but his throw is incredibly easy to ring people out with, making many Weapon Master stages a cinch.
Origin - JapanWeapon(s) - His own fists with steel wrist guards
Voiced By: Daisuke Gouri (Japanese), Victor Stone (English)
He is transported to the 16th century after his blood made contact with a shard of Soul Edge, making him relive the shard's memories, and wants to test his strength against ancient warriors. Exclusive to the PS2 version.
Continuity Nod: His 10-hit combo is his most powerful move.
He also refers to Kazuya in one of his quotes ("I'd love to show this to that idiot son of mine!") and name drops his pet bear Kuma when defeating Inferno ("Even Kuma is stronger than you!").
Protected by armguards (unless he's using his Infinity+1 Sword).
Recovery Attack: Only character in the series with one, as it comes from Tekken.
Title Drop: And not of Soulcalibur. His ultimate "weapon" (bare fists) is named "Tekken."
Berserker
Origin - Holy Roman Empire (Germany)Weapon(s) - Battle axeMen turned berserk by the Evil Seed. In II, they're also used as labyrinth guardians in the side-game. Comes in 3 variants.
Origin - Persia (Iran)Weapon(s) - ScimitarAssassins from Astaroth's cult. Ditto Berserker above. Comes in 3 variants.
Expy: Duplicates Hwang's movelist. This has lead to some believing that Assassin (if there is only one such character) is Hwang.
Lizardmen (Fygul Cestemus experiments)
Origin - Grand Shrine of Palgaea, Persia (Iran)Weapon(s) - Short sword and shieldMany men turned lizard by Astaroth's evil cult. Served Lizardman and Nightmare in Soulcalibur, and turned shard-seeker for the cult in II. In III, they were oblivious to Astaroth's cult smashing, and wandered the lands. In IV, they gathered around Aeon Calcos, who become their leader again. They obey his every order without question, even killing innocents if necessary.Maze and labyrinth guardians. Come in several variants.
Origin - UnknownWeapon(s) - Dual wave swordsAn assassin once feared, but later mocked as an old man. Revenant having killed a previous incarnation of Zasalamel, Zasalamel made him pay in his next reincarnation. And since death wasn't enough, he controlled his remains to serve him as a servant. In IV he's downgraded into a Cervantes-copy still serving Zas.
Otherwise referred to as The Shop Girls by the fans. One lost her father to Soul Edge, the second got hired after noting her talents and the third seeks her life's calling... though they are more remembered by their role as the ones attending the in-game store... and their ludicrous amount of jiggling (especially Valeria... oh boy).
Fiery Redhead: Valeria approaches this when you repeatedly try to buy an already-purchased item or select an item only not to actually buy it.
Genki Girl: They're all pretty upbeat, but Lynette takes the cake.
Impossibly Low Neckline: Valeria. Enough to give Lulu, the current model of the trope, a run for her money. It should be noted that while Valeria can be recreated in CAS, her individual model is considerably more buxom than the standard CAS female.
While not an "official" character and lacking a move-set, KOS-MOS makes a cameo in the character creation mode, where she can be created with the "type-x" parts.
A robotic maiden created by the remains of the cult that created Astaroth, Ashlotte Maedal's assigned mission is to assassinate him for being a traitor. She was created and designed by Ogure Ito (Oh! Great), of Tenjho Tenge and Air Gear fame.
Art Shift: Like all of the bonus characters created by famous Japanese artists and designers, her profile art is different than the main cast.
Badass Adorable: Immensely strong due to being based on Astaroth, but despite some Uncanny Valley effects, she's still very cute, and the fact her quotes give her a polite, sweet-tempered personality make her curiously adorable for a clockwork doll with a spear.
Uncanny Valley Girl: Seems to be a double offender at first for being an eerily realistic human-sized clockwork doll rendered with eerily realistic computer graphics, but pretty much averted since she moves and acts just like the human characters in the game.
An oni girl who seeks out Soul Edge, believing that it is a kindred spirit to her: a being that is forever conflicted with humans. She was created and designed by Hirokazu Hisayuki, character designer and animation director from the eponymous animation studio Sunrise.
Art Shift: Same deal as most of the bonus characters, the designer gets to keep his original art in the game.
Carry a Big Stick: It's a sterotypical weapon used by oni, the kana-bo. It's supposed to have about the same shape and length as a baseball bat. Kana-bo have lots of little bumps for extra damage, however.
A wandering killer who is possessed by a demon. The demon wants her to take it to a stronger body to possess, and the woman wants to fight more worthy opponents. She was created and designed by Hiroya Oku, of Gantz fame.
The ancient storyteller, now spontaneously an elf. She wants to learn more about the stories of Soul Edge and Soul Calibur to use as material for her newest tale. She was created and designed by Yutaka Izubuchi, famous illustrator and designer who has contributed to many art directions in anime, but he is more known for creating RahXephon.
Art Shift: Izubuchi's orignal piece is kept in the main game.
A servant of the macrocosmos who is sent to Earth to investigate the battle between the two swords. She is also using them as a gauge to judge whether Earth should be destroyed or not. Created and designed by Mine Yoshizaki, of Keroro Gunsou fame. Angol would later become directly related to his series by being the cousin of Angol Mois, a character from his own series.
Art Shift: Yoshizaki's orignal piece is kept in he main game; also differing from the other bonus characters, even her 3D model is noticeable unique and anime-esque.
Canon Immigrant: Eventually became an official character in Keroro Gunsou.
Origin - Planet of KashyyykWeapon(s) - Lightsaber and Force powers
Voiced By: Shuhei Sakaguchi (Japanese), Sam Witwer (English)
Darth Vader's Secret Apprentice, codename Starkiller, real name Galen Marek. He is ordered by his master to investigate a dimensional tear in the space-time continuum, and this leads him to our world where he is caught in the battle between Soul Edge and Soul Calibur.
SNK Boss: Despite being fairly low-tier, he's incredibly quick and annoying to fight against.
Yoda
Origin - UnknownWeapon(s) - Lightsaber and Force powers
Voiced By: Ichiro Nagai (Japanese), Tom Kane (English)
The ancient Jedi master, investigating the emergence of a dimensional tear. Exclusive to the Xbox 360 version he once was, but now available as downloadable content for the PlayStation 3 for $4.99.
Lethal Joke Character: Considering abysmal-tier due to a pitiful attack range and really slow movement, but is immune to throws and players who practice with him will be dancing around their opponents and cutting them to pieces with confusing combos.
Also, his size means you're usually stuck low-attacking him, and due to his size he can't be grabbed (Not even by another Yoda).
Unnecessary Combat Roll: Not unnecessary to Yoda in gameplay, actually — he can either roll in a direction to cover distance, or walk in a manner that is much slower than everyone else.
Darth Vader
Origin - Planet of TatooineWeapon(s) - Lightsaber and Force powers
The Dark Lord of the Sith. He notices the power caused by the clashing of Soul Edge and Soul Calibur and heads off to take the swords for himself. Was exclusive to the PlayStation 3 version at first, but is now available to Xbox360 owners for 400 Microsoft Points.
Large Ham: One of his hammier appearances, owing either to the fact that his Japanese seiyuu usually voices clownish-sounding hammy characters (and the English voice actor had to read the same lines), or to the fact that he's in aSoulcaliburgame.
A young woman from Kilik's past. Actually, his Cool Big Sis and The Gwen Stacy, who sacrificed herself to save him in the massacre that happened there. She is also Xianghua's older sister, but nobody knows that.
Sins of Our Fathers: Believed herself to be unfit of having the Dvapara-Yuga, but the monks say that the "stain" commited by her parents have been already surpassed.
Continuity Nod: His Critical Finish is an exact replica of the finishing move used on Ares in the final battle of the first God of War, though with the Blade of Olympus replacing the Blade of the Gods.
He also name drops Zeus after his opponent has not seen the end of this day. ("Zeus! You will be next!")
As expected, he retains many of his popular combos with the Blades of Chaos. The ever-trusty Plume of Prometheus even has the same command input as in God of War.
Kratos' home stage (Challenge of the Gods) comes from an area located on the giant temple on Cronos' back from the original God of War.
Story Breaker Team Up/Bowdlerise: As is standard procedure for violent/mature works crossing over with tamer series, Kratos has none of the Gorn he's famous for here. Thankfully, the censorship is only there to bring him down to a "T" rating in a game that's anyway geared towards players in the same approximate age range as God of War's demographic.
The main character of Assassin's Creed II. The son of a Florentine banker (and ex-Assassin) from Renaissance Italy whose life of luxury was shattered when his father and brothers were framed and executed. Seeking vengeance, he embraced his true heritage as an Assassin, and worked his way up to become one of the most prominent leaders the order had ever known.
Badass: And how! Aside from what he's done in his home series, Ezio makes his Soul debut by picking a fight with Nightmare.
Badass Cape: A white half-cape, which conveniently covers all of his left-side weapons when not in use.
Badass Grandpa: His appearance is based off Brotherhood (as that game's release was when Namco Bandai started collaborating with Ubisoft), where he was between ages 40 and 48.
Badass Normal: Arguably considered to be one, at least compared to most of the other characters and guest fighters in the Soul series.
Blade Below The Shoulder: His Hidden Blades, which he uses for many of his melee attacks, including an unblockable attack that resembles the high-profile "flying" assassinations in the Assassin's Creed series. His Hidden Gun also counts, as it's mounted alongside on his left-forearm hidden blade.
Canon Welding: The official backstory has Ezio making a stop in his quest to kill Cesare Borgia to recover a treasure that the Templars stole when they raided Forli; however, as soon as he opens the box, the Animus flips out and jumps ahead to Ezio waiting for the ship to Navvare. This sets the event just before the final battle of Brotherhood.
Career Killer: His reveal trailer even dubs him "Master Assassin." Quoting Da Vinci, "Our lives are made by the death of others."
Fish out of Water: AVERTED! Ezio actually fits in with the time and setting of the game, which is notable given the series' penchant for sticking charactersof avery differentsetting(or even time) as guest fighters. As it turned out, that's exactly why he was picked.
This is only to some extent. The first Soul game takes place six decades after Ezio's death in the 1520s, whereas Soul Edge is set in 1584 and SCV takes place twenty-four years later in 1608, despite his look and fighting style being a better fit for the Soul universe and both series being set during The Renaissance. Word Of Godsuggests that Ezio's appearance in SCV is due to the Animus, making Ezio a "ghost" of sorts (or making V a program within the Animus).
A Namco Bandai community manager however noted that Ezio had several undocumented periods in his life during the events of Brotherhood, suggesting the "time/dimensional travel" explanation; the Animus was actually Ubisoft's suggestion.
Somewhat confirmed. Before setting off for the final mission in Brotherhood, Ezio assisted in fighting off some Templar invaders. He then found an unknown artifact that transported him to the future (i.e. the events of SCV). He eventually returned to his own time period to kill Cesare Borgia.
Full Name Basis: Is the only character whose last name is displayed and read by the announcer.
Meaningful Name: Ezio being derived from a Greek word for eagle, he's "The Eagle of Florence."
Multi Melee Master: Just look at the weapons he has in his arsenal! To quote Machiavelli in his announcement trailer: "Before else, be armed."
Shown mainly during his Critical Edge attack, where he slashes his opponent with his stiletto, hidden blade, and longsword, then finishes the attack with a crossbow bolt and an immediate follow-up hidden gun shot.
Namco Bandai actually cited this as the main challenge when it came to balancing Ezio as a fighting game character.
Named Weapons: Somewhat averted, in a similar manner as the Star Wars guest fighters, as the site simply gives his weapon name as "The Hidden Blade." (Funny as this only applies to one out of God knows how many weapons he has.)
The Japanese profile refers to it as "Assassin Blade."
Pre-Asskicking One-Liner: "I tried to warn you!" (said before Ezio performs his Critical Edge attack.)
Primal Stance: Averted, Ezio's fighting stance is his idle stance from Assassin's Creed.
Post-Mortem One-Liner: "The world will be better without you." and "May no one remember your name." The former one actually counts as a Shout Out to Brotherhood, as Ezio used this line to destroy one of Leonardo Da Vinci's war machines, while the latter is used after Ezio defeats Cesare Borgia.
He also uses his main one-liner from Assassin's Creed ("Requiescat In Pace"), when using his Hidden Gun unblockable attack.
Shout Out: Many to his home series, as per the course:
The glitch that occurs after Nightmare's scene in Ezio's trailer is similar to the one found in the "Black Room" trailer for Assassin's Creed: Revelations.
Most of his attacks (the Hidden Blade assassinations, Hidden Gun shot, his counters) are lifted straight from Assassin's Creed.
The official bio mentions Shaun Hastings, part of Desmond's Mission Control from Assassin's Creed II onwards.
The Slow Walk: How Ezio is introduced in his reveal trailer before "dropping in" on Nightmare and delivering his first line.
In a seemingly opposite situation compared to III's KOS-MOS example, Devil Jin's moveset is exclusive to custom characters, but there is no word on whether or not there any parts to recreate him with. To get the Soul (read: fighting style) of Devil Jin, one must defeat the ghost Harada TEKKEN, who uses his style, in Quick Battle mode.
Call Back: The theme that plays when fighting Harada TEKKEN in Quick Battle mode is "Antares," the theme of Devil Jin's home stage in Tekken 5, the Cathedral. This is because the theme was composed by the series' sound director, Junichi Nakatsuru.
