Characters / Soulcalibur III

Soul Series characters index
Soul Edge | Soulcalibur | Soulcalibur II | Soulcalibur III | Soulcalibur IV | Soulcalibur V | Soulcalibur VI | Soulcalibur Legends
Non-playable Characters

NOTE: Spoilers will be left unmarked in the examples below. You Have Been Warned!

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A list of characters debuting in the fourth game of the series, Soulcalibur III.

• For Mitsurugi, Taki, Siegfried, Sophitia, Rock, Voldo, Seong Mi-na, Hwang, Li Long, and Cervantes, check the Soul Edge sheet.
• For Kilik, Xianghua, Maxi, Astaroth, Ivy, Nightmare, Lizardman, and Yoshimitsu, check the Soulcalibur sheet.
• For Raphael, Talim, Yun-seong, and Cassandra, check the Soulcalibur II sheet.

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Main Characters

Zasalamel

Soulcalibur III Appearance

^{Appearance in Soulcalibur IV}

"My abyss shall take you!"

Origin: Unable to determine due to his ability to reincarnate

Weapon: Kafziel ^note ("Kafziel" is an angel appearing in Jewish, Christian, and Islamic mystical and magical works, often as one of the Seven Archangels), a scythe

Fighting style: Self-taught

Voiced by: ^note Hiroshi Tsuchida (Japanese), Keith Silverstein (English)

Zasalamel was originally a member of an ancient tribe — a sect of Algol's cult that guarded Soul Calibur. He was eventually exiled, however, when he went against the cult's strict orders to never use the spirit sword in times of war. Some time afterward, he discovered the secret of immortality, and through the use of arcane magic gained the ability to reincarnate himself. It seemed awesome at the time, but a few centuries of constant resurrection and death took its toll and he fell into depression, losing the joy of living as every death he suffered became more painful over the years. Believing his immortality to be a curse, Zasalamel decided to use the energies of Soul Edge and Soul Calibur so that he could finally die forever.

He succeeds in obtaining the two swords in SCIV, but during the ritual he witnesses a vision of the modern world. Amazed by humanity's accomplishments, and wanting to see this vision come to pass, he stops the process and the two swords disappear. Zasalamel now seeks to use the swords to gain true immortality instead of reincarnation to make his dream a reality.

For tropes applying to Zasalamel's appearance in the New Timeline starting with Soulcalibur VI, see here.

As a scythe wielder, Zasalamel's playstyle revolves around using attacks that control the positioning of the opponent. He can pull the opponent towards him, push them away, or toss them to the sides in an attempt to ring them out. While his attacks are relatively quick, his speed is below average, making him a rather advanced character.

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• 20 Minutes into the Future: His ending in SCIV, 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.
• Anti-Villain: In SCIII, he wants the swords so he can escape his immortality and die a peaceful death.
  May you sleep for ETERNITY!
• Bald of Evil: In SCIII, where he is a villainous character.
• Big Bad: Of SCIII, before his Heel–Face Turn in SCIV.
• Born-Again Immortality: He perfected a secret magical art that made him reincarnate as a newborn whenever he died (whether through natural causes or being killed), with his new life inheriting all of his previous lives' memories and traits.
• The Chessmaster: In SCIII, he manipulates every single character in the game in his scheme to try to obtain both swords.
• Costume Porn: His primary outfit in SCIV. He ditches the hood, but gets a pimped-out magician's robe instead.
• Cursed with Awesome: He eventually grew sick of his reincarnation ability and tried to undo his "curse" in SCIII.
• Death Seeker: His motivation for everything he does in SCIII, where he's sick of his reincarnating nature.
• Evil Sorcerer: Definitely has this vibe in SCIII, prior to his Heel–Face Turn.
• Fate Worse than Death: One of his outros in SCIV has him casting an unseen ritual on his off-screen opponent and telling them to suffer for all eternity.
• Genius Bruiser: Zasalamel takes the form of a towering black man with a muscular build, and he wields a huge scythe with ease. He also has a knack for manipulating people towards his ends (in SCIII he basically outplays the entire cast combined) and millennia of combat experience and knowledge across a broad spectrum of subjects. He's one of the few people in the setting who can use magic (the ability to create portals, solid illusions, and undead servants who can fight for him, as well as curses).
• The Grim Reaper: His 1P outfit in SCIII and 2P outfit in SCIV both resemble a traditional depiction of death: a hooded figure wielding a scythe.
• In the Hood: His primary and secondary attires in SCIII and SCIV, respectively.
• Master of Illusion: In SCIV, his encounters with Siegfried, Kilik, and Algol have him 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.
• One-Winged Angel: Undergoes one in SCIII, becoming Abyss, although SCIV retconned it out of existence.
• Put on a Bus: Unlike some other characters, there is simply no explanation as to why he didn't make it to SCV. Inquisitive players hacking into the game files were able to find his character model however, suggesting he was planned to appear but cut for time or intended as DLC.
• Recurring Boss: He appears as a mid-boss in every single character's Tales of Souls storyline in SCIII. Including his own. As Abyss, he also serves as the Final Boss if you didn't do well enough to get Night Terror. Finally, failing the quick-time event in the cutscene before the penultimate fight will cause him to replace Nightmare/Siegfried, meaning it's possible to fight him up to three times in one playthrough.
• Reincarnation: His main trouble stems from the fact that he himself is not an immortal but just a regular man who lives a regular lifespan. However his golden eye is a Soul Jar, which means when his body dies, the eye becomes attached to another newly born infant and that becomes Zasalamel's new body while still maintaining his original personality and memories. This constant cycle of death and rebirth has drained his zeal for living, hence why he seeks a way out.
• Religious and Mythological Theme Naming: In Zasalamel's case, Mesopotamian Mythology — 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. This also fits with him originally being a member of Algol's cult, who is himself inspired by the hero king Gilgamesh and therefore likely originates from the pre-Babylonian Sumerian civilization, which occupied the same region.
• Scary Black Man: Even after his Heel–Face Turn, he maintains an imposing and intimidating appearance. In SCIII, this is more obvious.
• Sharp-Dressed Man: As seen in his SCIV ending set 400 years in the future. That is one classy cat.
• Sinister Scythe: It fits his overall appearance of a Grim Reaper.
• Supernatural Gold Eyes: Eye to be precise. His left eye is golden. It apparently contains his soul and stays with him throughout all of his incarnations.
• Tall, Dark, and Handsome: At 5'11" and with his distinguished, stoic features.
• Thanatos Gambit: His plan to finally die. However, he abandons it before SCIV due to his visions of a prosperous future, as well as feeling the energies of the swords warping him into Abyss.
• Time Abyss: His age entry reads "Unable to determine due to his ability to reincarnate". His backstory traces his origin all the way back to the ancient prehistoric cult/tribe that was charged by Algol to guard Soul Calibur.
• What Happened to the Mouse?: Like Talim, he simply disappears between SCIV and SCV without a single mention even in supplemental material.
• Who Wants to Live Forever?: Zasalamel's goal in SCIII is to find the cursed sword so that he can finally achieve a peaceful (and permanent) death. Inverted in SCIV, in which he suddenly wants to live forever because he saw a vision of the modern world and felt the urge to live again (although without the baggage of having to die and be reborn constantly in order to preserve his existence, instead seeking true Immortality).
• You Will Not Evade Me: Zasalamel's core competency is using his scythe's hooked edge to snare opponents and pull them right up next to him, where he can mix them up or just otherwise crowd them out.

Tira

Soulcalibur III Appearance

^{Appearance in Soulcalibur IV}

"Ooh, I'm getting goosebumps. Say that again!"

Origin: Bird of Passage Assassins Guild, Holy Roman Empire ^note At the time the series is set, the Holy Roman Empire comprised a multi-ethnic complex of territories (encompassing all of present-day Germany and parts of the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Austria, the Czech and Slovak Republics, as well as parts of eastern France, northern Italy, Slovenia, and western Poland) in central Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its dissolution in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars.

Weapon: Eiserne Drossel ^note ("Iron Thrush" in German), a ring blade

Fighting style: Dance of Death

Voiced by: ^note Masumi Asano (Japanese), Alison Lees-Taylor (Soulcalibur III to Soulcalibur V, English), Kate Higgins (Soulcalibur VI, English)

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 was raised from birth by an organization called the Bird of Passage, a Murder, Inc. based out of the Holy Roman Empire. 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 SCIV her mind gets shattered by the meeting of Soul Calibur and Soul Edge and her already bipolar 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 SCV.

In gameplay, her split personalities manifest as two separate modes: Jolly and Gloomy. Jolly Tira is more defensive, focusing on quick strikes. Gloomy Tira, in contrast, is an offensive powerhouse who focuses in rushdown tactics. It comes as no surprise that the primary objective is to get into Gloomy Mode as fast as possible.

She returns to the series in SCVI as a DLC character, sporting a look that combines her SCIII and SCV costumes, and pinwheel bunches taken from her alt. costume in SCIII.

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• Affably Evil: She's Ax-Crazy as all-hell, but she has a playful, almost mischievous demeanor. Well, Jolly Tira does at least.
• 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.
• The Ageless‎: Throughout SCIII and SCIV, she's listed as 17 years old in her bio. In the time-frame of SCV, chronologically she would therefore be 34, but her age is simply listed as "unknown". It is implied that exposure to Soul Edge has stalled the physical aging process and frozen her youthful looks.
• Animal Motifs: She has an association with birds, specifically corvid species. Especially prevalent in SCVI, where her hair is styled to resemble bird wings.
• Badass Normal: She can fight on equal grounds with Sophitia, who has literal god-given skills and a divine weapon... with a completely un-enchanted weapon.
• Berserk Button: Being referred to as a pawn of Soul Edge.
• Big Bad Ensemble: With the new Nightmare and Elysium in SCV.
• Blood Knight: Whichever is her personality at the time, she loves to fight and kill people.
• 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 lets Pyrrha dispose of Z.W.E.I. and starts talking to the sword like a long-lost lover.
• Chained by Fashion: When she moves, rattling chains can be heard. It's either from her boots or her ring-blade.
• The Chessmaster: The key figure in the tragedies surrounding the Alexander family in both SCIV and SCV, she's responsible for essentially every bad thing that happens to all of them.
• Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: She just disappears in SCV after Pyrrha becomes host for Soul Edge. Of course, since the story was only 1/4 completed, who knows what would have become of her.
• Circus of Fear: Incarnate — from her killer-hula-hoop weapon and evil jester costumes, to her highly acrobatic movements, which are all performance-arts based, as opposed to being grounded in the martial arts.
• Cirque du Soleil: Her look and possible design inspiration. One of their shows (Alegría) features the brilliant Elena Lev, a young hula-hoop/acrobat artiste dressed all in green, who has a definite Tira vibe.
• Combat Sadomasochist: While she cries out in pain when she is damaged, she quickly returns to smiling in her Jolly persona.
• Combat Stilettos: Sports heeled boots in SCV.
• Comic-Book Fantasy Casting: With her beauty mark, arched eyebrows and villainess make-up, Tira bears a striking resemblance to a young Sherilyn◊ Fenn,◊ particularly during her tenure as the tantalizing high school femme fatale Audrey Horne on Twin Peaks.
• Continuity Nod:
  • Her main outfit in SCV draws inspiration from her main outfit in SCIII and especially her alternate SCIV one.
  • Her entire relationship with ravens can be seen as a reference to Nightmare's raven back in SCII, which predates her appearance in the series.
• Coy, Girlish Flirt Pose: It's surprisingly one of her victory poses. Could be a reminder of her actual age (17), or it's just her being sarcastic.
• Dance Battler: Tira's movement patterns are almost entirely based on Olympic-level rhythmic gymnastics and her repertoire of acrobatic kicks are all dance and ballet-based (including coupé, pirouette, grand battement etc), with very little grounding in traditional martial-arts. In SCIII, she even jetés into the opponent whilst leaping through her hoop.
• Dark Action Girl: The series' sole evil female fighter, following Ivy becoming more neutrally-aligned after SC.
• Downloadable Content: In SCVI, she is the game's first promoted DLC character.
• The Dragon: To Nightmare, especially in SCIV where she does all his dirty work for him. Plus unlike Astaroth, Ivy, Voldo, and Sophitia, Tira is genuinely and completely loyal to him.
• Dragon Ascendant: After the original Nightmare was killed by Siegfried, she rose to prominence in the years since as the manipulator of Pyrrha, becoming part of the Big Bad Ensemble rather than just a right-hand woman, with the goal to make her the vessel to Soul Edge after Graf Dumas took the sword.
• Early-Bird Cameo: Not Tira herself, but her raven (no pun intended) was the same one seen in the intro to SCII handing out pieces of Soul Edge to various warriors.
• Eerie Pale-Skinned Brunette: In SCIV. Before that, she has green hair by default.
• Expy: Of Misa Amane and/or Harley Quinn. In SCIV and SCV, it's possible to give her a crude Harley Quinn outfit. It's even easier in SCV considering how pale her skin became, allowing it to pass for white pancake makeup.
• Evil Mentor: To Pyrrha, who genuinely believes that Tira has her best interests at heart.
• Evil Sounds Deep: Her voice alternates according to her mood, ranging from squeeky and perky in her "jolly" state, to incredibly gruff and guttural in her more powerful, angrier "gloomy" state.
• Excessive Evil Eyeshadow: Most of the women in the series are depicted with only subtle make-up (if at all), though Tira is definitely the exception, and really slaps it on in most of her outfits, which suits her role as the series' main villainess.
• Fairy Tale Motifs: Her throws are named after elements from fairy tales, such as Glass Slippers, Death Spindle, and Poison Apple.
• Fluffy Fashion Feathers: Her Mari Shimazaki-designed 2P costume◊ in SCV.
• Freudian Excuse: The Bird of Passage who raised her from birth were said to regard Tira as an object instead of a human being, and the tests she had to go through to become one of them was to fight the "Mother Bird" who had been her mentor to the death. Killing her mentor is suggested to be the root cause of Tira's mental instability, which only gets worse as the games progress.
• From Nobody to Nightmare: A poor, abandoned baby is raised by an assassin guild and moves onto orchestrating a complex plan that involves destroying an entire family, assassinating political figures(Graf Dumas/Nightmare), and finding a new host body for her would-be inanimate boyfriend.
• Giggling Villain: As insane as she is, she never lets out a big crazed laughter. She settles for creepy giggles.
• Girlish Pigtails: In her SCIV incarnation, and the style remains in SCV.
• Iconic Sequel Character: Introduced in SCIII over a decade after the series started, and is a fan-favorite. She ended up being the only character introduced in 'SCIII to make the cut in SCV (unless Viola really is Amy).
• Improbable Age: She's only 17 in SCIII and SCIV, and aside from Talim and Amy, the games consist of adult characters. This doesn't stop her from being one of the most prominent villains in the series, however.
• Improbable Weapon User: Her "ring blade" is one of the strangest weapons in the history of fighting games, and could best be described as an iron, bladed hula-hoop. (Emphasized by her joke weapon, which is a hula hoop.)
• Karma Houdini: In SCV, she orchestrates most of the plot, ultimately succeeding in replacing Nightmare with Pyrrha as Soul Edge's next host, but is conspicuously absent by the game's close. Namco has stated that the story mode was supposed to be four times larger and deal with all the characters, but they didn't have the time or man-power to make it happen.
• Kick Them While They Are Down: One of her greatest strengths in gameplay. Once Tira knocks down a foe, chances are reasonable they're in for much more pain. Gloomy Tira takes it even further, possessing an attack that by itself is intended to take off a third of their health if they dare to even try getting off the ground. And if they just lay there and take it? She has attacks designed especially to hurt downed opponents too!
• Kiss of Death: Her poison lipstick/soul-sucking Critical Finish in SCIV.
• Large Ham: Most notably in her jolly mode, but her gloomy mode has its moments, too.
  I WANT TO SEE YOU DESTROYED! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!
• Leitmotif: ''Mischievous Whispers''
• Limp and Livid: Gloomy Tira, who, no surprise, only cares about killing you.
• Luck-Based Mission: Her "Persona Shift" chain combos. Powerful, but completely reliant on luck to extend them, as she shifts from jolly to gloomy randomly.
• Manipulative Bastard: Particularly notable in her behavior towards Pyrrha, whom she gently encourages to become Soul Edge's next vessel with whispered faux-concern.
• 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.
• Mood-Swinger: At first. The energies released by Siegfried and Nightmare's clash broke her mind, escalating it to full-on dissociative identity disorder.
• More than Mind Control: Her method of manipulating Pyrrha.
• Murder, Inc.: The Bird of Passage guild who raised her from infancy influenced the history of Europe via subterfuge.
• The Ophelia: She might be a mentally unstable woman, but she looks cute and girly.
• Parts Unknown: 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 (particularly due to her having a Nordic name), Germany, and Romania. Bird of Passage, the shadowy organisation that raised her from birth, is based out of the Holy Roman Empire, so Germany (in the modern sense) is the likely shout.
• Pet the Dog:
  • She likes animals, particularly birds.
  • Her Undying Loyalty towards Nightmare could be seen as such. Some Alternative Character Interpretation suggests her not killing Sophitia and honoring her last wish to protect Pyrrha (albeit in a rather twisted way) could be seen as this by fans that believe Tira cared for Pyrrha — on some level.
• Perky Female Minion: To Nightmare.
• Power Makes Your Voice Deep: In one of her endings from SCIII, Soul Edge takes over Tira's body. The end result? She gets a much sultrier voice.
• Professional Killer: Raised as an assassin from infancy.
• Psychopathic Manchild: Especially after the events of SCIII, which cause her mind to fully snap and dissociate into two distinct personas.
• Psycho Supporter: Towards Nightmare/Soul Edge, but not the second Nightmare, who she views as a Sucksessor.
• Rings of Death: She wields probably the most unusual weapon in the series, a large bladed hula-hoop.
• Secondary Color Nemesis: For most of her primary outfits there's a fair amount of green, along with traces of purple, and she's as evil as they come.
• She Cleans Up Nicely: She's something of an Unkempt Beauty in her normal costumes, but certain 2P costumes indicate that Tira is downright gorgeous if she pays any attention at all to her appearance.
• Something Wicked This Way Comes: She appears to have stepped right out of this disturbing, circus-based horror novel.
• Spikes of Villainy: Her outfit in SCV.
• Split Mind, Split Powers: Tira's mind is split between "Jolly" Tira and "Gloomy" Tira. While the two don't have radically different capabilities, their attacks do have different animations and properties, with Gloomy being more aggressive and Jolly being more tricky.
• Split Personality: Manifests fully in the fourth game, but is 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. In SCVI, both personalities actually acknowledge each other as separate entities, referring to themselves as "Jolly" and "Gloomy".
• Stripperiffic: Her default outfit in SCIII. It's a wonder her boobs don't slip out or get bruised. Her jester-esque default outfits in SCIV also qualify. In SCV', her shirt is completely torn apart, barely covering her breasts.
• Talking to Themself: Present in a few of Tira's moves in SCIV where "Jolly" and "Gloomy" chat amongst themselves.
• The Starscream: She believes the new Nightmare to be an impostor, and is plotting against him.
• Teens Are Monsters: Being as evil as she is, it might be a little jarring to see that in SCIII and SCIV, with a roster where the majority of characters are adults, she's only 17. That pegs her as the third youngest human character (or fourth, if Astaroth is counted) in the game. This does not make her any less of a villain, however.
• Tyke-Bomb: Raised from birth by the Bird of Passage Assassins Guild to be a cold-blooded, ruthless killer.
• Uncanny Valley Makeup: In keeping with her disquieting vibe, Tira applies lashings of mascara, generous amounts of green or black eye-shadow, bright green lipstick◊, and stripes of deep fuchsia body/face-paint.
• Undeathly Pallor: In SCV, where her whole face and body is a ghostly pale pinkish grey colour.
• Underboobs: Formerly provided the trope picture. Her shredded tunic in SCIII clearly reveals the bottom of her breasts.
• Unkempt Beauty: In her debut outfit in SCIII, her tunic is torn to ribbons and she sports a tousled mop of wild, teal-green hair — she's still a beauty though, with huge violet-coloured eyes, porcelain skin, and a beauty mark just below her right eye.
• Villainous Harlequin: Her 1P outfit in SCIV looks the part and she has a definite clownish, circusy vibe.
• What Happened to the Mouse?: She completely disappears from the story in SCV soon after Pyrrha acquires Soul Edge, with not so much as a mention of what happened to her (though we probably would've found out if the game had been finished).
• 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

Soulcalibur III Appearance

^{Appearance in Soulcalibur IV}

"I live only for revenge."

Origin: Born on a ship travelling from the Kingdom of Portugal to Japan ^note She was born to a Portuguese mother and a Japanese father on board a ship travelling to Japan. The combined flags of both the historic Kingdom of Portugal and the still-current State of Japan are therefore presented here. At the time the series is set, the Kingdom of Portugal was one of Japan's very few Western trading partners.

Weapon: Ugetsu Kageuchi ^note ("cormorant moon, darkness inside" — essentially describing the beautiful, but hidden nature of her weapon), an iaitō concealed in an oilpaper parasol

Fighting style: Shinden Tsushima-ryu Battōjyutsu

Voiced by: ^note Nanaho Katsuragi (Japanese), Kari Wahlgren (Soulcalibur III; English), Tara Platt (Soulcalibur IV; English)

A Portuguese-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 SCIV she has self-doubts about her mastery of the sword, and retrains in order to reach increasingly lethal speeds.

Between SCIV and SCV, Mitsurugi's backstory states that she fought and lost to him sometime during the time skip, but broke his sword Shishi-Oh in the process. By the time of SCV, she has left Japan and started a new life in Istanbul under the alias of "Neve," where she taught the ways of the sword to orphans. She also had a hand in training Patroklos.

Considered the hardest character to play in the series' history, Setsuka is an offensive monster with her extremely fast attacks and all-around excellent moveset. She has an extremely steep learning curve, requiring absolute precision and constantly being right next to her opponent at all times, but once mastered she can potentially be the best character in the game, as demonstrated by her successor, Alpha Patroklos.

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• All of the Other Reindeer: Her bio in SCIII states that she was looked upon with disdain because of her mixed-race appearance.
• All There in the Manual: According to the Namco, after the events of SCIV, Setsuka understood how mistaken she was to pursue revenge. She took on the name "Neve" and travelled to Istanbul (the capital of Turkey) where she became a self-defence teacher to orphaned children, including Patroklos.
• Aloof Dark-Haired Girl: Her design consists of dark hair in odango-styled buns, pale skin, a kimono, and a Parasol of Prettiness, reminiscent of the traditional image of Oriental beauty. Setsuka herself is a cold loner with nothing but her goal in mind. The "dark-haired" part became less apparent over time, as Setsuka has since mainly reverted to her natural blonde hair.
• But Not Too Foreign: For the time period, she's a very rare example of a European-Japanese woman. Originally born to a Portuguese mother and a Japanese father, as an infant she was orphaned and lost in Japan. Typical to the trope, her western features and blonde hair are far more prevalent than is realistic.
• Combat Stilettos: She wears 6 inch high okobo sandals, even in combat.
• Darker and Edgier: Her look in SCIV compared to SCIII. In SCIII, her design evokes a classically elegant Geisha, and her costume and hairstyle are easily the most feminine and elaborate of all the female characters. However, when she returns in SCIV she sports a far more rugged look; her kimono is dramatically slung off one shoulder, her hair is down and far less fussy and she sports visible tattoos, all of which lends her the appearance of a badass lady-Samurai, as opposed to a demure geisha.
• Difficult, but Awesome: In the series, no one is more difficult to use effectively, and Setsuka has been one of the stronger characters since she first appeared in SCIII.
• Femme Fatale: She's classy and beguiling, but can be very dangerous if you stand in her way of revenge.
• 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. Downplayed in later installments, as barring customization options, Setsuka barely resembles an oiran or geisha at all, looking more like a feminine samurai instead.
• Gorgeous Period Dress: Her player 2 outfit in SCIV, often dubbed her "Mary Poppins outfit" by the fanbase.
• Hidden Weapons: Wields a blade hidden inside the handle of her parasol.
• High-Class Call Girl: Her look. She's based on an Oiran, as explained above. This is referenced in one of her kicks, "Oiran kick."
• Iaijutsu Practitioner: She was taught the art of the concealed strike by her master, Shugen Kokonoe, and all of her sword strikes activate from a sheathed position with blinding speed. It is revealed she taught the style to Alpha Patroklos as well.
• Ice Queen: Her demeanour — frosty, deadly serious and aloof.
• Kicking Ass in All Her Finery: Especially in SCIII, where she's geisha-ed up to the nines and the most elaborately dressed woman in the game bar none.
• Kimono Fanservice: Her beautiful kimono, a gift from her dead master, looks as if it would slip off if she so much as sneezed.
• Lady of War: One of the most graceful women fighters of the series, and one of the deadliest.
• Meaningful Name: Setsuka means "Snow Flower", which suits her cold personality. When she leaves Japan, after the events of SCIV, she adopts the name Neve ("Snow" in Portuguese), and as she's half Portuguese, it's a remarkably appropriate counterpart to her Japanese alias.
• Ms. Fanservice: Her costumes show tons of cleavage, and by SCIV her breasts seem to have grown exponentially, fighting to stay rammed inside the corset-style top she sports.
• Parasol of Pain: Not only does her beautiful parasol conceal her weapon, but she actually whaps her opponents on the head with just the parasol in a few moves.
• Parental Abandonment: Her parents were travelling back to Japan from her mother's native Portugal but they didn’t survive the crossing. She was initially taken in by her Japanese uncle, though he and his wife treated her cruelly, due to her mixed heritage. She ran away from home at a young age and almost died in a snowstorm before being rescued and raised by Shogen Kokonoe, who later became her master.
• 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.
• Parts Unknown: In all games prior to SCVI, her exact European ancestry is kept vague. It's clarified in her bio for SCVI, which reveals that she was born on a voyage to Japan from the (historic) Kingdom of Portugal to a Portuguese mother and a Japanese father.
• 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.
• Satellite Character: Becomes apparent instantly. Also, see "Standalone Episode".
• Shout-Out: To Lady Snowblood; she's an excellent nod to the titular heroine.
• Silk Hiding Steel: Used as a visual pun. She’s the most femininely dressed of all the women in the series, swathed as she is in a beautiful silk kimono, but her appearance is just a front; she’s a deadly iaijutsu practitioner hell-bent on avenging her master.
• Some Dexterity Required: The key component to her being so Difficult, but Awesome is her high number of Just Input attacks. To get the most out of her players are going to have to master multiple frame perfect inputs and perform them consistently as many of her combos utilize multiple Just Input attacks in succession.
• Standalone 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 thus must be completed using her alone. Also exemplified in her ending in SCIII, in which she's the only character to completely ignore Soul Edge after beating Abyss.
• Sword Cane: Her weapon, a blade hidden inside the handle of her oil-paper parasol.
• Teacher/Student Romance: She was in love with her swordmaster — but Mitsurugi killed him in a duel.
• 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 SCIII, she even counsels a woman in a predicament similar to hers and helps her move beyond such petty things as well.
  • 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.
• This Banana is Armed: Dressing as an Oiran provides the perfect cover for her role as a deadly assassin, and an oil-paper parasol is the most innocuous, feminine accessory — until the blade hidden within flashes into action.

Amy Sorel

Soulcalibur IV Appearance

^{Appearance in Soulcalibur III}

^{Appearance in Soulcalibur II}

"Hope only brings disappointment."

Origin: Rouen, Kingdom of France ^note The series is set some 200 years prior to the French Revolution of 1789, and the modern-day Republic of France was still a kingdom.

Weapon: Albion ^note (an ancient name for the British Isles, strangely enough, given she's French), a rapier

Fighting style: La Rapière des Sorel

Voiced by: ^note Kanako Tateno (Soulcalibur III; Japanese), Hitomi Nabatame (Soulcalibur IV; Japanese), Heather Watson (Soulcalibur III onward; English)

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. Amy is missing as of the time of V, although it is speculated that unspecified events might've lead her to becoming the woman known as Viola.

In the original version of III, Amy was the Extra Character representing the Rapier fighting style, making her very similar to Raphael. In IV her moveset was completely revised, turning her into an extremely fast rushdown character. She is considered one of the most broken characters in the game (the other two being Hilde and Algol) due to her small hitbox and fast attacks.

---

• Age-Inappropriate Dress: In both senses; it's childish yet disturbingly revealing.
• 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 member of the roster in III: Arcade Edition, to a fully-developed character in IV.
• Early-Bird Cameo: She makes a short cameo in the opening movie of II, before becoming a playable character in III.
• Elegant Gothic Lolita: Her outfits were very inspired by this. If only they were more modest, she would fit this trope to a T.
• Emotionless Girl: Her default tone is a flat disinterest and she usually wears an expression of weary nonchalance.
• Girlish Pigtails: Her very long hair is curl into pair of globular ringlets, almost as big as her own head.
• Impossibly-Low Neckline: Her 1P outfit in IV. Only the fur trim keeps the player from seeing everything.
• Improbable Age: Most likely the youngest character in the entire series, even below Talim. Doesn't stop her from kicking ass.
• He Went That Way: How Raphael met her in the first place, as well as what endeared her to him and caused him to adopt her.
• Kicking Ass in All Her Finery: She goes to battle with those elegant clothes.
• Little Miss Badass: She's quite possibly the youngest of them, yet this doesn't seem to hold her down.
• Lady of War: Majestic with her rapier!
• 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.
• Mini Dress Of Power: Her outfits have this.
• Morality Pet: For Raphael. She's the only person that Raphael cares for, and sees everyone else as beneath him, yet not only does he care for Amy, it's strongly implied that she means more to him than he does to himself. Considering how much of an egotistical jerk Raphael normally is, that says a lot.
• Nietzsche Wannabe: Many of her win-quotes in IV.
• Our Vampires Are Different: She was Malfested while treating Raphael's injuries and developed the same symptoms as him, though this is only made apparent by her red irises.
• Palette Swap: Unlike the other characters in Soulcalibur IV, Amy's secondary outfit is just a recolored version of her primary outfit. However since you can make outfits using custom parts, this is easily remedied.
• Pokémon Speak: Aside from battle grunts and pain screams, the ONLY thing she says in III is her own name. This is because in the third game her only speaking role is in a single cutscene where Kilik asks her what her name is.
• Pretty in Mink: Her outfit in the 4th game, and Broken Destiny, is trimmed with brown fur on the neckline (or trimmed with white fur on the mirror match colors).
• When She Smiles: Her ending in IV has her turn towards the camera and smile after shoving Raphael off a ledge

Nightmare (Inferno)

Soulcalibur IV Appearance

"The Nightmare will devour your soul!"

Origin: The living manifestation of the cursed sword, Soul Edge

Weapon (III): Phantom Soul Edge, great sword

Weapon (IV): Soul Edge, great sword form

Fighting style: The memories that stain his armor

Voiced by: ^note Fumihiko Tachiki (Soulcalibur III; Japanese), Kosei Hirota (Soulcalibur IV and Soulcalibur Legends; Japanese), Patrick Ryan (Soulcalibur III; English), Michael McConnohie (Soulcalibur Legends and Soulcalibur IV; English)

In Soulcalibur III, the sorcerer Zasalamel bound the disembodied Inferno to the discarded azure armour, allowing Nightmare to be "reborn". Nightmare and his new servant Tira aided Zasalamel in tracking down Siegfried, and he reclaimed Soul Edge, becoming an extension of the cursed sword. In Soulcalibur IV, Nightmare sought to restore Soul Edge completely so that he could devour the souls of all life on Earth and plunge it into complete despair but was ultimately felled by Siegfried.

For tropes applying to the original Nightmare, Siegfried, see here. For the third Nightmare, Graf Dumas, the new Nightmare, see here.

In III, Nightmare he gained a new fighting style which focused less on mixups and more on pure power. He is now a space-control character whose effectiveness depends on whether he can gain momentum quickly. In later games, he becomes more geared to pushing the opponent where he wants them to go, and has various tools to force them out of the ring.

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• Animated Armor: After Siegfried stabs Soul Edge with Soul Calibur, Inferno possesses Siegfried's discarded armour, though he cannot use his full power or sustain himself without a human host.
• Arch-Enemy: To Siegfried, moreso in this form than when it was the embodiment of Soul Edge. His fixation makes him seem caught between making him pay for putting him in this situation (forcing him to be bonded with the Azure Knight armor) and trying to turn Siegfried back into his corporeal host.
• Belly Mouth: In III he has a mouth across his chest, and in IV he has one that goes all the way around his body, separating his (floating) torso from his lower body.
• BFS: Out of obsession with Siegfried, Nightmare retains the use of Soul Edge in the form of a zweihänder.
• Big Bad: Of IV and he serves as one of the final bosses of the game.
• Blood Knight: Oh, hell yes. Nightmare exists solely to feed Soul Edge the souls of those foolish enough to face him in combat.
• Body Horror: In III, Nightmare has mouths in his shoulder and chest. In IV, his body is a fusion of metal and bone.
• Card-Carrying Villain: When he's not referring to himself as "the greatest Nightmare", he's ranting about how he will drown the world in blood and darkness.
• Catchphrase: "Blood, darkness, COME UNTO ME!", "I will show you the greatest Nightmare!" and "Need more souls!"
• Continuity Nod: His look in Soulcalibur IV is partially based off of Night Terror, meshed with his Soulcalibur III look.
• Death from Above: In III, he gains an attack throw in which he stabs a grounded foe and then calls down lightning to smite them.
• Devour the Dragon: Plans to do this to Tira. Whether or not that counts as a Kick the Dog or a Pet the Dog moment depends on your interpretation, seeing as Tira wants her soul to be consumed by Soul Edge so she can become one with the sword.
• Divergent Character Evolution: A quite justified example. As Nightmare was Siegfried in SC and II, his moveset was pretty much the same as his. Since he became a different character in III, his fighting style had become much more unique, gaining a different stance and a lot more moves.
• Dragon Ascendant: Nightmare works for Zasalamel in order to reclaim Soul Edge, and literally backstabs him in III's alternate ending in order to become Night Terror.
• Enemy Without: Of Siegfried. He used to simply be Siegfried's evil alter ego, but in SCIII they became separate entities with Soul Edge's will possessing Siegfried's armor. After retrieving Soul Edge in IV, Nightmare became the a physical manifestation of the cursed sword.
• Evil Overlord: Took over the city of Ostrheinsburg and turned it into a place of ghosts, monsters, and Malfested.
• Evil Sounds Deep: Starting in IV, Nightmare has a booming, distorted voice.
• Eyes Do Not Belong There: He occasionally has extra eyes on his mutated arm.
• Gameplay and Story Segregation:
  • Nightmare's databook entries and brief cutscene appearances illustrate that he is a lot faster and stronger than his playable self indicates.
    New Legends of Project Soul: *[regrading Graf Dumas]* "The maddened 'Azure Knight' Nightmare is capable of destroying several mounted and heavily armored soldiers with a single sweep of the massive Soul Edge, and can pull out his victims' very souls using his misshapen right arm." ... "Nightmare fights using powerful moves that take his physical body beyond its usual limits, and a purple flame that eats through his own flesh while burning his victims. To some, Nightmare could very well look like a tragic victim of the cursed blade's power as he stirs up a storm of destruction that devastates his body nearly as much as it does the world around him."
  • What exactly his 2P outfits are meant to be isn't 100% clear. His 1P outfits in both games he's taken this form don't leave much to debate, it's clearly a suit of armor that has been taken over by an evil spirit (especially IV as the armor has become so corrupt by Inferno's soul that the torso has turned into a ball of energy). However the 2P outfits aren't as heavily armored, revealing that he seems to have a body of some sort. This is most noticeable in III, as the exposed parts of his alternate outfit are flesh-like (his alternate in IV is more like a lava monster's body but a body nonetheless).
• Glowing Eyes of Doom: In III and IV he had glowing red eyes because he lacked a host.
• Hades Shaded: In III, what little skin that's visible beneath his armor is reddish brown.
• 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!
• Heel–Face Turn: In Broken Destiny, he becomes a Non-Malicious Monster. This is not meant to be taken seriously at all.
• Humanoid Abomination: In III and IV, Nightmare has no host and is Inferno sealed in Siegfried's old armor, and by IV the armor has become an extension of Soul Edge itself.
• Iconic Sequel Character: Since his debut in SC, he became the main villain of the franchise, appearing on all following games and even becoming the mascot for Project Soul.
• Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: Siegfried destroys Nightmare and Soul Edge itself by stabbing it through the middle with Soul Calibur. Unfortunately, Soul Edge re-materializes at some point during the time skip, and finds a new host.
• Kick Them While They Are Down: Similar to Siegfried, his moveset includes a stomp, but only one. He takes it a step further by allowing you to charge it to be unblockable, causing the background of the game to darken and flames to surround his foot.
• Large Ham: DOESN'T! EVEN! BEGIN! TO! DESCRIBE! HIM!
• 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 was Soul Edge/Inferno for III and IV). After being slain, a new host takes his place seventeen years later.
• Lightning Bruiser:
  • Depending on the skill of the user, evaluations of this will vary wildly. It's not uncommon for many a ragequitting scrub to claim he is a Game-Breaker, while in contrast many competitive players consider him exceptionally mediocre as he is incredibly unsafe when blocked for the most part. His ability to dish out damage is not in question, except when facing a clever foe that has mastered Just Guard...
  • In the series lore he is definitely one, moving with inhuman speed and strength, and being capable of mowing down entire armies by himself.
• Looming Silhouette of Rage: In the opening movie for III.
• Made of Evil: In III and IV, Nightmare is Inferno possessing Siegfried's discarded armor.
• Master Swordsman: Has Soul Edge's knowledge of multiple fighting styles, but prefers imitating Siegfried's swordsmanship.
• Monster Lord: As the wielder and avatar of Soul Edge, Nightmare is the lord and master of the Malfested, those afflicted with the cursed sword's demonic energy.
• Moveset Clone: Started out in SC as one for Siegfried, but gradually gained his own moves and stances. The storyline reason for this is during Soulcalibur and Soulcalibur II, he is Siegfried, using his body and memories to fight with a zweihander-sized Soul Edge. Starting with III he separates from Siegfried, who continues using many of the same moves from his debut in Soul Edge, while Nightmare carries over a few of Siegfried's attacks into his new style, which is a One-Handed Zweihänder form that focuses on overwhelming offense instead of Confusion Fu. This fighting style has stayed with all entities who bear the name "Nightmare" from III onwards, including Retconning the events of Soulcalibur in Soulcalibur VI to now incorporate this fighting style even when Nightmare shared Siegfried's body.
• 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.
• Omnicidal Maniac: "All life is but prey to satiate his hunger." Yeah, this is clearly a guy we can trust.
• One-Handed Zweihänder: Starting in III he wields Soul Edge with one hand.
• One-Man Army: All incarnations of Nightmare have been shown capable of annihilating entire armies on their own.
• Pint-Sized Powerhouse: Not so much in the actual game, where he's one of the 'big' character, but his official height is stated to be 5'6", due to being based off of Siegfried. Some thought this was a little ridiculous.
• Playing with Fire: In a contrast to Siegfried's new ice powers in IV onwards, Nightmare gains fire moves.
• Power Dyes Your Hair: Siegfried and Raphael (naturally blonds) exhibited this when under Soul Edge's control, with a side order of Power Makes Your Hair Grow, as evidenced by their long manes of red hair in SCII and SCV.
• Power Echoes: His voice is distorted by a low growl starting in III.
• Power Incontinence: Tira's ending in IV hints that Nightmare cannot sustain himself or fully control Soul Edge's power without a human host, which is confirmed by New Legends of Project Soul.
• Pun: Several of his quotes deal with nightmares. His most iconic of the bunch?
  I will show you the greatest nightmare!
• Punctuated! For! Emphasis!: EVERY! WORD! OUT! OF! HIS! MOUTH!
• Puny Earthlings: His view on humans. It's hard to tell where this ends and Humans Are Bastards begins.
• Red Baron: The Azure Knight, due to his dark blue armor.
• Red Eyes, Take Warning: Without a host in III and IV, Nightmare has red Glowing Eyes of Doom.
• The Right Hand of Doom: His monstrous, three-digit claw, a physical symptom of his Malfestation. As "Siegfried!", his mutated arm was instead his left arm.
• Sealed Evil in a Can: He is Inferno sealed in Siegfried's old armour.
• Shoulders of Doom: His right shoulder has spikes projecting from it, and in III had a mouth and mandibles.
• Spikes of Villainy: His right shoulder and arm have spikes - and in III a mouth — on it.
• Spontaneous Weapon Creation: Soul Edge (Phantom) was created by Inferno out of its memories of Soul Edge and Nightmare's armor.
• Tin Tyrant: Played straight by his 1P costumes, where he is clad in a blue suit of armor, but usually averted by his 2P costumes.
• Too Many Mouths: In III he has a fanged maw on his right shoulder and another on his chest, and Legends adds a third one to his left knee.
• Unskilled, but Strong: Nightmare lacks the form and finesse of Siegfried, but makes up for it by hitting hard and hitting fast.
• Yandere: His obsession with Siegfried has been lampshaded by Tira, and he tries to force Siegfried to reclaim Soul Edge in Legends. Even when Soul Edge acquires a new host, it tries to maintain Siegfried's fighting style, which is referred to as being "What the sword desires."

Additional Characters

Abyss

"You, who would stand against me, prepare to die!"

Origin: Astral Chaos

Weapon: Irkalla ^note (the ancient name of the Mesopotamian underworld, a scythe

Voiced by: ^note Hiroshi Tsuchida (Japanese), Keith Silverstein (English)

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 IV retconned this, and instead Zasalamel cut short the ritual after feeling his body starting to be transformed.

Though this character technically no longer exists, elements of his design were incorporated into Zasalamel in VI.

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• Body Horror: He looks like a decaying body with a hole in its chest...
• Casting a Shadow: Many of his attack involve darkness.
• Final Boss: He is one of the two final bosses of III, and the default option.
• Glowing Eyes of Doom: Only his left eye. Notably, it's the one that was gold when he was Zasalamel.
• Humanoid Abomination: Just look at him.
• Mind over Matter: He can lift objects with his mind.
• Nested Mouths: He has two sets of teeth, with the outer set always open, allowing you to see both.
• One-Winged Angel: He is the result of Zasalamel absorbing Soul Edge and Soul Calibur into his body.
• Power Echoes: His voice is distorted and echoic, emphasizing his monstrous nature.
• Throwing Your Sword Always Works: Not as a move, but the cutscene before you fight Abyss has him throwing his scythe at you. It can be blocked with a controller input, otherwise you start the fight with roughly half a health bar missing.
• Yin-Yang Bomb: He was created as a result of Zasalamel trying to absorb both Soul Swords.

Night Terror

Origin: Astral Chaos

Weapon: Soul Edge (great sword)

A What If? character intended to show Nightmare's ultimate form. Zasalamel underestimates the power of Soul Edge, and when he conducts his ritual to absorb it, the cursed sword instead merges with Nightmare and Soul Calibur. The result is a winged monstrosity with a faint resemblance to Nightmare, which then breaks free of Zasalamel's control and obliterates him.

Night Terror only appears in SoulCalibur III as a difficult to reach Superboss fought in place of Abyss, but its design was the base for Nightmare's SCIV form, possibly to show Nightmare approaching that magnitude of power all by himself.

Night Terror received a short article in the New Legends Of Project Soul databook, stating that it is the embodiment of calamity, flying around Astral Chaos destroying everything it encounters, and that even Algol is afraid to tangle with it.

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• BFS: His version of Soul Edge shames anything else in this series several times over.
• Cessation of Existence: This is Night Terror's main power. Anything it touches is completely erased from existence without a trace. Algol, himself a Reality Warper, is scared shitless of Night Terror for this very reason.
• Decomposite Character: In SoulCalibur III, Night Terror was portrayed as Nightmare's ultimate form, attained by absorbing both Soul Edge and Soul Calibur. His article in the New Legends Of Project Soul databook makes no mention of Nightmare, only that Night Terror lives in Astral Chaos and flies around destroying everything it encounters.
• The Dreaded: Algol, the god-king of Astral Chaos and the only person to wield Soul Edge without being taken over, is afraid of its overwhelming power.
• Eldritch Abomination: The New Legends of Project Soul material collection describes it as such.
• Humanoid Abomination: In SoulCalibur III, Night Terror was born from Nightmare absorbing the full power of both Soul Edge and Soul Calibur, and is the most powerful character in the series. In the databook New Legends of Project Soul, it's revealed that he's essentially the personification of Astral Chaos itself.
• Eye Beams: Night Terror can fire full screen flying-out-of-range variation.
• Greater-Scope Villain: As the embodiment of calamity, Night Terror is an epitome of evil to the series. However, has no involvement with the storyline itself.
• Hot Wings: His wings are wreathed in flames, and are an extension of Soul Edge.
• Lightning Bruiser: He's a stronger version of Nightmare who has even more reach and damage.
• Meaningful Name: Night terrors are nightmares on steroids. To put it in perspective, a bad dream might just result in a little restlessness when you wake up. A nightmare might have you catapulting yourself awake. Night terrors induce a severe physical and audible response while having them. You WILL wake up screaming.
• More Teeth than the Osmond Family: Night Terror's version of Soul Edge is a very long BFS that has vicious-looking teeth running up the length of the blade instead of the weapon's signature eye. Nightmare's 2P outfit in Soulcalibur IV uses a more reasonable-sized rendition of Night Terror's Soul Edge.
• Mythology Gag: His organic, crimson armor serves as a Call-Back to the "Siegfried!" costume in Soul Edge/Blade.
• Nintendo Hard: Not only will he wipe the floor with you, but the requirements just to fight him require a little bit of Guide Dang It! to accomplish.
• No-Sell: He's immune to a Ring Out. Knock him off the stage, and he flies right back in.
• One-Handed Zweihänder: Since he is the final form of Nightmare, he uses the same style but hits a lot harder with some exclusive moves that take advantage of his wings.
• One-Winged Angel: In III, he is Nightmare's ultimate form, obtained by absorbing both Soul Edge and Soul Calibur.
• Power Gives You Wings: His fiery wings are an extension of Soul Edge.
• SNK Boss: This guy will give you night terrors trying to fight him. He dishes more damage than Nightmare on top of having the longest reach in the game. But on top of that that he's got some new tricks like a stance that renders him immune to most attacks his Eye Beams which can kill you instantly. He's also can't be defeated by Ring Out, but of course he can beat you that way.
• Soul-Cutting Blade: This is what Soul Edge is capable of at the absolute pinnacle of its power.
• Superboss: One of the most extraordinarily-difficult opponents in the series, and just getting to him is a challenge on its own.
• Too Many Mouths: Night Terror's hands are essentially jaws with mandibles for fingers.
• True Final Boss: He takes the place of Abyss, but getting to him requires the player to pursue a specific route in Tales of Souls, without losing a single battle. If they do so, they'll be rewarded with one of the hardest boss fights in the series. Hint: You need to find and beat Olcadan.
• Volcanic Veins: Night Terror has molten-looking veins on its shoulders, chest, and hands.
• Wings Do Nothing: Averted. He's the only character in the series who is immune to a Ring Out. Guess why is that? It also gives him a stance in which he is invulnerable to damage and can do 70% damage to any downed character.

Olcadan

Standard Appearance

^{Appearance without the mask}

"Only one can be the best!"

Origin: Unknown (an ancient civilization)

Weapons: all weapons

Fighting style: all styles

Voiced by: ^note Shigenori Souya (Japanese), David Jeremiah (English)

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.

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• Blood Knight: His quotes and backstory indicate that he loves to fight.
• Bragging Rights Reward: Defeating Olcadan with a character unlocks that character's version of "The Ancient", the weapons used by Olcadan himself. Gameplay wise, weapons from the set are completely identical to the character's default weapon.
• Ditto Fighter: The third one in the series.
• Expy: Of Edge Master, who is implied to have fought him to a draw before he was cursed.
• The Maze: He got sent to the Grand Labyrinth, which is stated to be one, and got lost, eventually deciding to stay there. Yet, all characters end up finding their way out with no trouble in their Tales of Souls mode.
• The Mentor: He serves as the teacher for III's tutorial mode.
• Multi-Melee Master: Like the other ditto difghters, he knows how to fight with every main character's weapon. Justified, as he spent years and years living in a labyrinth, probably perfecting his fighting skills.
• The Owl-Knowing One: His curse gave him the head of an owl.
• Put on a Bus: As with most ditto fighters.
• Really 700 Years Old: 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).
• The Rival: To Edge Master.
• Superboss: Olcadan can only be fought in Tales of Souls by following a specific path for each character and not losing a single battle in the process. Additionally, he appears as a "Prepare to Defend Yourself" challenge, meaning you only get one attempt to try and beat him; if you lose, time to start a new playthrough.
• Theme Naming: All of his weapons are named after some sort of personality or character type. They are: The Ancient, The Silent, The Mute, The Perceptive, The Fierce, The Savage, The Hidden and The Tease.
• The Time of Myths: It's even stated in his bio. He probably came from an ancient civilization.
• Walking Shirtless Scene: Both of his outfits.
• World's Best Warrior: He and Edge Master are rivals, as the only blemish on their individual win/loss records is a draw to each other.
• 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.

Revenant

Origin: Unknown

Weapon (III): wave swords

Weapon (IV): longsword & pistol sword

Fighting style: Dual Mantis Style

A man who grew up in the underworld, striving every day for survival. Eventually he became an assassin and trained his skills until he became one of the most known and feared killers in his home country. He was so dreaded that nobody would ever think of betrayal, for he killed those who dared to deceive or control him. For that, he was always alone.

But eventually he grew old and weak, and those who once feared him dwindled in number. Then one day a dark-skinned youth with a scythe and a golden eye fought and killed him. As the young man's scythe ripped into his body, he caught sight of his killer's gold eye and remembered an old man, believed to be a magician, that he had slain many years before. He swore that, somehow, that man and the youth were the same person.

10 years later, that same youth, Zasalamel, revived the remains of the assassin and turned him into a loyal Revenant to serve as his enforcer.

Revenant is an extra fighter representing the 'Wave Sword' style in III's Create-A-Soul mode. In IV he's downgraded to a Cervantes-copy unplayable outside of his master's Story Mode.

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• Best Served Cold: He killed one of Zasalamel's former identities on a contract. Several decades later, Zasalamel returned to kill the then-elderly assassin in revenge, and then resurrected him as a skeletal minion some time afterwords.
• Bright Is Not Good: In III he's dressed up a rather garish red-and-green ensemble with a large feathered cap and a ruff.
• Dem Bones: His flesh has long since rotted away, leaving only clean bones behind.
• Demoted to Extra: He's an extra to begin with, but in IV he's just an NPC fighter only playable during Zasalamel's Story Mode.
• Disproportionate Retribution: On the receiving end; see above.
• The Dragon: To Zasalamel.
• Dual Wielding: Fights with the Wave Sword style in III...
  • Sword and Gun: ...and copies Cervantes' style in IV.
• Parts Unknown: Much like Tira, his home country is never identified.
• Scarf of Asskicking: In IV.
• Turned Against Their Masters: His Destined Battle in III's Quick Play is against Zasalamel.
• The Undead: He's a skeletal zombie bound to the will of Zasalamel, but no less agile for it.

Greed and Miser

Greed (left) and Miser (right)

Origin: Japan

Weapon (Greed): Austere & Void, a pair of kunai

Weapon (Miser): Red Crow & Rusty Wing, a katana & shuriken

Voiced by: ^note Keiji Hirai (Greed; Japanese), Yuki Makishima (Miser; Japanese), Carrie Savage (Miser; English)

An old man that looks like a bum and a Japanese-looking girl. Two random assassins and rivals of Yoshimitsu. They get trashed by Mitsurugi in IV.

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• Blood Knight: Greed; despite being a thief, most of his dialogue is him goading his opponents to fight him, or reveling in their misery.
• Does Not Like Men: Implied with Miser, as she only robs from male characters.
• Dual Wielding: Greed uses two kunai in battle.
• Eyepatch of Power: Greed.
• He-Man Woman Hater: Greed.
• Katanas Are Just Better: Miser. She also wields Fuuma Shuriken.
• Martial Arts Headband: Miser.
• Meaningful Name: Both of them, considering they are thieves.
• The Rival: To each other as well as Yoshimitsu. They are respectively "Number Four" and "Number Five" in their organization of thieves.
• Smug Snake: Both of them, but Miser especially has a tendency to challenge opponents way out of her league.
• Underestimating Badassery: Both of them were naive enough to challenge Mitsurugi between games III and IV. Greed especially so.

Valeria, Hualin and Lynette

Origin (Valeria): Venice, Republic of Venice (Italy)

Origin (Hualin): Xian, Ming Empire (China)

Origin (Lynette): Kyiv, Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (Ukraine)

Weapon (Valeria): a pair of grieve blades

Weapon (Hualin): an extendable staff

Weapon (Lynette): a pair of tambourines

Voiced by: ^note Yuki Makishima (Valeria; Japanese), Carrie Savage (Valeria; English), Hiromi Konno (Hualin; Japanese), Kanako Tateno (Lynette; Japanese), Heather Hogan-Watson (Lynette; English),Cristina Pucelli (Hualin; English)

Otherwise referred to as The Shop Girls by the fans, a trio of beautiful women who attend the in-game store. Valeria lost her father to Soul Edge and runs the Artifact shop, Hualin was hired to run the Weapons shop due to her forging talents, and Lynette seeks her life's calling while running the Armour shop... though they are more remembered for their ludicrous amount of breast jiggling (especially Valeria... oh boy).

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• Armed Legs: Valeria's shoes have hidden blames attacked to them.
• Bespectacled Cutie: Hualin is a cute young lady with glasses.
• Blond, Brunette, Redhead: Lynette, Hualin, and Valeria respectively, although Valeria swerves a bit towards fuschia.
• Buxom Beauty Standard: They're all pretty well-endowed girls with a lot of Jiggle Physics, but Valeria in particular is the biggest of them ^note According to art director Hideo Yoshie, Valeria has the amplest bust of all the female characters, beating out Ivy, the record holder and is considered a great beauty for it In-Universe. Her chest is greatly exposed by the Impossibly-Low Neckline in her outfit and she knowingly bends to emphasize her figure during her animations, likely to entice costumers to buy things.
• Connected All Along: Hualin's former employer was revealed to be Edge Master in the Guide Book.
• 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.
• Friendly Shopkeeper: All three are kind, friendly young women who sell the characters and players anything they need.
• Genki Girl: They're all pretty upbeat, but Lynette takes the cake.
• "Get Back Here!" Boss: There's a mission where you have to defeat each of them while they run from you extremely fast. You're given a very long time limit, but it goes down fast if you let them taunt you.
• Impossibly-Low Neckline: Valeria's outfit is so low cut it leaves a great deal of her sizable chest is exposed. It should be noted that while Valeria can be recreated in CAS, her individual model is considerably more buxom than the standard CAS female.
• Improbable Weapon User: Tambourines for Lynette.
• Kick Chick: Valeria mostly fights with kicks, using her Armed Legs.
• Meido: Present to a degree with Valeria and Hualin, but most notable with Lynette.
• Power Trio: A trio of badass shop girls.
• Shout-Out: All three of them share moves with characters from Soulcalibur's sister-series Tekken.
• The Three Faces of Eve: Lynette (child), Hualin (wife), and Valeria (seductress).
• We Sell Everything: Hualin sells weapon, Lynette sells armor, and Valeria sells all kinds of gallery items and gameplay features.

Chronicles of the Sword

A list of the characters appearing in the game's RPG mode known as Chronicles of the Sword, which takes place in an Alternate Universe to the main game and has a Medieval European Fantasy setting. Most of the listed characters are bosses fought in said mode, some later redeemed to become units of the player.

Please note that all spoilers have been unmarked! You Have Been Warned.

The Cadet

Origin: Grandall Empire

Faction: Grandall Empire (Chapter 1-15), The Arthias (Chapter 16-20)

Weapons(s): all weapons

The Player Character and the protagonist of Chronicles of the Sword, said to be the most influential figure in the war. From the Mantis war to an anti-rebellion force, they are a War God in their own right. After growing skeptical of Strife's rule and eventually realizing who their true enemy is, however, they form an alliance known as the Arthias to continue what their former teacher started.

You can freely customize the character's appearance and job, the latter which affects the weapon disciplines.

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• The Ace: By far the most powerful and skilled member of the Grandall soldiers, as they're the sole reason Grandall is able to achieve victory against other kingdoms.
• Always Someone Better: To both Abelia and Luna. Abelia is jealous of The Cadet's skills in academy and battlefield. Likewise, Luna is frustrated that she isn't capable of defeating them every single time.
• Can't Drop the Hero: The Cadet MUST be in every single Chronicle and cannot be dropped.
• Chronic Hero Syndrome: When Halteese is ravaged by Malleta army, the Cadet chooses to rescue the surviving Halteese army, much to Girardot's chagrin.
  Girardot: That soft heart of yours will cost you your life on the battlefield.
• Famed In-Story: During the epilogue, the narrator explains about The Cadet's fame, while the camera pans up The Cadet's statue.
  Narrator: Then by the fire side, they told the tales, the tales of the great ones who spill their blood upon those lands.
• From Nobody to Nightmare: Starts out as a simple Grandall military cadet, ends up as a fearsome figure capable of tearing down kingdoms, including Grandall itself.
• Heroic Mime: Excluding in-battle quotes, The Cadet never speaks. The best they can do is thinking to themselves between chapters.
• The Leader: The Cadet is always assigned as the leader of their own units. First after they graduated from the military academy, then as the leader of the anti-rebellion unit, and then as the leader of the Arthias after Girardot's death.
• Multi-Melee Master: In contrast to other playable characters who are only limited to one weapon discipline each, The Cadet can use at least 5 weapon disciplines per job, provided that they have enough level. Taken up to eleven by Swordmaster job, which provides whopping 17 disciplines.
• N.G.O. Superpower: Xiaoxin (if present instead of Jinkai) refers to the Arthias as the world's fifth greatest nation to arise from the war, giving off the hint the Arthias is more than just a mere rebellion.
• One-Man Army: The Cadet is often implied to be this. Since it is more than possible to wipe out the entire enemy fleet with just The Cadet, it's also a case of Gameplay and Story Integration.
• The Paragon Always Rebels: After Girardot's death, they realize who they've been fighting for this entire time, and they form an alliance known as the Arthias to rebel against Strife.
• Spanner in the Works: Chester lampshades this during their confrontation in Chronicle 10.
  Chester: I had this brilliant plan of pitting Grandall and Dalkia against one another, and then rise to power during the resulting chaos, but because of your unexpected meddling, my plan is in ruins.
• Take Up My Sword: After Girardot's death, The Cadet leads the rebellion against Grandall.
• Uriah Gambit: On the receiving end by Emperor Strife, as their unit is always sent to fight a losing battle. Fortunately, they always emerge victorious.
• War God: It's even lampshaded in the beginning of Chronicle 10, as The Cadet hears someone call them this.
• We Cannot Go On Without You: Several Chronicles' mission has The Cadet's death as loss condition.
• Worthy Opponent: Luna regards The Cadet as this during their first confrontation in Chronicle 4.
  Luna: You are certainly a handful. I shall remember your name, as you are the only one, who has provided a worthy challenge.

Abelia Schillfelt

Origin: Grandall Empire

Faction: Grandall Empire (Chapter 1-18), The Arthias (Chapter 19-20)

Weapon: Eternal Rest, a Sword and Shield

Voiced by: Yuki Makishima (Japanese), Carrie Savage (English)

One of the playable Grandall soldier, and said to be the "sharpest woman in the academy". She considers herself as the rival of The Cadet.

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• Always Second Best: She's considered very skilled in the academy, enough to gain respect and her own unit in battlefield. However, she's always pale in comparison to The Cadet.
• Fatal Flaw: Envy. She's really jealous of The Cadet. Unfortunately, this is the very reason she's easily manipulated by Strife and Soul Edge to fight against The Cadet in Chronicle 18.
• Glass Cannon: Being a Gladiator, she boasts high Strength, but low Vitality and Defense. This is further emphasized by her weapon Eternal Rest, which grants increased attack as time passes on top of bonus attack stat, but also takes chip damage whenever she guards against enemy attacks.
• General Failure: Unfortunately, despite being a capable fighter herself, Abelia doesn't show much competence in leading her units without The Cadet on her side. She's first shown losing to The Cadet in Chronicle 1. Then, on Emperor Strife's command, she takes over the main offense against Dalkia at the beginning of Chronicle 7, only to be wiped out just 1 chronicle later, with Roin dismissing her as "no threat at all", and it is revealed in Chronicle 11 that she's the only survivor. Last, she has a showdown against the rebelling Cadet in Chronicle 18 and still lose. In contrast, The Cadet is receiving Uriah Gambit, yet still emerges victorious battle after battle.
• Knightly Sword and Shield: Her weapons are a pair of sword and shield named Eternal Rest.
• My Country, Right or Wrong: She still stands for Grandall until Chronicle 18. Thankfully, she joins your side afterwards.
• The Rival: to The Cadet.
• Super Armor: In Chronicle 18, she has the "Guardian Force" stronghold ability, granting her this.
• Tsundere: Her attitude towards The Cadet, especially during the beginning of Chronicle 11.

Luna

Origin: Halteese Republic

Faction: Kingdom of Dalkia (Chapter 4-11), The Arthias (Chapter 19-20)

Weapon: Dystopia and Soul Calibur, Chinese blades

Voiced by: Hiromi Kono (Japanese)

A high-ranking Dalkia soldier and the leader of the Klessirpemdo. Born to a Halteese woman only known as "Mooncalf", she was taken by the royal family, and eventually ended up becoming a mercenary and swordswoman like her mother.

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• 11th-Hour Ranger: She joins The Cadet at the penultimate stage of Chronicle 19.
• Always Someone Better: The Cadet is this to her. No matter how many times she fight them, she never wins. She doesn't take her team talking about it very well too.
• Cool Sword: She wields Dystopia, a Chinese Blade. She also wields Soul Calibur in Chronicle 11, and beating her unlocks said weapon for the discipline.
• The Leader: of her Quirky Mini Boss Squad Klessirpemdo.
• Luke, I Am Your Father: It's implied that Mooncalf is her mother. When Mooncalf attempted to escape Halteese, the royal family took young Luna from her, and they never meet each other until Mooncalf's death.
• Orphan's Plot Trinket: Luna's sword was a gift from her master. It's Soul Calibur.
• Pink Means Feminine: She has pink hair and outfit.
• Recurring Boss: Luna is fought a grand total of four times throughout the game, the most often of all enemies.
• The Rival: Not to the same extent as Abelia, but Luna is also this towards The Cadet.
• Theme Naming: She's named after the latin term for moon. Also, with the exception of Chronicle 9, every Chronicle that involves her as an enemy unit will have moon-related titles (Battlefield Moon, The Moon Wears Silver Armor, and Guardians of the Moon).
• Wake-Up Call Boss: Her appearance in Chronicle 4 is where the kid gloves really comes off.

Demuth Beel Zebus Halteese

Origin: Halteese Republic

Faction: Kingdom of Maletta (Chapter 7-10)

Weapon: Baindigart, a steel fan

Voiced by: Keiji Hirai (Japanese), Chas Mitchell (English)

Brother of Halphas, Demuth is the youngest of the three sons of Halteese' Royal Family. He sought to lead his own kingdom Maletta, only to be betrayed and thrown away by Chester.

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• Adipose Rex: Demuth wants nothing more than eat and rule. Just look at him!
• Advertised Extra: Demuth and Halteese are played up as a power on par with Grandall and Dalkia; however, in-game, Halteese only lasts one chapter before being destroyed and Demuth only appears as a run-of-the-mill mid-boss. Not to mention that Demuth is shown as the king of Halteese during the introduction, when, in fact, he isn't even considered for the throne by the royal family.
• Cain and Abel: Demuth, the younger brother of Halphas and another unnamed brother, has them both killed off by Mooncalf so that he can seize power.
• Combat Hand Fan: He wields a Steel Fan named Baindigart.
• Despair Event Horizon: After the destruction of Halteese, Chester suddenly usurps him and declares himself as the true king of Maletta. Realizing that no one except Hyle are on his side, he crosses this. When The Cadet encounters him, he's shown to be drunk.
• Dude Where Is My Respect: With the exception of Hyle, no one actually respects him. Mooncalf only approaches him to exact revenge against Halteese royal family, and once Chester becomes king of Maletta, none of the soldiers are backing up Demuth, leaving him and Hyle only to slow down the Grandall unit.
• Hyper-Competent Sidekick: Hyle is this to him, as he's much harder to fight than Demuth.
• Louis Cypher: Wonder what Demuth Beel Zebus Halteese could mean...
• Puppet King: Demuth thinks he's going to be in charge of Maletta, but it's only until the Cadet is at their doorstep that Chester reveals that Demuth was merely a pawn in his games.
• Younger Than They Look: Demuth looks like an old man and uses the "Old Man" voice, but he's apparently only 45.
• You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Once Halteese is destroyed, Chester quickly robs Demuth's position as the king of Maletta, and declares him this. While Chester doesn't kill him in advance, he pretty much leaves him to die in the hands of the player.

Queen Aurelia Dichala Dolce

Origin: Kingdom of Dalkia

Faction: Kingdom of Dalkia

Weapon: Black Widow, a chained sickle

Voiced by: Kimiko Saitou (Japanese)

The queen of Dalkia and the final boss of Grandall's conquest. She became the ruler of Dalkia after her husband, the previous Dalkia king, died.

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• Black Widow: According to extra materials, Aurelia was just one of the king's concubines, and she couldn't inherit anything from her husband. Not only that she cheated on him with Roin, but both of them plotted the king's death via poisoning, and once the king dies, she quickly claim the throne for herself, and Roin quickly resolved any suspicions surrounding it. Fittingly enough, it's also her weapon's name.
• Bodyguard Crush: She cheated on her husband with Roin, one of the king's personal bodyguard. After Aurelia becomes queen, Roin is assigned as her personal guard.
• Chain Pain: She wields a chained sickle named Black Widow.
• Disc-One Final Boss: Aurelia appears as the final opponent you face in Dalkia, and her defeat ends the war between the three kingdoms (with Halteese and its successor Maletta having been cleaned up a long time ago). However, after she's defeated, you still have 8 more Chronicles to go.
• God Save Us from the Queen!: Aurelia is the queen of Dalkia, and not the nice one, mind you.
• Inheritance Murder: She claims her place as the queen by assassinating her own husband. This is despite the fact that she's just the king's concubine and actually won't gain any inheritance from him otherwise.
• The Kingslayer: She succeeded in assassinating her own husband, who was the king of Dalkia.
• Villainous Breakdown: Aurelia has one after her defeat at the hands of the Cadet.
  Aurelia: Impossible! I am the Queen! I cannot fall to the likes of you! Damn you! Damn you!

Chester

Origin: ???

Faction: Kingdom of Maletta (Chapter 7-10), Grandall Empire (Chapter 13-19)

Weapon: Kingslayer, a dagger

Voiced by: Hirofumi Tanaka (Japanese), Jay Lerner (English)

The Big Bad of the first half of the Chronicles of the Sword; Chester is the mastermind who's responsible for starting the war between kingdoms known as "Mantis War".

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• Big Bad Duumvirate: Chester has served as Strife's personal advisor from behind the scenes since the beginning and his personal assassin.
• The Chessmaster: Chester stirs the events of war from behind the scene, mostly by manipulating the leaders of the kingdoms, and eventually Girardot when he runs out of kingdoms to manipulate.
• Chronic Backstabbing Disorder: The only person he doesn't betray is Strife. And he probably would have gotten around to it if the game hadn't ended then.
• Dragon with an Agenda: Chester is this as he basically served as the advisor to almost every faction leader except for Gidarot and the Cadet, and after his original plans fail, he's revealed to be Strife's right-hand by the 2nd half of the story.
• Evil Plan:
  • First, he and several bandits disguises themselves as Grandall soldiers to attack Dalkia, prompting Dalkia to declare counterattack against Grandall. When Grandall and Dalkia are busy fighting against each other, he, alongside Demuth and newly formed Maletta, destroys Halteese and their royal family. Then, he quickly declares himself as the king of Maletta and throws away Demuth, and with the new kingdom under his clutch, he plans to rise during the resulting chaos between Grandall and Dalkia, and possibly destroys both kingdom. Fortunately, the Cadet thwarts his plan.
  • However, his plan doesn't end there. He even convinces Girardot to rebel against Grandall and Emperor Strife, sparking yet another war. Then he becomes Strife's false advisor to fan the war even further, going as far as offering to kill The Cadet on his stead to avenge his fallen kingdom.
• False Friend: Almost anyone he works with ends up being stabbed in the back. Demuth and Hyle? Ends up being usurped and imprisoned. Strife? While he doesn't outright harm him, he does inspire Girardot to rebel which further drives him into madness, which Strife most likely knew about due to making his hate for Chester known after the former's second assassination attempt against the Cadet was organized. The only one who Chester wasn't able to throw under the bus was Aurelia, and that's because she knew just what his endgame was.
• The Friend No One Likes: Save for Demuth, who learns the hard way that Chester isn't trustworthy, neither Aurelia nor Strife makes it any secret that Chester is disliked by them. The only one who does like him is his own kingdom, but that doesn't last as long as he'd hope.
• Fun with Acronyms: CHESTER the CHES-smas-TER; It's unknown if it's intentional or not.
• Good Scars, Evil Scars: Chester has a very noticeable scar on his face, and given that he's the instigator of the entire conflict, it's definitely of the "evil" variety. Oddly enough, it disappears in his second costume and is replaced by a monocle.
• Greater-Scope Villain: Downplayed; Chester was ultimately the one who organized the Mantis War to create his own kingdom, Maletta, and even after the end of the war he'd inspire Girardot to create his own rebellion to ensure that there would be yet another war. However, Strife had been planning to Take Over the World way before Chester even conceived the idea of Maletta, but at the end of the day Chester had a more insidious playbook with his actions while Strife was more overt in his intentions and was trying to kill the Cadet from the beginning.
• The Kingslayer: It's his weapon's name. However, he's never shown or told to be killing any kingdom leaders throughout the story, although he does manipulate them towards their own destruction.
• Manipulative Bastard: Chester has three out of the four kingdoms under his strings around the end of the first half, part of his Evil Plan to become king himself.
• My Name Is ???: Chester is written as this when you first fight him in Chronicle 3.
• Obviously Evil: The story doesn't even try to hide his malicious intents. Even when his face is obscured, the intro still mentions his name, and you can easily recognize him in Chronicle 3 even when his name is "???".
• Recurring Boss: He's fought for a total of three times.
• Throw Down the Bomblet: Chester's Dagger discipline also comes with a bomb that he uses in various attacks.
• Villain Decay: Downplayed; He's still every bit the villain he was during the Mantis war, but given his plans to run a kingdom have fallen to ash, he's basically back to being Strife's lapdog...but the rebellion lead by Girardot didn't just happen by itself.

Emperor Strife Astlar

Origin: Grandall Empire

Faction: Grandall Empire

Weapon: Ambition and Soul Edge, iron swords

Voiced by: Naoki Imakura (Japanese)

The emperor of the Grandall Empire, and the Big Bad of the second half of Chronicles of the Sword, who serves as the Final Boss. His fear and ambition has driven him to hate The Cadet since the beginning, and he leads himself and Grandall astray during the war.

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• Ain't Too Proud to Beg: If you lose against him, but manage to get his health under 50%, Strife will call for help in a pathetic manner.
• Ambition Is Evil: Averted. While his weapon's name is Ambition, not only he's never shown to wield it for the entire story (He wields Soul Edge instead), but his evil deeds are mostly driven by fear (He executes his blood relatives because they conspired to kill him) or envy (He grows jealous of The Cadet's popularity, hence why he pulls Uriah Gambit on them), and not from ambition. If anything, he cares more about his own safety than winning the war, even if it means getting rid of The Cadet.
• Assassination Attempt: Strife has gone through many of these himself, and during the Cadet's time in the Grandall's military, it's implied he also attempts this against the Cadet twice; once in a fake bandit attack lead by Chester, and the second in a fake rebellion attack in chapter 14.
• A Child Shall Lead Them: Deconstructed; Strife is only 17, but he's the emperor of Grandall...because of that, whats left of his family keeps trying to kill him, which drove him into the paranoid state of mind that would eventually cause him to run the Grandall Empire like a dictatorship, and this was before he got ahold of Soul Edge...
• BFS: Strife wields an Iron Sword named Ambition. He also wields Soul Edge during the story.
• Dirty Coward: Of all the kingdom leaders, Strife is the most reluctant to fight, so much that he uses a body double, which gets disposed quickly.
  Girardot: Even now, he uses a double? It seems our emperor lacks the courage to face Queen Aurelia...
• The Emperor: Of the Shadow variant. Despite being reluctant to fight in the battlefield, he rules Grandall with tyranny, complete with Hypno Trinket to control those who oppose him, which is Soul Edge.
• Final Boss: Of the entire Chronicles of the Sword mode.
• General Failure: Strife is more focused on getting rid of The Cadet, whom he sees as a threat, than fighting the war properly, leading to him making some very questionable military decisions, such as sending The Cadet to unwinnable battles.
  Halphas: You mean to tell me that this pitifully small unit is the best they can do against our strongest defensive wall? That man Strife truly has no idea how to fight a war. This is almost insulting.
• Greater-Scope Villain: Zig-zagged; It's never explicitly stated, but despite Chester's hand in the Mantis War, he wasn't nearly as dangerous as Strife was during the Mantis War. Strife had been taking the opportunity to silently amass his armies while Chester was creating conflict specifically because he had plans to Take Over the World, which means Chester wasn't the only player on the board with such plans. Whether he or Chester is the bigger bad is left strictly up to the player's interpretation, but arguably Strife could contest for this role since it's strongly implied Chester's assassination attempt after the Cadet's training was exploited by Strife.
• Green-Eyed Monster: His jealousy of The Cadet's popularity drives him to get rid of them, seeing them as a potential threat. This is despite The Cadet being one of Grandall's best warrior and is vital towards Grandall's victory against other kingdom. He doesn't even care if killing The Cadet costs him the war.
  You really stand out too much. The people love you, such an irritating sight to behold. But now, I regret, not killing you myself when I had the chance!
• Hypno Trinket: Strife uses the fragments of Soul Edge to brainwash your former allies. Thankfully, you can snap them back.
• Inadequate Inheritor: Justified, as since his father died in the battle, Strife had to be crowned the emperor at the age of TEN.
• My Rules Are Not Your Rules: While his job is Swordmaster, his stats exceed beyond even a level 99 Swordmaster, at just level 63, mind you. At least Ende from Chronicle 19 plays by the same rules.
• Obviously Evil: Many, many characters in the main series apply, but Strife is a conventional example. The nature of CotS leads most players to suspect that you'd end up fighting him right from the start, if the brutal orders he issues you and that 90% of your allied units end up rebelling against him didn't seed that already. There's also the small fact that his name is fittingly Emperor Strife.
• Properly Paranoid: His fear of being killed and taken over was profoundly true, as his family members actually considered him inadequate to rule and conspired to assassinate him, so he executed them first instead.
• Sanity Slippage: He had already experienced this due to fear of being assassinated by his own royal relatives, at a very young age nonetheless. The slippage causes him to execute all of them so he can rule without opposition, but it only gets worse once he wields Soul Edge.
• Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: Implied; Strife does not beat around the bush when he makes his disdain for Chester known in the second half of the story in spite of his service to him, especially when he oversaw the second assassination of the Cadet in chapter 14. After all, he was an obstacle to him at one point and a known advisor of Aurelia.
• Uriah Gambit: On the giving end, as Strife keeps sending the Cadet to difficult battles without backup. He, however, doesn't count on them actually winning the battle for him. Justified in that he wants the cadet to be killed off.
• 0% Approval Rating: No one seems to respect Strife as the emperor, as his subordinates keeps questioning his, well, questionable decisions. His blood relatives conspired to kill him and even Girardot, who seems loyal at first, ends up rebelling against him over his disgust for the situations he put the Cadet in.

Girardot Argezas

Origin: Grandall Empire

Faction: Grandall Empire (Chapter 1-12), Unnamed Rebellion (Chapter 13-15)

Weapon: Absolution, a lance

Voiced by: Masaya Takasuka (Japanese)

One of Grandall's top general and the instructor of the Parousia Military Academy, Girardot is considered the empire's best tactician and soldier. He's also the mentor to The Cadet and fights alongside him during the war with other kingdoms. A year after the war, however, the general becomes disgruntled with Strife's attempts to kill him and the Cadet and launches a rebellion against Strife under Chester's suggestion.

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• Badass Family: He has a son named Rudiger, who fights alongside him as a Knight in Chronicle 15. Fulfilling certain conditions allows you to recruit him into your team.
• Cool Old Guy: Despite his strict upbringing as a general and tactician, Girardot is more than willing to assist The Cadet, even during Uriah Gambit battles. He also goes along with their Chronic Hero Syndrome to save remaining Halteese soldiers, despite his initial objection.
• Combat Pragmatist: According to extra materials, Girardot believes that "victory is the only justice", and is known for his cold mind and dirty tactics.
• Crutch Character: Girardot shows up much higher leveled than most of your party up to that point, but he's only around for a small portion of the campaign before becoming an enemy for the next part.
• Four-Star Badass: Girardot is both the general of Grandall and a fearsome warrior in his own right.
• Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: After his defeat at the hands of The Cadet, he's impaled by Strife using Soul Edge. Also counts as literal example since Strife has, well, extreme prejudice for Girardot's rebellion against Grandall.
• Jousting Lance: He's a knight who wields a lance named "Absolution".
• La Résistance: A year after the mantis war, Girardot leads his own rebellion against Strife, with his army composed of lowly peasants and commoners, disgruntled soldiers, and even nameless Halteese grunts should the player rescue them during Maletta's attack.
• Mentor Occupational Hazard: Girardot gets killed by Strife shortly after he's fought near the end of the game. This serves as the basis for the Cadet's own Alliance against the Grandal.
• Mildly Military: Girardots rebellion is basically this; From domestic servants to renegade soldiers, and even children as evidenced by Feofan, he's relying on every recruit he possibly can bring down Strife in the second half of the campaign. Sadly for him, it doesn't work as he, and possibly either Feofan or Rudiger, are killed off along with most of his rebellion.
• Not What I Signed on For: Girardot vehemently expresses this to Strife when he realizes that he's sabotaging every effort of the Cadet's to stop the Maletta and Dalkia. Eventually this angers him enough to outright rebel against Strife.
• Purple Is Powerful: Girardot uses the color purple to represent his rebellion against Strife after the Mantis War, most likely to represent just how much he's able to lead through respect rather than fear.
• Silver Fox: Girardot isn't that old (he's 52 at the time of the storyline, according to supplementary material), but he certainly looks the part with his white hair and beard and fights very well.
• Stone Wall: Girardot is a Knight, with very high Defense and Vitality, but low Strength and Agility. Taken up to eleven during his boss fight, in which he gains Super Armor, making him even tankier.
• Wake-Up Call Boss: He's this in Chronicle 2, showing you "baby birds" how to fly.
• Zerg Rush: Girardot is notable for being the only boss fight that encourages you to do this against him. Unlike usual Decisive Battles, in which The Cadet will always be prioritized for the first battle, Girardot's battle instead picks random unit to fight him first, with The Cadet being the last to fight him.

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