Characters / Soulcalibur VI 3

Main Character Index
1 | 2 | 3
Other Characters

Raphael Sorel

Prelude to Madness

You shall make a fine pet for Amy.

Origin: Rouen, Kingdom of France

First Appearance: Soulcalibur II (2002)

Weapon: Flambert, a rapier

Fighting Style: La Rapiere des Sorel

Height: 178cm (5'10")

Weight: 72kg (159lbs)

Blood Type: A

Alignment: Neutral

Relationships: Amy, foster daughter; Stupid relatives (all ties cut); Lord Dumas, adoptive father (deceased at Raphael's hands)

Voiced by: Yasunori Masutani (Japanese), Charles Klausmeyer (English)

A French noble who was taught the ways of the aristocratic classes, medical practices and swordsmanship from a young age. However, his cold nature bought Raphael many enemies. He was betrayed by friends and family alike in the wake of the Evil Seed. After being saved from certain death by a young orphan named Amy, he dedicates himself to her happiness, even if it means reshaping the world itself. Taking on a new identity, Raphael served at the estate of the wealthy Lord Dumas and gained the old man's trust, only to poison him and claim his fortunes and estate for himself. Coming across the notes of a "scholar of the future", Raphael now seeks out Soul Edge to end the civil conflict engulfing France, bring revenge on his relatives who betrayed him, and create a new world for his beloved Amy.

Raphael's gameplay focuses on quick strikes and mix-ups, with many of his attacks having relatively low damage but are very fast. He can poke an enemy from mid-range very well and also punish any misses or mistakes the opponent may make. That said, he can be quite vulnerable to mistakes himself: His attacks are quite linear (as the primary point - no pun intended - of a rapier is thrusting forward) and it's clear that his vertical attacks are much stronger than his horizontal options, so Raphael has to try to be unpredictable but always precise and controlled in his movements.

---

• Adaptational Early Appearance: In the original timeline, Raphael didn't make an appearance until Soulcalibur II.
• Adaptational Nice Guy:
  • Raphael is given many more Pet the Dog moments, often in regard to Amy, than he was portrayed with in the Original Timeline.
  • Even the method of which Raphael attained his wealth is given this treatment. In the Original Timeline, it was mentioned he got it under "dark pretenses". Here, that's not wrong, but the guy he got it from, Lord Dumas, wanted Amy sent away to an orphanage just for her being a former street urchin, which makes it a lot harder to feel sorry for him when Raphael poisons and murders him for it.
• Adaptation Origin Connection: In the New Timeline, it's revealed that Azwel, a character who didn't exist back then, leads him on the path to Soul Edge.
• Affably Evil: Most of the time, so long as you're in his good graces, he's pretty friendly to be around. Not only is this shown with Amy, but he also patches the wounds of a commoner, has a genuine friendship with his fencing instructor, treats his servants with decency, and didn't even resort to poisoning Dumas until after he wanted to get rid of Amy. That said, he's still not a good guy by any stretch of the imagination.
• Ambition Is Evil: Desires power to rule over the world.
• Aristocrats Are Evil: A disgraced French noble on the lamb, and if not an outright villain at this point in the timeline, he's about as far from traditional heroism as Voldo is from composing poetry.
• Authority Equals Asskicking: Was the head of House Sorel and by far its greatest warrior as he carved through his own family and the king's soldiers while on the run.
• Badass Normal: Because he's no longer a vampire, Raphael only has his skills to rely on in battle.
• Being Evil Sucks: Raphael learns the hard way that he isn't the only one trying to further their own goals. The moment he was no longer useful, everyone from his "friends" and his actual family, betrayed him just as he betrayed others, with the same intentions he had before. If it wasn't for Amy, he'd be dead, and he knows it.
• Berserk Button: Never come between him and his daughter Amy. The Birds of Passage and Lord Dumas all found that out the hard way.
• Bond One-Liner: "With my blade, I shall forge a new world!"
  • The line above is said in a mellower tone if done against Amy.
• Call-Forward: Raphael at one point became the manservant for a wealthy nobleman named Lord Dumas, whom he later poisoned when he asks to throw Amy away in exchange for becoming said noble's illegitimate son. Take a quick guess what became of him in V...
• Char Clone: One of the two examples in-game, the other being Taki. In Raphael's case, he's the Neo-Zeon Char archetype. Let's see... he does have the looks, glasses in place of a Cool Mask, and the Knight Templar mindset; in that he'll do whatever it takes for his daughter's sake. And the real kicker, Raphael wore a Char-esque mask as Graf Dumas in V, when not clad in the azure armor of Nightmare. And thus, this trope is still in effect in VI.
• Clothing Damage: One of his basic attack strings while soul charged instantly strips the foe down to their underwear, regardless of health. It's a popular way to indicate what you think of a particularly tasteless character creator costume.
• Continuity Nod: One of his alternate default costumes draws heavily from the ultimate fate that awaited him in the main timeline, complete with red eyes and the appropriate colour scheme.
• Cool Mask: Sports a pair of asymmetrical masquerade-style spectacles.
• Dance Battler: Rare male example. His fencing heavily integrates rhythmic dancing into his style, and he has an air of grace to him that the others don't have. This is specifically brought up in his story, where he picks up the more fluid, artistic elements of his fighting style while training with Spanish fencing masters.
• Dumb Blonde: It's common in his story mode to have Amy calling him a "dummy", though that is because Raphael, being a noble, is not used to survival in the streets and is often out of his depth.
• Even Evil Has Standards: Absolutely disgusted when seeing two thugs wanting to hurt Amy for money.
• Evil Plan: His final Soul Chronicle elaborates on his master plan for Soul Edge. He intends to use it as Shmuck Bait for the warring nobles tearing the country apart, knowing full well that whichever fool wields it will be inevitably destroyed by it. Azwel, without judgement, points out to him that the citizenry will suffer greatly in the ensuing chaos, but Raphael sees this as a small price to pay for a better world.
• The Exile: He exiles himself in Spain with Amy for a few years, where both of them learn Spanish fencing, before coming back to France.
• Faux Affably Evil: How does he reward the Conduit who saves Amy? He serves them poisoned food, challenges them to a duel, then forces the Conduit to serve them. Good thing Amy comes out to knock it off.
• Fish out of Water: As a noble, he's a brilliant practitioner of medicine and is quite knowledgeable about playing the political game. As a peasant, he comes across as being a bit of Dumb Blonde as he can't figure out how to survive without the aid of his wealth, to which Amy often calls him a "dummy" for.
• Foil: To Tira, the other Badass Normal villain. Both are villainous by choice rather than influence of Soul Edge, but Raphael is interested in ruling the world for his adopted daughter's sake while Tira only enjoys killing for its own sake. Additionally, Raphael was given more sympathetic qualities while Tira was made more despicable.
• French Jerk: Downplayed in this version. His absolute devotion to Amy and interactions with most characters in his story make him come across as noble, though his ending implies he will fall into evil again.
• Genius Bruiser: Raphael's not just a master fencer, he's also very crafty. Already known for his intellect, even when he loses his title and fortune he still manages to go into hiding for several years, fending off assassins, and ingratiating himself to a noble before making Dumas "disappear" and claiming his wealth.
• Good Parents: Aims to be a good father for Amy. Deconstructed however, since it's one of many things that drives him to be evil.
• Humans Are the Real Monsters: Unlike most of the villains in the base game, he's evil by choice rather than influence of the Soul Edge. He even has the neutral modifier in Soul Charge rather than the evil one.
• Humiliation Conga: His Soul Chronicle starts with this, being on the run from his own family after a noble he sponsored went mad and tried to kill the king. The only reason it doesn't come out worse for Raphael is because he's the best fighter in his family and that Amy decided to help him on a whim.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Granted, the "jerk" part is often much more visible, but his benevolence towards Amy is not at all a facade but a genuine desire to give her a better life when no one else would.
• Large Ham: Speaks with operatic aplomb when the mood strikes him.
• Light Is Not Good: Wears a white regal outfit, but is also an ambitiously evil noble who looks down on almost everyone else.
• Love Makes You Evil: Once again, his desire for protecting Amy gets twisted into giving her the world, and he ends up reading about the Evil Seed to achieve his goals.
• Noble Fugitive: He was a nobleman who was forced to leave France after he was betrayed, to a few years exile in Spain.
• Papa Wolf: Raphael will go to any lengths to protect Amy, even the members of the Bird of Passage found that out the hard way.
• Paper-Thin Disguise: When working for Lord Dumas, Raphael changes his appearance and name to throw suspicion off himself... by wearing glasses and shortening his name to "Raphy."
• Pet the Dog:
  • Amy saves his life by pointing the guards away from him, his reaction is genuinely very grateful especially since he thought he was about to die.
  • Raphael patches up the wounds of a commoner, even though he has no need to.
  • When Amy is getting attacked by two thugs running a protection racket, he doesn't hesitate to jump into the fray.
  • In general, his genuinely kind treatment of Amy comes off as being one of the only completely selfless things he does.
    Raphael: You've given me a future, in return I must give you the same!
  • He learns to become a better fighter, with the main purpose of being able to protect Amy and give her a better life.
  • Also, his relationship to his instructor shows he's capable of genuine friendship on a normal basis, to people who aren't his daughter.
• Rags to Riches: An interesting case where he was already rich, but went from Riches to Rags, before he made his back to the top. He's a disgraced noble who lost it all, but after taking refuge and disguising himself, he regained his fortune by "inheriting" Dumas' wealth and title.
• Royal Rapier: As always, his weapon of choice is the rapier he was trained with during his days as a nobleman.
• Sadistic Choice: Both involving leaving Amy.
  • At one point in his story, members of the Bird of Passage manage to capture Amy and force Raphael into choosing between his life or hers. He was willing to offer his own life, though Amy figured a way out of that situation.
  • Lord Dumas offers him the possibility of becomes his heir and inheriting his vast wealth... in exchange for sending Amy away to an orphanage. He solves this dilemma by poisoning and killing Dumas.
• Sanity Slippage: Like what eventually happened in the Original Timeline, Raphael starts descending into madness by twisting his genuine care for Amy into becoming obsessed with “giving the world” to her, where Raphael associates that desire with grasping Soul Edge to attain such a safe place for Amy.
• A Sinister Clue: Like Siegfried, he's left-handed. Unlike Siegfried, Raphael is not a tragic example as he lusts for power. There's no clue if he'll become a vampire this time though.
• Snap Back: Raphael is no longer a Malfested vampire, as this takes place before his transformation into one. Whether he eventually becomes one is unclear, though Azwel's comments to him in his bonus Chronicle of Souls episode act as a Call-Forward to this.
• Unwitting Pawn: Though he and Azwel become "comrades", it's revealed in Amy's story that the "partnership" is really one-sided. Azwel lured Raphael into pursuing Soul Edge on purpose, precisely because only those insane enough to pursue it will be able to claim it, and be malfested by it. Amy sets out to stop him from potentially becoming the vampire he ends up as in III.

Talim

The Last Priestess of the Winds

Let's see which way the wind's blowing.

Origin: Village of the Wind Deity, South-East Asia (Philippines)

First Appearance: Soulcalibur II (2002)

Weapon: Syi Salika & Loka Luha, a pair of elbow blades

Fighting Style: Wind Dance

Height: 144cm (4'8")

Weight: 39kg (86lbs)

Blood Type: Unknown

Alignment: Good

Relationships: Sanput, father; Lidi, mother; Kalana, grandmother; Plata, cousin; Alun, pet bird

Voiced by: Yukari Tamura (Japanese), Kira Buckland (English)

Born in a remote Southeast Asian village, in what would become the modern-day Philippines, Talim was the daughter of the village's shaman and raised as a priestess of the Wind Deity. Talim's life was peaceful, spent mastering her dual elbow-blades and learning to invoke the Wind Deity's power, until she became aware of Soul Edge's existence when a foreigner brought an evil shard of the shattered sword to their remote village. Immediately realizing the danger behind this otherwise-innocuous looking piece of metal, Talim set out to cleanse the cursed sword's corruption from the world, with the gentle caress of the wind guiding her path.

Talim is a very tricky character to play, as her gameplay style revolves around extreme speed and constant pressure. She has low-damage, but can compensate for how overwhelming she is in general. Once Talim is up-close and pounding into you, it's quite difficult to shake her off. In this game, Talim gains a new Air Rage stands where she summons gusts of wind to use as stronger attacks. Her Critical Edge heals her to a degree.

---

• Adaptational Early Appearance: This is an alternate version of the first game, and she originally debuted in the second. Her Chronicle of Soul begins in 1589, one year before the events of Soul Calibur II take place.
• Advertised Extra: Her story takes place long after the main story. Justified as she debuted in the second game and VI mainly covers the events between Soul Edge and II. As such, her story mostly serves as a Sequel Hook.
• Adaptation Relationship Overhaul: She became friends with Seong Mi-na in the original timeline. They don't know each other here. Justified as they have not met each other yet.
• Age-Inappropriate Dress: In terms of her clothes, Talim is no less sexualized than many of the other female characters, despite being around 15. Not only does she have her entire belly exposed as usual, but she's clad in shorts with most of the sides open — leaving the top of her green-and-gold bikini bottoms visible — and a tube-top comprised of two crossed cloth straps that expose the undersides of her breasts.
• Badass Adorable: Cute as a button, and can fight while summoning powerful winds.
• Barefisted Monk: She's actually not one, but her weapon style is commonly used on characters from other franchises made in the Create A Soul system that are.
• Bond One-Liner: "Wind, I thank you."
• Blow You Away: Being a priestess of a wind god who can evoke their power temporarily, she can conjure powerful gusts of wind and miniature tornadoes.
• Dual Wielding: She wields a pair of bladed tonfa, which she uses to channel her wind abilities.
• Fragile Speedster: True to her size and weapon of choice, she favors speed and technique over raw power.
• Good Is Not Soft: Talim might be one of the nicest characters alongside Sophitia, but she makes no secret of the fact you're in her way and she needs you incapacitated.
  —Talim: Don't get up.
• Improbable Age: She's around 15, and fighting alongside a cast filled with more experienced adults.
• In Harmony with Nature: Being a priestess she's very in-tune with natural energies. However, she's actually so sensitive to them that when the Evil Seed struck she was rendered bed-ridden and at death's door.
• Irony: Lampshaded by how she can't fly despite having wind powers when ringed out.
• Kid Hero: The youngest playable character, starting her Soul Chronicle at age 14, but she's firmly on the side of good and more than capable of holding her own in a fight.
• Meaningful Name: "Talim" is the Filipino word for "sharp blade", something she herself notes in her Chronicle.
• Pint-Sized Powerhouse: Only 4'9", but that doesn't make her any less of an ass-kicker.
• Religion is Magic: Talim invokes the god of wind who she is the priestess of, channeling its power to augment her attacks and to purify Soul Edge's corruption.

Cassandra Alexandra

Warring Maiden

I hope you're ready, because here I come!

Origin: Athens, Ottoman Empire (Greece)

First Appearance: Soulcalibur II (2002)

Weapon: Omega Sword & Owl Shield (original), a short sword & shield

Fighting Style: Athenian Style (Improvised)

Height: 163cm (5'4")

Weight: Insists she has lost weight recently

Blood Type: B

Alignment: Good

Relationships: Achelous, father; Nike, mother; Sophitia, older sister; Lucius, younger brother; Rothion, brother-in-law

Voiced by: Reiko Takagi (Japanese), Heather Halley (English)

The younger sister of Sophitia. Cassandra is the polar opposite of her sister - bold, open about her feelings, and unafraid to back down from a challenge. When Sophitia suddenly leaves once again on a new quest from the gods to investigate Soul Edge's return, Cassandra decides to follow her in order to find out why she would forsake her own happiness risking her life to eliminate an evil force that threatens the world. Curiously, the weapons Cassandra carries with her on her journey appear to be the exact same as her sister's...

Cassandra seems to play a lot like her sister at first glance. She has great mobility and frame advantage and a lot of safe moves, and she is beginner-friendly, but the similarities end there. While Sophitia is a Jack of All Stats who mostly pokes and punishes, Cassandra is very much a rushdown specialist with a dash of grappler for flavour. Cass has a lot of good throws and low attacks, but her focus on fighting close and personal leave her vulnerable to a player keeping her at arm's length.

---

• Adaptational Badass: In the original timeline, Cassandra wasn't a pushover, but was just a Badass Normal because she didn't use any of the blessed weapons. She had no access to any powers and had to get by with just her tenacity. Here, she gets Sophitia's god-forged Owl Shield & Omega Sword, and all the powers that come with it. This makes her into a force of nature to be reckoned with, as she can summon the power of the Gods at will and boy does she ever.
• Alternate Self: She sees into the future, and battles with a malfested and insane version of her future self driven to insanity by Astral Chaos. She informs the main version of Cassandra of what will happen in the future, that Sophitia's daughter will be the host to Soul Edge, and that she must stop it.
• Ascended Extra: From a lore standpoint. In the Original Timeline, Cassandra never had much bearing on the plot and how the events unfolded. Here, she's one of only two people (the other being Zasalamel) that we know of who have any knowledge of the Original Timeline and how to prevent it, which sets her up as being massively important in the sequel.
• Ass Kicks You: Cassandra has her signature butt attacks. For one she even sits on her shield before smashing it into her opponent's face. As a bonus, every single one of them has a Lethal Hit condition of some kind.
• Be Yourself: One of her hangups is she grew up idolizing Sophitia and trying to emulate her, even though she's clearly different from Sophitia. She also feels that she has to become more like Sophitia in order to take her place as a divine warrior. Her story is mostly about accepting that she and Sophitia are different people and her sister has genuine reasons for not retiring as a warrior.
• Big Sister Worship: Towards Sophitia; lampshaded by their little brother.
• Bond One-Liner: Coupled with How Do I Shot Web?: "Am I even using these right? Well, I won!"
• Callback: If Cassandra is thrown off before she can perform a throw on a downed foe, her roll is reminiscent of Pyrrha's roll when she rolls a foe off her after a Holy Carnivore throw. The situation is also similar, with a character getting thrown off another, only in reverse.
• Cool Big Sis: Has one in Sophitia, and is one to Lucius.
• Cool Mask: Wears a simple masquerade mask during her spar with Sophitia. It was something left behind by her alternate self.
• Costume Evolution: In the past, Cassandra had blue as her primary color. This time, it's orange, with a small amount of blue to be seen. This was likely done to make her visually distinctive from her sister Sophitia, as she's the one with the more significant blue this time around. Fridge Brilliance sets in due to them being complementary colors.
• Divergent Character Evolution: Cassandra first started as Moveset Clone of Sophitia due to being intended to replace her, but over time she took on a more offensive, rushdown-oriented play style. She now goes even further with her Divine Force mechanic that gives her more high risk, high reward options.
• Egypt Is Still Ancient: Like Sophitia, she still worships the Greek pantheon despite living in Ottoman Greece when most of the populace were Greek Orthodox Christians or Muslim.
• Empowered Badass Normal: In the previous games, Cassandra had to rely on swordsmanship and her physical strength alone. But here, wielding the holy weapons makes her a much more powerful force of nature. Divine Force is a special stance that temporarily charges her sword and shield with lightning, which not only powers up her normal attacks, it also gives her extended reach, faster attack frames, and enables a sub-set of special moves which summon wind, lightning, and fire as long as she's soul charged.
• Fanservice Pack: Like her sister, her breasts seem to have only gotten larger. Same can be said for her thighs.
• Final Boss: She became this on the Normal difficulty via version 1.50.
• Foreshadowing: At the beginning of Cassandra's Soul Chronicle Rothion mentions that her sword and shield are Sophitia's old arms, which brings up the question of why he made new ones to begin with. This is the first hint that Cassandra has had contact with something, or someone, from the original timeline.
• For Want Of A Nail: Cassandra is informed of the events that led to Soulcalibur V before they actually happen. This in turn is heavily implied to lead into a massive divergence later on, given that she now has the knowledge to prevent it.
• Future Me Scares Me: Seeing what her future self from the Original Timeline has become, as well as learning of the fate that awaits Sophitia and her children, prompts Cassandra to do what she can to ensure her timeline doesn’t end the same way
• Glass Cannon: Of a sort—Many of Cassandra's stronger moves (indicated by how they cause her to glow red) cause her to take guard damage. This means that if she decides to use her more powerful moves too often, she will get her guard broken much easier and take more damage than if she uses weaker and less frame advantageous moves.
• Good Is Not Soft: She may be looking to help people, but if that requires that she kick the crap out of them it doesn't bother her.
• Gorgeous Greek: Like her sister, Cassandra is a looker with a generous chest, shapely legs, and immaculate hair.
• Hidden Depths: Cassandra may be a feisty, Hot-Blooded tomboy, but it also turns out she's incredibly good at keeping secrets, having learned about the terrifying future that awaits her family.
• Hotter and Sexier: May be the single greatest example in the game on an individual basis (which says a lot). She was always sexy, but never a "heavy hitter" for it in the same way as Ivy, Taki and her sister Sophitia have always been. Here, she's been upgraded in every way to be on their level and it shows.
• Hypocrite: She gets incredibly irritated when others keep secrets from her or aren't honest about their intentions, but she ends up keeping some very major secrets herself and tells no one the truth of her quest.
• Improbable Aiming Skills: Her charged Shield Nova adds extra hits by having her repeatedly launch her shield at her opponent's face, then kick the shield back at them as it ricochets. She does it four times rapid-fire style.
• Interface Spoiler: Going into Create A Soul will reveal that Cassandra's weapons are called "Original Omega Sword and Owl Shield." As in they're the set from the original timeline.
• Lightning Bruiser: Cassandra has always been a balanced mix of speed, power, and durability. But in SC VI, she's become a literal example thanks to Divine Force which further enhances all her stats and temporarily grants her supernatural ability.
• Locked Out of the Loop: Inverted. Cassandra is one of only two people, the other being Zasalamel, that we know has any idea of the Original Timeline and how to prevent the Bad Future from happening.
• Luckily, My Shield Will Protect Me: ...but not you, because she retains all of her shield attacks. Bitchslaps, discus tosses, and shield assisted ass-smashes included.
• Meaningful Name: Cassandra's name has retroactively turned into one as like the princess of Troy Cassandra has witnessed a vision from the future, unable to tell anyone because she knows no one will believe her.
• Mechanically Unusual Fighter: Cassandra is very unusual in this game. She has a special state called Divine Force, effectively a Super Mode outside of Soul Charge, which enables her to use attacks with enhanced stats that can overwhelm her enemy. However, this causes her to take guard damage, which means that an over-reliance on them will significantly lower her defensive ability, and thus requires good judgement. Furthermore, she's the only one who can activate a Guard Impact via movement, which makes it very useful if also confusing at first. Cassandra also has a unique projectile by throwing her shield as a Precision-Guided Boomerang, which can catch enemies off guard, but the trade off is that she can strafe during the process. Finally, she has two Critical Edges, with her second one being an enhanced version used during Divine Force that deals extra damage.
• Mistaken Identity: Her Chronicles of Souls story in SCVI plays up more prominently how physically similar Cassandra looks when compared to her sister, several people whom Cassandra helps while trying to fill Sophitia’s shoes outright mistake Cassandra with being her sister.
• Ms. Fanservice: Just like any girl in Soulcalibur VI, she's this. Cassandra has large breasts that are emphasized and prone to Jiggle Physics, a skirt with pantyhose, and has many ass attacks for the audience's titillation.
  • This even extends to in-universe as she's the poster girl for her family's bakery. She seems to have had a cavalcade of admirers for years with one comparing her beauty to Aphrodite.
• Musical Theme Naming: All of her Soul Chronicle chapters are named after songs from the series or themes of her family members.
  • Virtuous Heart - Alpha Patroklos
  • Unwavering Resolve - Sophitia and herself (Soulcalibur II)
  • Fearless Eyes - Sophitia (Soulcalibur III)
  • Courage Ablaze - Herself (Soulcalibur III)
  • Immaculate Pledge - Sophitia and herself (Soulcalibur IV)
  • A Silent Prayer - Sophitia and herself (Soulcalibur: Broken Destiny, second part of the theme name)
  • A Firm Resolution - Her ending theme (Soulcalibur IV)
  • A Curious Tale: A Broken Destiny - Soulcalibur: Broken Destiny
  • A Curious Tale: An Unbreakable Soul - Soulcalibur: Unbreakable Soul
  • Afterglow - Sophitia and herself (Soulcalibur: Broken Destiny, first part of the theme name)
• Mythology Gag: Cassandra having moves that damage her own guard gauge makes a ton more sense when you remember previous games in the series where she constantly broke Sophitia's weapons due to not knowing her own strength. Or doing so deliberately, in the case of her ending in Soulcalibur IV.
• Of Corsets Sexy: This time, her pantyhose is linked to a corset rather than just being their own piece.
• Precision-Guided Boomerang: She can use her shield as one thanks to the divine powers of it.
• Proper Tights with a Skirt: Given that in IV she had stopped wearing the skirt at all, this is a considerable dialing back (she did go this route in II and III).
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: She's the more energetic and reckless Red Oni to Sophitia's patient Blue Oni. This applies to their gameplay styles as well—whereas Sophitia's playstyle emphasizes strong fundamental gameplay with a slight focus on defense, evasiveness, and punishment, Cassandra is more focused on rushing her opponent down with relentless pressure and overwhelming damage.
• Retcon: In the previous timeline Cassandra took up arms after Sophitia had married and bore children, back then Cassandra wanted her sister to remain laid down and continue living a normal life. In this timeline, Cassandra wants to take arms for Sophitia to actually marry and pass her duties on, resulting in Cassandra wanting to relieve Sophitia of her duties years before it happened in the previous timeline. This is mostly because Cassandra knows what's going to happen to Sophitia and her future children.
  • There is a small retcon to the story of "VI" itself. In Sophitia's Soul Chronicle, Sophitia returned home on her own and then felt the pain of Soul Edge in her body, with Cassandra none the wiser about why. Said occurrence was also how she met Rothion. However, in Cassandra's Soul Chronicle, Taki instead escorts Sophitia home and tells Cassandra about Sophitia's situation.
• Ripple-Effect-Proof Memory: She sees a vision of herself in the future, driven mad by Astral Chaos. That version of her then informs Cassandra of the Original Timeline's path that leads to Sophitia being murdered, Pyrrha being tainted by a shard of Soul Edge, kidnapped by Tira, and raised to be the next vessel, all leading up to Soulcalibur V. Cassandra isn't sure if she believes it, but she clearly is taking it into account and is operating with the knowledge of what will happen in the future and how to prevent it.
• Set Right What Once Went Wrong: Her future self from the Original Timeline tells her of what will happen in the future, and entrusts her to stop it.
• Shield Bash: An iconic part of her moveset, whether attached to her arm or not. The in-game library stresses that the shield is her main weapon, and her sword is the off-hand compliment.
• Shock and Awe: Her Divine Force buff laces her sword and shield with electricity.
• Sibling Yin-Yang: In contrast to her wholesome, modest sister, Cassandra is sassy, loud, and much more aggressive in general. The latter is reflected in her playstyle.
• Spanner in the Works: Cassandra is about the last character anyone would expect to be responsible for undoing the events that lead up to V. Yet, she's primed for the role after being informed of them. She's also notably one of only two people who have any knowledge of the Original Timeline at all, the other being Zasalamel (less surprising as an immortal linked to time itself).
• Strong Family Resemblance: She's essentially just a younger Sophitia with a different outfit and hair style.
• Sudden Name Change: When Sophitia and Rothion ask of Cassandra to be the one to name their child, Cassandra takes up the responsibility seriously and wonders what name should she give if it is a boy, those versed in the series lore would think Cassandra would think about Patroklos, but the name Cassandra thinks of is Deucalion, which is now a name Cassandra thinks holds great value. Deucalion in Greek mythos was Prometeus’ son and Pyrrha’s husband, so it remains to be seen if this new name goes anywhere.
• Super Mode: Divine Force effectively allows Cassandra to go Super Saiyan, complete with a lightning charged golden aura.
• Throwing Your Shield Always Works: In addition to her classic throw animations, Cassandra now also has a move where she tosses her shield like a discus and knocks the opponent towards her.
• Tomboy and Girly Girl:
  • Sophita's the demure, matronly one who'd rather save those whom she meets, rather than hurt them. Cassandra, on the other hand, has no problems whatsoever with beating the hell out of you and prefers to use her shield as a blunt weapon, rather than for defense.
  • The difference is further emphasized by their styles of gameplay. Cassandra continues to excel in speed and rushdown tactics that are designed to keep her in her opponent's face. Her attacks also make her much more of a physical combatant, than her sister's knockdown/keep away approach. Even other brawlers, such as Maxi, pale by comparison which makes Cassandra one of the most frightening opponents to deal with.
• Tomboyish Ponytail: Wears her hair like this and she has the personality fitting for it.
• Unskilled, but Strong: Not much in the way of formal training, but she wields weapons that are literally divine and make her a powerhouse that few can match. This is lampshaded when she even questions if she's using the weapons right when she wins with a Critical Edge, but it doesn't really matter because she already won.
• Walking Spoiler: Knowing too much about Cassandra reveals that she is made aware of the prophecy that leads to the Bad Future over seventeen years later. Thus, she's implied to stop it. Furthermore, this erases any doubt over VI's status as a reboot.

Setsuka

Drifting Snow Blossom

Heishiro Mitsurugi, you murdered my master! For that, I shall have your head!

Origin: Born on a ship travelling from the Kingdom of Portugal to Japan ^note  Her bio in VI confirms she was born to a Portuguese mother and Japanese father on a voyage to Japan. The combined flags of both the historic Kingdom of Portugal and the still-current State of Japan are therefore presented here.

First Appearance: Soulcalibur III (2005)

Weapon: Ugetsu Kageuchi, a shikomizue concealed in an oilpaper parasol

Fighting Style: Shinden Tsushima-ryu Battōjyutsu

Height: 167cm (5'5")

Weight: 51kg (112lbs)

Blood Type: A

Alignment: Neutral/Good

Relationships: Shugen Kokonoe, mentor and father-figure (deceased); Mitsurugi, sworn enemy

Voiced by: Yo Taichi (Japanese), Tara Platt (English)

Shunned by others for her western appearance, a certain gaijin girl drifted throughout Japan until she was taken in by a swordsman named Shugen Kokonoe, who named her "Setsuka". Shugen was a master of iaido, and he taught Setsuka everything he knew as she grew up. Unfortunately, their happiness was not meant to last, as Setsuka returned home after an errand to find Shugen fatally wounded, having been bested in a duel by an unknown assailant. Before he died, Shugen's last words to her were that he wanted her not to use his techniques to pursue revenge, but to live freely with no regrets. With this in mind, he told Setsuka the name of the man who defeated him: Heishiro Mitsurugi. Realizing after his death that she had fallen in love with her master, Setsuka's devotion for Shugen has now compelled her towards avenging his honor as she sets out to find and defeat Mitsurugi once and for all.

Like her previous appearances, Setsuka is considered an advanced character who is very difficult to learn but very satisfying when achieved. Many of her moves required precise timing to maximize damage and she needs to be right in her opponent's face in order to do so. Furthermore, she has her Three Visions gauges that power up her moves when certain conditions have been fulfilled. Altogether, she's arguably the most complicated character to learn.

---

• Adaptation Dye-Job: A literal example. Though she still keeps her natural blonde hair, she dyes her hair black in the New Timeline. In the Original, she dyed it brown.
• Adaptation Personality Change: Since her story covers her early years before her quest for revenge for her master's death, Setsuka is shown to be snarkier and more trash-talking, coupled with moments of anger and even shyness- all contrasting the Tranquil Fury and overall classier demeanor she displayed in the Original Timeline.
• Aesop Amnesia: Shugen in his final moments pleads for Setsuka not to seek revenge on the man that defeated, and mortally wounded, him; at first Shugen does not reveal the warrior’s name, so Setsuka can’t waste her life pursuing revenge, when it seems she may not go through Shugen then reveals Mitsurugi’s name. Setsuka spends one year after Shugen’s death a bit aimless but she did indeed not pursue revenge in that period, she would be occupied with the loose ends regarding the Kokonoe clan; however, when Setsuka finishes her business with the Kokonoe clan, she equals the realization of her love for Shugen as something that cannot be forgiven regarding his eventual killer, completely setting herself on the path revenge, disobeying her beloved’s wishes.
• All Love Is Unrequited: She realizes she had been in love with Shugen, and sees the flower that bloomed in the snowscape in which she almost died as a symbol of a "barren love" that is "eternally unrequited". And indeed, her master saw her as a daughter to him.
• All the Other Reindeer: She was shunned by others for being of foreign descent. It still happens throughout her story, with people calling her things such as "savage" and "outlander" (as a slur). She was even called a "demon child" by her aunt when she was little. Ironically enough, her eventual rival Mitsurugi shows her sympathy in this regard.
• Anti-Frustration Features: In a clear attempt to make learning her less daunting, many of Setsuka's more difficult moves have "easy" inputs that are viable to use, but cost some Soul gauge. Her Three Visions gauges (see below) also don't reset between rounds, meaning she doesn't have to worry about filling them again.
• Art Evolution: Setsuka in VI has a softer and more youthful face compared to her previous portrayals, both in-game and drawn profile by Kawano; her Soul Chronicle starts in 1587 as a 21 year old woman, 3 years before her original debut in III, set at 1590, partially justifying the slightly younger look.
• Ascended Extra: In the Original Timeline, Setsuka notably wasn't a plot-important character, only being concerned with getting her revenge on Mitsurugi. In the New Timeline, that's not changed, but story developments have now connected her destiny to Soul Edge, as she ends up fighting one of the sword's Malfested puppets. Said puppet just so happens to be a relative of her master, and her involvement in uncovering his secrets reveals a dark legacy and leads to some interesting background reveals.
• Awesome by Analysis: After handing some Kokonoe men their asses she proceeds to then tell them what errors they made in their fighting techniques.
• Badass Boast: When she deflects an arrow that a merchant's bodyguard shoots at her, they are left in disbelief, prompting Setsuka to respond with this:
  Setsuka: Hah! I could avoid a flimsy little arrow in my sleep. You'll need a Tanegashima if you want to hit me!
• Bond One-Liner: "This is the work of fate, I merely played my part."
• But Not Too Foreign: Her father was Japanese and her mother was Portuguese.
• Coat Cape: Wears a haori draped over her shoulders.
• Combat Stilettos: As usual, she has her trademark okubo, which are customized with Western heels.
• Connected All Along: During a flashback to her past in her Soul Chronicle, Setsuka ends up getting into a scuffle with a merchant, when a samurai passing through happens upon the situation and offers her his admiration. That samurai is Mitsurugi, the man she wants revenge on in the present day for killing her beloved master.
• Continuity Nod: The flashbacks in Setsuka's Soul Chronicle shows her with her hair dyed black, which confirms that the black hair she sports in III was simply dyed and not her natural hair color. The kimono Shugen bought her later on in the Chronicle also is clearly based on her III kimono design.
• Dark and Troubled Past: Aside from her backstory of losing her parents, an audio-only flashback has her being verbally abused by her uncle and aunt, who shun her for her appearance as much as the other villagers. She was about to die out in the cold until Shugen found her.
• Deadpan Snarker: She throws some sharp and witty remarks at her enemies from time to time and also mocks them by giving them insulting nicknames. At one point, she sarcastically calls Gorozaemon one of her "admirers" when he asks her for help.
• Desperately Looking for a Purpose in Life: Shugen's death mostly has her lost as to what to do with her life, especially as she swore to him she would not seek vengeance. And then the Kokonoe Clan decide to butt in.
• Difficult, but Awesome / Elite Tweak: As usual, Setsuka is a character with a difficulty curve so steep it has an overhang. She's an offensive powerhouse with incredible moves but she also considers a big commitment to mastering and needs to be in close range in order to maximize her moveset. And that's not getting into how she now has three secondary gauges.
• Femme Fatale: Graceful and elegant, but DON'T interfere with her vengeance.
• Final Boss: Since version 2.21, she becomes one for the Normal difficulty.
• Foil: Surprisingly, to Taki of all people as they were both treated as outcasts by their respective clans and seek out Mitsurugi for personal reasons. Taki will stop anyone from seeking Soul Edge, good or evil otherwise, especially if it's Mitsurugi himself. Whereas Setsuka will find Mitsurugi to avenge Shugen's death. On top of that, Setsuka is one of the few characters in the game who is more focused on a vendetta quest rather than seek after the sword.
  • Also to Ivy. They are both Femme Fatale women who are of at least partially of European descent. However, Setsuka is only of half European descent and is one of the most conservatively dressed female characters in the game. Like Ivy, she has unique battle quotes when battling against the younger female fighters, except for Seong Mina who is closer to her age. Unlike Ivy, she is a lot kinder and sympathetic to them, warning them and only chastising them to deter them from getting in her way.
• Geisha: Surprisingly evokes this less than her previous designs, but still has elements of it such as her hairstyle and footwear.
• Happily Adopted: She was taken in by Shugen Kokonoe, a battoujyutsu master who passed his techniques to her.
• Heroic Willpower: The only way to overcome Zanki is through immense mental fortitude.
• Hidden Buxom: Difficult to tell in her default outfit, but her old design shows that Setsuka is stacked.
• Hidden Weapons: Has an iaitou (a sword specialized for quick-draw techniques) hidden in her umbrella.
• Iaijutsu Practitioner: Her fighting style is centered around the draw of her blade. One of her stances, Shrouded Sky, is a classic iai-do stance.
• Ice Queen: Her overall demeanor is icy and distant. Her reveal trailer even starts in a snowstorm.
• Kicking Ass in All Her Finery: Has an extravagant costume, but she can shred opponents with ease.
• Lady of War: Deadly and incredibly graceful.
• Leitmotif: Gets a new one in this game in the form of her stage's theme "Empty Vengeance". Notably, Setsuka received two new pieces of music that play exclusively in her Soul Chronicle. The first one is a somber, slow, piano and string arrangement that plays during emotional scenes. The second one is a simple, peaceful, pluck arrangement that plays during peaceful, joyful scenes. Both tracks are rearrangements of "Empty Vengeance", establishing it as her new signature music.
  • Though, her old leitmotif, her Soulcalibur III stage theme "Ephemeral Dream", plays when she defeated Gyobu as a callback.
• Likes Older Men: She was actually in love with Shugen, only realizing it after he died.
• Love Epiphany: Though Shugen always meant a lot of her, it's only after he succumbs to his wounds from his duel with Mitsurugi that she realizes her true feelings for him. She even offers her own interpretation of the flower that bloomed in the snowscape where he rescued her.
• Magikarp Power: In addition to Setsuka's usual advanced moveset, she now has three secondary gauges called Three Visions which fill when she fulfills certain conditions and power up certain certain techniques in her moveset, often ones with radically disparate functionality. And if Setsuka manages to fill all of them she's a monster. They go as follows:
  • Wintry Reflection: Filled by attacking an opponent who's either guarding or trying to evade with the Eight-Way-Run. When filled after six successes Setsuka has better options for breaking guards.
  • Moonlit Reflection: Filled by attacking an opponent who either whiffed an attack or attacking after having blocked an opponent's attack. After four successes this powers up moves such as Silver Shadow which improves Setsuka's range and counterattacks.
  • Vernal Reflection: Filled by attacking an opponent before they can finish an attack. After five successes it powers up moves that help her counters.
• Meaningful Name: Her name means "snow blossom" which fits her cold personality. Her master and caretaker Shugen named her.
• Missing Mom: Her parents died of illness on the voyage to Japan.
• Modesty Shorts: Her under-robe is modified to keep herself decent.
• Morality Chain: Setsuka is part of the reason Shugen became a better person after forsaking his past as a cold assassin; she resembles the woman, Anju, that first instigated on Shugen the desire to change, the 11 years Shugen took caring for Setsuka changed him considerably.
• Ms. Fanservice: Zigzagged. Her new design is an aversion, somewhat surprisingly, only exposing her shoulders and part of her thighs. Played straight with her SoulCalibur IV outfit, however, which is included in the update.
• Mythology Gag:
  • Her Color 2 outfit recolors her hair black and her whole equipment red. This is a reference to her Soulcalibur III 1P outfit.
  • Her Color 3 outfit recolors her hair black and her kimono blue with white accents. This is a reference to her Victorian England themed 2P outfit from Soulcalibur IV.
  • In her Soul Chronicle the kimono Shugen gives her as a birthday present is the same one from her debut in Soulcalibur III.
• The Nicknamer: It's common for her to give demeaning nicknames to her enemies. Funnily enough, their names get briefly replaced by whatever Setsuka calls them in cutscene dialogues in her Soul Chronicle. A Kokonoe clan member gets called "Chickenoe", a perverted merchant "Bottom-feeding lecher" and Gyobu "Mushroom Head".
• Of Corsets Sexy: Wears a Western-style corset instead of an obi.
• Parasol of Pain: Setsuka's Parasol of Prettiness not only doubles as her sword's sheath, but she knows how to use it as a bludgeon or a shield. In fact, using the sheath is a vital component of her fighting style.
• Photographic Memory: Slightly subverted as it's only shown once. In her Soul Chronicle, when tasked with delivering a letter to the Omi province by Shugen, Setsuka was able to map out the months-long travel route by memory without looking at a map, something that impresses Shugen.
• Revenge: Her sole reason for living is to cut down Mitsurugi, who killed her master. This is despite Shugen not wanting her to use his techniques for revenge. Even in her Soul Chronicle's ending, she still decides to go through with seeking out Mitsurugi and defeating him, believing that doing so will allow her to move forward with her own life, as she fights out of love for the man who raised her and was tragically taken away from her.
• Revision: Setsuka’s heritage is fully elaborated in VI, born to a Japanese father and a Portuguese mother as opposed to just being someone shunned for her foreign appearance.
• Shout-Out:
  • Her entire design is an homage to Lady Snowblood.
  • Her Color 4 outfit sports her only in her undergarments recolored black and gives her her disheveled hair variant recolored white. The design makes her resemble A2 from NieR: Automata. Considering 2B is a guest character in Soulcalibur VI, this may be the intended effect.
  • It's hard to look at her Wings of Heaven stance and not think of Mary Poppins
• Snow Means Death: Her story begins with her preparing to accept her death in the middle of a snowscape. Shugen defies the trope and rescues her from such a fate.
• Surpassed the Teacher: She defeats the possessed Gyobu with a technique of her own that she calls "Return from Oblivion", managing not to kill him but leaving him unable to wield a weapon again. A surprised Sakan considers it to be greater than Shugen's supreme attack, the Mournful Oblivion.
• Sword Cane: Her trademark shimokizue is a katana hidden inside a parasol.
• Tamer and Chaster: Compared to her previous outfits, here in VI she covers up more skin, though she's still wearing an outfit that accentuates her shapely figure.
• Tragic Keepsake: Her haori belonged to Shugen, her beloved master, Setsuka starts wearing it after Shugen succumbs to his mortal wounds from Mitsurugi’s fight and dies. Also her sword, Ugetsu Kageuchi, which was Shugen's blade.

Tira

Bird of Death

Hey Gloomy, can I kill this one?

I wish Jolly'd choose more worthy opponents.

Origin: Parts Unknown

First Appearance: Soulcalibur III (2005)

Weapons: Eiserne Drossel, a ring blade

Fighting Style: Dance of Death

Height: 159cm (5'2")

Weight: 48kg (106lbs)

Blood Type: AB

Alignment: Evil

Relationships: Foster parents (deceased, killed by Tira)

Voiced by: Masumi Asano (Japanese), Kate Higgins (English)

Raised by the Bird of Passage, Tira is an expert wielder of her ring blade Eiserne Drossel. After their leader went mad, Tira abandoned the organization and now travels Europe slaughtering anyone in her way, while taking great pleasure in the trail of blood in her wake.

Tira revolves around two different styles based on her personalities: Jolly and Gloomy. Each personality brings in different moves, but can't easily be switched to on the fly. Of the two, Gloomy is by far the more dangerous, enhancing her already high damage and rushdown pressure. Otherwise she is a versatile character with a fairly safe moveset. If she switches enough times, Tira gains a "burning" Gloomy state, where she can access Soul Charge-exclusive moves outside of Soul Charge until switching to Jolly. The downsides to Tira are needing to learn two movesets effectively (limiting her to advanced players), and general inconsistency in matches - it can happen that Tira randomly changes personality in the middle of a combo, giving the opponent a chance to retaliate.

---

• Adaptational Backstory Change: The lore behind the Bird of Passage and how the Evil Seed affected them is very different than it is in III. In the new timeline, the elders were not outright killed by the Evil Seed, but instead driven mad by it, resulting in the group splitting apart, Tira included. The story behind her split personalities is also changed. Tira's disorder is no longer the result of malfestation from Soul Edge, but instead came about after she killed her foster family in a fit of rage. The incident warped her mind, resulting in her psyche splitting into two. Gloomy Tira is the assassin raised by the Bird of Passage, and Jolly Tira is the mask she wore to try and fit into society: an innocent young girl.
• Adaptational Early Appearance:
  • Tira debuted in III and appears in this game which only goes up to the events just before II, and it clearly sets up her role later in the story.
  • This also applies to her split personalities. In the Original Timeline, they didn't fully manifest until between III and IV, being more of a Mood-Swinger in III. Here, she's depicted as having them since the events of Soul Edge.
• Adaptational Villainy: The OT Tira was very much a villain no doubt, but even then she had sympathetic traits. Here, these were wiped away and the sadistic traits are subject to Character Exaggeration. In the New Timeline, Tira is portrayed as completely morally corrupt from the start, to the point where she already had developed her split personalities (which hadn't actually manifested until between III and IV), and her Duel to the Death with her mother bird was changed from something she was forced to take part in to something she both willingly and eagerly did. While she also killed her foster parents in the Original Timeline, there was at least some implicit remorse on her part showing she had some humanity in her, but in New Timeline she was gleeful that she carried out the act. Overall, it seems like this was done to avoid viewers sympathizing with her in any way that wasn't intended.
• Age Lift: In the original timeline, Tira was 17 at the time Soulcalibur III was set and thus would've only been 13 during the events of Soulcalibur; while her malfestation halts her aging in subsequent games set in the original timeline. In Soulcalibur VI, she starts off as 17 at the beginning of her Chronicle of Soul in 1584; which would mean that by the time her Chronicle of Soul ends in 1589 she would be 22.
• Age-Inappropriate Dress: She starts off her story-mode at the age of 17, wearing an outfit that is unambiguously made for fanservice.
• Animal Motif: Birds. Not only does she retain the feathers of her III original, but she's given bird skeletons as decoration on her torn cloak, her gloves, and on her boots.
• Anime Hair: While Tira always had bizarre hairstyles, here her Girlish Pigtails point upwards, not to mention it's multi-colored.
• Attack! Attack! Attack!: This is Gloomy Tira's default strategy; her unquenchable thirst for wanton slaughter borders on suicidal unless Jolly is there to apply a little bit of restraint.
• Ax-Crazy: Both personalities come in different flavors but overall are just as insane as the other.
• Badass Normal: As Tira has no actual magical powers and hasn't been malfested at this point, she's just a birth-raised assassin specializing in the art of death. Even without any of the gifts that the others have, she still comes across as one of the deadliest characters on the roster.
• Birds of a Feather: Tira is greatly excited at the prospect of finding someone who "shares her hobby" on a genocidal scale.
• Brains and Brawn: Jolly Tira is the more cunning of the two personalities, preferring careful planning and confusing strategies to keep her enemies off balance. Gloomy Tira, on the other hand, prefers getting straight to the point and facing her enemies head-on, no matter how messy things get.
• Bond One-Liner: "I've already had enough of this..."
• Combat Sadomasochist: Just like in the original timeline. Even more accentuated here because when she is defeated by Nightmare, she either yells out “Feels good!” Or “You’re amazing!”
• Combat Stilettos: As a carryover from V, Tira fights in high heels. Much like Ivy, she makes very good use of them in combat.
• Coy, Girlish Flirt Pose: As a victory pose as in the original timeline. Could possibly be a reminder of her actual age. She does this especially with Nightmare, who she has a crush on.
• Dark Action Girl: She's the villainess of the series, and acts the part in full.
• Depraved Bisexual: While her orientation isn't touched upon in the story itself, one of her Reversal Edge win attacks has her performing a Kiss of Death. Like her Critical Finish in IV, she doesn't care which sex she does it on.
• Do Not Call Me "Paul": Gloomy does not take well to being called by her name within the Bird of Passage, Eiserne Drossel.
• The Dragon: She became in the Original Timeline. Here, she also aspires to become Nightmare's right-hand woman, though she fails to find him during her Chronicle of Soul — instead running into Zasalamel, who tells her that Nightmare is merely a puppet for Soul Edge.
• Establishing Character Moment: Her reaction to killing her adopted family over a petty fit of rage was not a showing of humanity, but a sheer lack of it. Jolly saying it was "pure heaven" and Gloomy wishing the moment would never end gives us a glimpse of her disturbed psyche.
• Evil Counterpart: To Talim, both being younger girls that arrive much earlier than in the original timeline. While Talim is out to destroy Soul Edge, Tira is infatuated with Nightmare, the current host of Soul Edge. The former even states how much she hates the latter in a match dialogue just because of her kindness.
• Fanservice Pack: While Tira has always had revealing costumes but her game-model was a lot more petite than her artwork would imply. Here, this time around her breast size has increased to rival Sophitia's, matching up her artwork. This might be Hand Waved by her Age Lift. While she was 17 by III, justifying her smaller cup size, here she starts at the end of Soul Edge at 17, and by the end of her Chronicle is approximately 22, thus her body is fully mature. Her appearing this way in the early chapters might just be Gameplay and Story Segregation.
• Foil:
  • To Raphael, the other Badass Normal villain. Both are villainous by choice rather than influence of Soul Edge, but Raphael is interested in ruling the world for his adopted daughter's sake while Tira only enjoys killing for its own sake.
  • Also Ivy. Ivy was unsatisfied serving Nightmare and only did so for her own ambitions, while Tira is eager to be its right-hand man.
• Freudian Excuse: To say the least; Tira had a bad childhood and that's what shaped her into what she is today.
• Groin Attack: Her Critical Edge has her performing repeated strikes of ring blade to the crotch, finishing it off with a swift kick. Ow.
• Humans Are the Real Monsters: Like Raphael, she's evil by choice.
• Improbable Weapon User: Her ring blade is quite odd compared to the conventional weapons found elsewhere.
• In Love with Your Carnage: Falls utterly in love with Nightmare/Soul Edge after following his trail of destruction.
• Kiss of Death: Hearkening back to IV, one of her Reversal Edge win animations has her performing one on her opponent.
• Lack of Empathy: Understatement of the year. As an example, her reaction to killing her adoptive family in a petty fit of rage?
  Tira (Jolly): This is what I was born to do... ahh, pure heaven.
  Tira (Gloomy): So peaceful... I wish this moment would never end.
• Makeup Is Evil: One of two female fighters with makeup, and is wholly evil.
• Mechanically Unusual Fighter:
  • Tira has a Stance System that incorporates her Jolly and Gloomy personalities, each having a different interpretation of the same style, but can't be switched on the fly.
  • She has two Critical Edges, with Gloomy delivering an extra blow if she's the one using it.
  • Furthermore, she's one of two characters (the other being Nightmare) who can access Soul Charge-exclusive moves outside of Soul Charge; by using the "burning Gloomy" state, she'll temporarily gain the extra moves until she switches to Jolly, making it a viable alternative to spending a meter on the mode itself.
• Monster Fangirl: She falls for Nightmare after seeing the carnage and bloodshed he leaves in his wake. Her commentary as she journeys to meet him is akin to a lovestruck teenager fawning over the guy of her dreams.
• Ms. Fanservice: With her most Stripperiffic outfit to date, combined with an increase in bust size, Tira definitely fits this trope now more than ever.
• Mythology Gag: Her default hair is based on her 2P costume from III, while Clothing Damage will undo it to form her 1P hair from the same game.
• Nightmare Fetishist: For, appropriately enough, Nightmare.
  Nightmare: Sword, quench your thirst!
  Tira: Mmm, I like the smell of that sword!
• Older Hero vs. Younger Villain:
  • Played straight if she's fighting any of the good characters, most of whom are older than her, either slightly or significantly.
  • Inverted if said good character is either Talim or Xianghua, both of whom are one-to-two years younger.
• Omnicidal Maniac: Gloomy isn't interested in anything other than killing everyone she comes across.
  Gloomy: GENOCIDE!
• Red Baron: Eiserne Drossel, The Iron Thrush. Played with in that this appellation means nothing to her anymore and she violently insists on being called Tira instead.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: Zigzagged with Jolly and Gloomy:
  • Jolly being temperamentally red to Gloomy's blue, the former being surprisingly cheerful while the latter is cold. Jolly's slashes leave a yellow trail effect.
  • Gloomy is the red in combat to Jolly's blue, Gloomy being The Berserker while Jolly is a Genius Bruiser.
• Rings of Death: Provides the page image, no less! Gloomy's slashes leave a purple trail effect.
• Sadist: It's more obvious with Jolly than with Gloomy, but it's still there, given how killing is the only thing she enjoys.
• Secondary Color Nemesis: Green, purple, and black.
• Serial Killer: An insane murderess who leaves a trail of corpses behind her and derives pleasure from the act of killing. The first time she has anything in the way of a goal (aside from roaming the land murdering people for fun) is learning that there exists a creature even better at it than she is, giving her the impetus to meet and join them.
• The Sociopath: Cheery Tira is a low functioning example, as she's surprisingly upbeat despite being a remorseless, insane killer and sees no greater joy than taking lives.
• Split-Personality Team: After murdering her adopted family, Tira suddenly develops two split personalities who alternate control over her body: the cheerfully sadistic Jolly, and the grim and bloodthirsty Gloomy.
• Stripperific: Basically a "bad girl"-themed outfit that essentially combines her 1P and 2P costumes from Soul Calibur III. It's torn to show her cleavage both over and under, has her stomach exposed, wears a tiny miniskirt, has torn pantyhose, and thigh high boots with Combat Stilettos.
• Taking You with Me: Gloomy, if soul charge is activated with critical HP.
  Gloomy: If I'm going down, so are you!
• Teens Are Monsters: She starts out as only 17, and one of the most evil characters on the roster.
• Tyke-Bomb: From the moment she was born, Tira was raised to be a lethal living weapon.

Zasalamel

The Dark Side of Karma

Let the power of my words...sink into your soul.

Origin: Unable to determine due to his ability to reincarnate

First Appearance: Soulcalibur III (2005)

Weapon: Kafziel, a scythe

Fighting Style: Self-taught

Height: 183cm (6'0")

Weight: 81kg (179lbs)

Blood Type: B

Alignment: Neutral

Relationships: None

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

The sole surviving member of the Guardians of the Spirit Sword, a clan of sages tasked with guarding Soul Calibur. Zasalamel's skill as a warrior was unparalleled, but his arrogance saw him crippled and exiled for breaking the laws of his clan. Mastering magic, he attained a form of immortality through reincarnation; and seeks Soul Edge and Soul Calibur for his own enigmatic purposes.

Zasalamel revolves around using his attacks that control the positioning of his 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 the attacks are relatively quick, his speed is below average, making him a rather advanced character. In this game, his Power of the Void and Time Master abilities are realized, as he gains a new trait where he places up to three curses on his opponent, which are marked as dark purple orbs circling them, and the player can then expend them to temporarily freeze time to their advantage. In Season 2, Zasalamel can now use the applied curse orbs in another way - by causing them to explode.

---

• Adaptational Early Appearance: Zasalamel didn't debut until III in the original timeline, and it wasn't until then that he stepped out of the shadows and made his presence known. In VI, which focuses mainly on the I-era, he has a role in the overall story about four years sooner than he did before. Being an immortal, enigmatic Chessmaster who operates in the shadows definitely helps sell the plausibility of this. This isn't a coincidence.
• Adaptational Heroism: Thanks to the vision — possible from his future self — Zasalamel decides to abandon his plan to end his immortality and lead humanity into a glorious new future. However, his new plan requires him to obtain the power of both Soul Edge and Soul Calibur, implying he'll still resurrect Nightmare to restore Soul Edge.
• Adaptation Personality Change: Contrary to his initial appearance, Zasalamel in this game is no longer a Death Seeker, instead skipping straight to "wanting to see the future unfold" like how he is in IV.
• Adaptation Origin Connection: In the New Timeline, Zasalamel is revealed to have once been a wielder of Soul Edge a millennia ago and thus making him a predecessor to Nightmare. While this was the case in the Original Timeline, it was only mentioned in the New Legends of Project Soul databook.
• Ambiguously Evil: It's really hard to tell if he's good or evil, as he kinda swings in between with plans that aren't necessarily good for others but have good intentions as a whole. He can come across as a villain, but there are clear-cut villains like Nightmare and Azwel, while Zasalamel is completely enigmatic. Worth noting, he manipulates heroes and villains all the same.
• Badass Fingersnap: His Critical Edge has him finishing his opponent off with a magical snap of his fingers.
• Bald Mystic: Not a hair on his head, and he's a brilliant, immortal sorcerer.
• Big Good: In Libra of Soul, where he saves your life at the beginning and covertly helps out on your quest to defeat Azwel.
• Bond One-Liner: "Just as it is written..."
• Born-Again Immortality: In his arrogant youth, Zasalamel sought to become immortal and ended up with the ability to reincarnate. As such, he's lived countless lives as both men and women over thousands of years.
• Breaking the Fourth Wall: Will say "Wise choice" to the player after being picked on the character select screen.
• The Chessmaster: Zasalamel, in his quest to die, is carefully monitoring and manipulating events from behind the scenes — paying particularly close attention to the Aval Organization and Azwel's research into Soul Edge and Soul Calibur. After running into Geralt and discovering that inter-dimensional travel is possible, Zasalamel muses that he'll need to alter his plans.
• Cold Ham: Zasalamel's very stoic even when shouting, but his dialogue is so grandiose all the time that he chews the scenery anyway.
  "Let the power of my words... sink into your soul!"
• Composite Character: Zasalamel's new design and move set in VI is a combination of his own and that of his boss form Abyss. He specifically cites that his magical abilities are tapping into "the power of the Abyss".
• The Constant: He has two throughout every reincarnation: the first is his glowing golden eye, which contains his soul; the second is his scythe Kafziel, which he always hides away when one incarnation is about to die so that the next can retrieve it.
• Costume Porn: His costume in VI is no slouch, combining aspects of both his III and IV outfits to create a more complete mysterious sorcerer look.
• Creepy Good: Unlike his first appearance in the original timeline, where he was the Big Bad, Zasalamel seems to have mostly benevolent intentions this time around. However, he's still rather aloof and sinister and he's not very forthcoming about his plans to the other characters.
• Death Seeker: By the time of VI, he's been sick of his Born-Again Immortality for centuries and has been trying to find a way of dying for good. Subverted on his secret chapter however as he saw a vision of the future, possibly from his future self, that motivates him to continue living
• Dreaming of Things to Come: It is implied on his secret chapter that he saw a vision from his future self about the events of the third game onward, allowing him to enact his plans much earlier than in the original timeline.
• The Exile: He was cast out of the Guardians of the Spirit Sword for daring to try to wield Soul Calibur himself, obtained Born-Again Immortality, and spent millennia Walking the Earth.
• Foil: To Azwel, the other sorcerer on the roster. While both are powerful magic wielders with mysterious backgrounds and grand ambitions, they differ greatly in their personalities, fighting styles, and motivations. Zasalamel is cold, stoic, and mysterious, with his overarching goals unknown but possibly benevolent, and most of his dialogue is terse and cryptic. Azwel, on the other hand, is a flamboyant Large Ham who wants to kill most of the human race and rule over the remainder as a god, and loves the sound of his own voice so much that he literally has the longest win quote in the whole series. Zasalamel's fighting style is based largely around controlling the movement of his opponent, with his scythe being capable of pulling them in or pushing them away depending on the situation, while his curses are used to briefly freeze time and give him openings to inflict massive damage. Azwel, on the other hand, is based more around Confusion Fu, with his multiple weapons and stances making him difficult to read and allowing him to overwhelm his opponent with disorienting mix-ups.
• For Want Of A Nail: Him becoming active two games earlier chronologically and writing records about the two Soul swords after the events of Soul Edge occur causes the flow of time to change, resulting in the events of Soulcalibur VI deviating to a certain extent from those of the original Soulcalibur. It is likely that the choice to record his own history stemmed from receiving a vision of the future, possibly from his original timeline counterpart. Notably, that same vision has also changed his motivations completely, going from being a Death Seeker as he was in III to wanting to see the future and having renewed purpose in IV.
• Gameplay and Story Integration: The magical aspects of his character were largely glossed over as far as gameplay was concerned in III and IV. Here, some of his moves, including his Critical Edge, make explicit use of sorcery.
• Genius Bruiser: Zasalamel may be one of the most powerful fighters on the roster, possessing great magical abilities that involve time and the void, and that's just some of what he's capable of, not to mention that as an immortal who's lived for many millennia, he kinda has the edge on the others in terms of experience. He also possesses great intelligence, is a master manipulator, and knows how to play the long game, to the point where for all of his power, his mind may be an even greater weapon.
• Immortality Hurts: Every time he dies, he feels like his soul is being crushed and torn to pieces. This is why he's discontent with his immortality. Initially, at least. Rather, he's discontent with reincarnation specifically as a form of immortality, and now wants the real deal.
• In the Hood: His hood adds further his enigmatic nature.
• Interchangeable Asian Cultures: Or in Zasalamel's case, Middle Eastern. His moves are all named after Babylonian deities, his attire gives off ancient Egyptian vibes, and his name sounds very Hebrew. More justifiable than other examples, as his eternal reincarnation means he's probably lived in all of these cultures.
• Kung-Fu Wizard: Just because he's skilled with magic doesn't mean he needs it to kick your ass.
• Leaning on the Fourth Wall: His quote when selected as the player character seems addressed to you: "Wise choice."
• Light Is Good:
  • Or Light Is Not Good, depending on what his plans currently involve, but it tips more towards the former, as he seems to mostly have benevolent intentions this time around. In regards to his appearance, he dresses in an intricate white outfit and is the only male to use the holy modifier for his Soul Charge.
  • It's worth noting, however, he uses the Power of the Void instead.
• Living Forever Is Awesome: He sees the advantages to his immortality upon seeing visions from the future, to which he decides he must live through to see humanity evolve.
• Locked Out of the Loop: Inverted. Zasalamel is one of only two people, the other being Cassandra, that we know has any idea of the Original Timeline and how to prevent the Bad Future from happening.
• Mechanically Unusual Fighter: One of Zasalamel's "kick" attacks isn't a kick at all. Rather, this command will have Zasalamel cast up to three curses on his opponent, which circles around them as dark purple orbs. You can then cash in on it to temporarily freeze time and gain a major opportunity to attack, if executed right. Patch 1.30 also added a Soul Charge move that allows him to fire a curse at the enemy as a projectile.
• Mind over Matter: His Soul Charge gives some of his attacks the ability to levitate the opponent in the air before slamming them back down to the ground, doing greatly increased damage.
• Mr. Exposition: His Chronicle of Soul consists solely of him expositing on the lore of the Soul series, under the pretense of writing it down in a memoir. It also consists of him possibly learning about the events of the future in his secret chapter.
• Parts Unknown: Was born in an unknown civilization thousands of years ago and has continuously reincarnated since. That said, it's implied that he's from ancient Sumer or Babylon, as most of his moves are named after Mesopotamian deities.
• Power of the Void: VI finally shows that this is the sort of magic that Zasalamel is capable of. The power of the Abyss not only allows him to conjure vortexes and black holes, but also gives him command over the flow of time.
• Predecessor Villain: A thousand years before the events of Soulcalibur VI, Zasalamel became a host of Soul Edge and fought in an age of endless war until that body perished, though he ended up establishing a certain unnamed dynasty.
• Purple Is Powerful: His curses and other magic effects are dark purple in color.
• Reincarnation: Rather than just straight Immortality, the key to Zasalamel's long-lived existence is his golden eye; a Soul Jar that protects his memories and personality, with his body dying through the process of normal aging. He is then reborn as an infant and must live another lifetime with his memories of all previous lives intact. In the original canon this gets a bit old and he starts looking for a way to just die for good (before having an epiphany and deciding he needs to live on to see the progress of mankind). The new story has him once again seeking to break his endless cycle of reincarnation, hoping to exploit Azwel's research into Soul Edge and Soul Calibur in order to do so. Unlike the original canon, this time he skips straight to having the desire to achieve true immortality without the need to reincarnate in order to watch history unfold.
• Ripple-Effect-Proof Memory: In his secret final chapter, Zasalamel confirms he's receiving memories from the future, which causes to change his plans entirely before ever trying to become a Death Seeker.
• Scary Black Man: Par for the course, he's a black man who maintains a large and intimidating presence.
• Sequel Hook: His main purpose of being in the game story-wise is to lead into a sequel, and diverges the otherwise near-perfect timeline by confirming that this is, in fact, a hard reboot.
• Sinister Scythe: His weapon of choice, befitting his Death and Time motif. His fighting style makes extensive use of the "hooking" function of the scythe, focusing on his ability to yank his opponent closer and force them to fight right next to him in order to crowd out their options.
• Superpowered Evil Side: His Museum profile mentions he keeps a "terrifying abyssal form" — a Continuity Nod to his Abyss form from Soulcalibur III — locked and hidden within himself, only unleashing it when he finds himself backed into a corner.
• Technicolor Magic: His magical effects are colored dark purple.
• Time Abyss: His origins date back many, many thousands of years. Due to his ability to reincarnate (with his gold eye being a Soul Jar of sorts that maintains his existence and memories through countless rebirths) his actual origin is lost to the annals of time. In the original continuity Zasalamel's story was closely intertwined with Algol, whose own history has been lost through the centuries, but is suspected to be Babylonian or Sumerian.
• Time Master: His ability to control time is fully realized, as seen in his critical edge, where he completely stops time to freeze his opponent in place, before slashing them in half with his scythe.
• Vocal Evolution: Keith Silverstein has come a long way since first voicing Zasalamel in III, and it shows in VI. One would almost think he had a different voice entirely.
• Walking Spoiler: His appearance in this game and his full Soul Chronicle give away that this is a completely different timeline than the first six games.
• Who Wants to Live Forever?: Not Zasalamel! He has dedicated himself to breaking himself free from the cycle of reincarnation and truly die. Until he saw a vision of the future, possibly from his future self, inspiring him to keep living so he can see it.

Amy Sorel

Winter Rose

Hope only brings disappointment. I know this, and yet...I live, so as not to lose.

Origin: Rouen, Kingdom of France

First Appearance: Soulcalibur III (2005)

Weapon: Albion, a rapier

Fighting Style: Modified la Rapiere des Sorel, plus natural intuition

Height: 140cm (4'7")

Weight: 36kg (79lbs)

Blood Type: Unknown

Alignment: Neutral/Good

Relationships: Raphael, foster father; real parents unknown

Voiced by: Hitomi Nabatame (Japanese), Heather Watson (English)

Born into poverty and without parents, Amy grew up cynical and disillusioned with society until one fateful day when she saved the life of the betrayed nobleman Raphael Sorel. In gratitude, Raphael adopted her and in time, gave her a new home and a new life she had never known before. However, just as quickly as her life had changed, Raphael suddenly left on a journey to find the cursed sword Soul Edge. Lonely in the world once again, Amy decided to embark on a journey of her own, to be with her beloved foster father.

Amy plays like a smaller, faster but weaker Raphael, while taking some inspiration from Arcade Edition. To further distinguish her from her adoptive father, Amy has a unique meter called the Abandonment Level. Certain moves will raise the level higher, and once full, the player can cash in on it to achieve a devastating attack. It should be noted that this is altogether separate from her Soul Gauge, which she also has. Amy is one of the faster characters in the game, but her reach is practically stubby and without roses her damage output is quite low too.

---

• A-Cup Angst: When taunting the especially busty characters, namely Ivy, Taki and Sophitia, she will sigh and ask them if their back hurts.
• Adaptation Origin Connection: Amy has a connection to newcomer Azwel, which hints at him playing a role in her becoming Viola later on. It turns out that Azwel is the creator of the Quattuor Orbis, Viola's weapon in V. The orb is used to read a person's soul, and changes color depending on the contents. Amy's color is violet.
• Age-Inappropriate Dress: While Amy's age is unspecified, she's in her early-to-mid teens at the oldest. As always, her attire is childish yet revealing, having a young girl's dress theme but featuring heels, Stocking Filler, and a Cleavage Window.
  • With the character customization tools, you can dress Amy in any of the women's outfits. So she can have Sophitia's plunging neckline, 2B's thong leotard, or you can just have her fight in her bra and panties.
• Ascended Extra: Around the time of Soulcalibur II, Amy is just motivation for Raphael's goal to seek Soul Edge. Here, it's shown how much being Raphael's adopted daughter affected her to the point where at the end of her chapter, she decided to go off on a journey much earlier than the original timeline to prevent Raphael from destroying himself due to his plan to create the perfect world for her.
• Antagonistic Offspring: By the end of her story, she becomes a downplayed example to Raphael. She is by no means hostile towards him, but she is opposed to his plans to create a perfect world, if only because there's a good chance he could die or suffer another horrible fate in the process, which would ruin the stable life they've built for themselves. Raphael isn't aware of how Amy feels yet, though.
• Awesome, but Impractical: An Amy fully stocked on White and Red Roses is indisputably the most powerful character in SoulCalibur VI, but due to the sheer impracticality and difficulty of consistently achieving this feat (not helped by the technicality of obtaining White Roses), most players settle for one or the other instead.
• Badass Adorable: She's competing with Talim as the token young girl who can kick serious backside.
• Badass Normal: No apparent magic here, just her swordsmanship!
• Because You Were Nice to Me: Raphael's devotion to Amy started because she was the sole person who aided him in his greatest time of need. Everyone else Raphael had known, including his own family and most trusted associates, betrayed him to further their own goals. Ironically, Amy only helped him to troll the authorities, but this single act gave birth to his Undying Loyalty to her. In turn, Raphael became the only person Amy has ever trusted or opened her heart to, because he's willing to sacrifice everything for her wellbeing and happiness.
• Bond One-Liner: Depends on the opponent.
  • "I live, so as not to lose." (normally)
  • "I will not be anyone's puppet." (against Azwel)
  • "Raphael, I told you not to hold back." (against Raphael)
• Cleavage Window: Amy's dress is just shy of a Navel-Deep Neckline; being almost-completely open at the front from just below her neckline to her waist — only stopping right below her exposed navel — and held together by laces.
• Combat Stilettos: Her dress includes a pair of heels.
• Coming of Age Story: Her Soul Chronicle in a nutshell. In the ending, she gains the resolve necessary to follow Raphael and prevent his malfestation into a vampire, accompanied by her maid Maelys.
• Composite Character: While she's Amy, some design aspects were taken from Viola such as the lolita attire with Stocking Filler. Which adds to the implications that she and Viola are the same person.
• The Cynic: Living a lonely life of destitution made her a slight nihilist. Until Amy found a kindred spirit in Raphael, she trusted no one and preferred to be left in solitude.
• Dance Battler: Her fighting style incorporates a lot of ballet moves, in addition to her rose motif.
• Defrosting Ice Queen: Only for Raphael. She remains distant and detached from everyone else. He's the only person she knows will never betray her, and vice versa.
• Divergent Character Evolution: Her style has undergone a noticeable overhaul from IV. Though still based on Raphael's style of fencing, Amy's moveset is now a mix of the unique moves she had in IV and, in a shocking surprise, the special moveset she had in III: Arcade Edition, a version of the game no one ever believed would be referenced moving forward.
• Elegant Gothic Lolita: She wears an elegant black and red dress with a rose motif.
• The Exile: Spent several years in Spain, where she learned fencing alongside Raphael, before returning to France.
• Even Evil Has Standards: Is repulsed by Azwel's fixation on her, and makes this clear during their pre-match dialogue.
  • In Libra of Soul, when Raphael poisoned The Conduit (who earlier saved her life) to try and force the latter to serve him, Amy told him to knock it off and let The Conduit go.
• Final Boss: From version 1.30 until 1.50, she became this in Normal difficulty Arcade Mode.
• Flower Motif: Red Roses, to contrast Mi-na's pink ones. It's much more obvious, however.
• Handicapped Badass: A mild example with Raphael mentioning that Amy has an "uncurable injury" on her left leg and it's affected her mobility; presumably it's related to the large scar on her left shin mentioned under Beauty Is Never Tarnished. As such, she had to modify Raphael's fencing style to fit her shortcomings with mobility.
• Happily Adopted: A street urchin who was adopted by Raphael, she serves as his Morality Pet.
• Ice Queen: She's cold to just about everyone but Raphael, and thinks little of everyone else.
• It Amused Me: Amy outright admitted she only pointed the guards away from Raphael's direction just to annoy them, not because she actually cared about Raphael's safety. Still, he greatly appreciated the act to say the least.
• Kicking Ass in All Her Finery: She can fight with the best of them, even while in a very detailed dress complete with Combat Stilettos.
• Lady of War: Elegant and refined in her style.
• Laser-Guided Amnesia: Azwel does something to her using the Quattuor Orbis that erases all but the faintest traces of his existence from her memory. It's heavily implied she is now a Manchurian Agent of some kind, given Azwel's statement that he intended to "make her his little doll".
• Little Miss Badass: Was fighting off assassins, alone and alongside Raphael, when she was just a little girl.
• Little Miss Snarker: Has possessed a sharp tongue ever since she was a child, often calling Raphael "dummy."
• Mechanically Unusual Fighter: Amy has a meter called the "Abandonment Level". She has certain moves that raise it higher, and she can build this up to unleash a very powerful attack and improve most of her combos and counter attacks. This is separate from her Soul Gauge, and said attack is not tied to it, effectively giving her multiple Limit Breaks from unrelated sources. The battle director even compared this to playing cards, where you lay your cards out early, and then build up to strong card finish to secure victory.
• Morality Pet: Basically the only person Raphael doesn't show contempt towards.
• Musical Spoiler: The theme that plays when Amy fights Azwel in her Soul Chronicle is "Dance of the Oracle", a theme associated with Viola, hinting that the two are the same character.
• Mythology Gag: As a bonus, she also comes with her IV outfit. In addition, there are numerous hints throughout her story that Amy is, or may become, Viola.
• No Indoor Voice: For Amy, this trope is how she sees Mitsurugi and Siegfried. Her special taunt against them has her say "You're too loud."
• Orgasmic Combat: Squickily, Amy's voiceover uniquely changes to a sexual tone when on low health.
• Parental Abandonment: She doesn't even know who her biological parents are.
• Pint-Sized Powerhouse: Even shorter than Talim, being only 4'6" without heels.
• Please, Don't Leave Me: Confesses this to herself, admitting she's afraid of Raphael leaving and never coming back.
• Rags to Riches: A once-abused street urchin who doesn't even know her own biological parents, she would get a taste of the finer life once Raphael adopted her and then gained Lord Dumas' riches.
• Royal Rapier: Raphael trained Amy in the art of fencing, and her weapon of choice is a black rapier with a thorny hilt.
• She Cleans Up Nicely: From street urchin to being well-fed and sheltered, her appearance definitely improves over time.
• Something about a Rose: Her Critical Edge shows roses, matching her red hair.
• Stocking Filler: A new addition to her costume is her rose-patterned nylon thigh high stockings.
• Tsundere: Towards Raphael, getting annoyed when he says she should call him "Father." Despite that, she's come to accept that Raphael is her father and she doesn't want to lose him.
• Two Aliases, One Character: Hinted. It is all but confirmed in Amy's story that she is the same person as Viola from V.
• When She Smiles: Amy gives a little smile and asks for some hot chocolate from Raphael if she defeats him in a match.

Hildegard "Hilde" von Krone

Defender of the Kingdom

Neither my people nor I will waver!

Origin: Stolzstadt, Wolfkrone Kingdom (Germany) ^note The Wolfkrone Kingdom (although fictional) is similar to the many small principalities and regions that formed part of the larger Holy Roman Empire at the time the series is set. The capital, Stolzstadt, means “Proud City” in German.

First Appearance: Soulcalibur IV (2008)

Fighting Style: Groß Erbschaft

Height: 158cm (5'2")

Weight: 50kg (110lbs)

Blood Type: AB

Alignment: Good

Relationships: George von Krone, father; Dietrende, mother (deceased); Alfred, older brother (deceased); Wilhelm von Krone, cousin and betrothed

Weapon: Glänzende Nova & Frischer Himmel, a short sword & spear

Voiced by: Yuko Kaida (Japanese), Julie Ann Taylor (English)

When Siegfried became Nightmare, the phenomenon known as the Evil Seed began to spread across the world, infecting all blanketed beneath its accursed energy. One such place affected by the seed was the kingdom of Wolfkrone, whose king was driven insane under its thrall and turned into a Malfested, rendering him no longer fit to rule. Left with no other option, the young princess Hildegard von Krone was forced to take her father's place as acting ruler and had to lock him away until a cure could be found for his Malfestation. To make matters worse, Nightmare had begun a campaign of death, chaos, and destruction across Europe, adding those he slaughtered to his accursed legion of Malfested. With the imminent threat closing in on her kingdom, Hilde readies herself to fight for her people and defend her kingdom from evil.

Hilde once again has her trademark style centered around keeping foes at bay with her lance or striking them with her sword. Her attacks can be charged in order to power them up with different properties and higher damage. A new addition is she has a Regalia Arts state which is achieved after using a charge attack, powering up either of her weapons and can even maintain both states at once. This gives her access to even more techniques for big damage. Primarily, Hilde plays as a turtler who punishes whiffs with strong attacks, but she can be vulnerable to attacks up close, and to throws as well due to the nature of her charge-based style.

---

• Adaptational Early Appearance: Hilde and Wolfkrone first appear in Soulcalibur IV, with her backstory having her hunting for Nightmare after the Evil Seed devastated her kingdom. In VI, Wolfkrone is name-dropped in Nightmare's Soul Chronicle as one of the kingdoms he's attacked; while Hilde's Soul Chronicle shows the beginning of her crusade against Nightmare, with her even kitting herself out in her classic outfit from IV at the end.
• Adaptation Origin Connection: In the New Timeline, Grøh, a character who didn't exist before, was the one who discovered Hilde's father as a malfested. It is also revealed that Wolfkrone has strong ties to the Aval Organization — likely due to Wolfkrone's founder having been a wielder of Soul Calibur.
• Ancestral Weapon: Her sword and lance are also part of the regalia of Wolfkrone.
• Animal Motifs: The wolf, as shown on her armor and lance. Her nation's name is even German for "Wolf Crown." She compares herself to one during her Critical Edge.
  Hilde: "The wolf claws! It bites! It tears asunder!"
• Badass Longcoat: Wears a red, fur-lined surcoat emblazoned with wolves.
• Battle Couple: At the end of her Soul Chronicle, with her fiancé Wilhelm for their last stand against the traitorous malfested former allies.
• Bling of War: Her armor is gold-plated. At the end of her Soul Chronicle she switches them out for her classic set of silver armor.
• Blue Blood: As a princess, she ranks highest of all the characters on a social level, followed closely by Ivy, a countess. Raphael is also stated to be nobility, but his rank within the French peerage is never specified.
• Bond One-Liner: Has two.
  • "Consider this loss... an honor."
  • "Ahem. I rather enjoy that." (against Grøh)
• Breast Plate: Unlike her more modest outfits in previous entries, Hilde's default outfit has a cuirass that emphasizes her bust. Her classic look from Soul Calibur IV is available as an alternate costume, however, and she switches to it at the end of her Soul Chronicle.
• Charged Attack: Her primary gimmick uses the Hold style of charge. By holding down either horizontal or vertical attack buttons she can release up to four different levels of charged attack depending on how long it was charged.
• A Child Shall Lead Them: Tragically she was forced to lead the country far earlier than she ever should have been made to.
• Combat Stilettos: A feature of her new outfit. Interestingly, this is in a game where she is a bit shorter than her debut height of 160 cm.
• Cool Crown: She trades in her previously lupine helmet for a a simple, but regal, golden tiara.
• Cool Helmet: Her classic set has a helmet shaped liked a wolf's head.
• Deliberate Values Dissonance : Hilde ends up married to Wilhelm, her cousin. A concept some may find uncomfortable, but remember this is a story set in a small country in Europe in the 16th Century. Also, it's not uncommon in Japan.
• Distinguishing Mark: Her beauty mark under her lip, unlike other characters' skin markings, is exclusive to her and cannot be used by custom characters.
• Fictional Country: Unlike most of the other combatants, Hilde hails from the "Kingdom of Wolfkrone"; a small, made-up monarchy situated on the border between the Kingdom of France and the Holy Roman Empire. However, the general style of Wolfkrone hearkens to several small Germanic territories of the time that did actually exist.
• Fiery Redhead: Zigzagged. She shows herself to be very level headed when leading her kingdom and coming up with strategies for the warriors under her command. Also, while fierce in combat, she isn't as Hot-Blooded as other fighters on the roster. However, her plan to use herself as bait to lure out Johan Durer gets her to be called "reckless".
• Final Boss: She serves this trope via version 2.00.
• Flower Motifs: The Lily of the Valley, shown on Wolfkrone's coat of arms, that represents the return of happiness. Alternatively they're called Mary's Tears and said to have sprung from the tears shed by the Virgin Mary at the Crucifixion of Christ.
• Frontline General: Commander of the armies of Wolfkrone as well as their greatest warrior.
• Helmets Are Hardly Heroic: For once she goes without a helmet, instead wearing her tiara until the end of her Soul Chronicle.
• The High Queen: While Hilde is officially still just a princess, she definitely acts the part of her nation's monarch — ruling in place of her Malfested father.
• Jeanne d'Archétype: She's the Soul series' very own version.
• Kicking Ass in All Her Finery: She's fighting in full regalia fitted for battle.
• Kissing Cousins: While initially they act as just friendly rival warriors then later as mere trusty kingdom regent and her general, at the end of Hilde’s Soul Chronicle she is teased about how diligent her fiancé has been about securing provisions for their kingdom, Hilde blushes after being told love may be blooming between her and Wilhelm, her cousin and promised hand.
• Lady of War: Hilde is a princess but also a warrior. She even curtsies before battle.
• Mad Woman In The Attic: Her father, King George von Krone, is kept locked away in the highest tower of the Royal castle, having been corrupted by the Evil Seed.
• Meaningful Name: Her full name is derived from Old Germanic words hild and gard, meaning battle and protection respectively.
• Mechanically Unusual Fighter: Hilde has access to Regalia Arts, a state where either her lance or sword are powered up (though she can maintain both states at once) and can use more powerful techniques. To access them Hilde needs to use her charge attacks, meaning the player needs to think about whether to focus on her long-range lance attacks or short-range sword attacks.
• Micro Monarchy: Wolfkrone is a small kingdom that sits between the borders of France and the Holy Roman Empire.
• Missing Mom: Her mother, Queen Dietrinde, and older brother, Prince Alfred, died of illness when Hilde was young, leaving her as the Kingdom's only direct heir.
• Ms. Fanservice: Heavily downplayed compared to the other female characters. While she is a stunningly beautiful woman, her outfit, despite being formfitting in the chest area, is not sexualized and it covers up her body more than any of the other female characters’, with the only character who can match her modesty being Setsuka in her default outfit.
• Multi-Melee Master: Hilde covers both short and long-range engagements with a short sword in her right hand and a long polearm in her left.
• Mythology Gag:
  • As child, she wears a brilliant blue dress that's clearly modeled after her 2P design from Soulcalibur IV.
  • At the end of her Soul Chronicle she wears her classic set from her debut.
• Patriotic Fervor: She is a proud patriot of her kingdom, and seeks to avenge the depredations wrought upon it by Nightmare and his Malfested.
  Hilde: "Neither my people nor I will waver!"
• Playing with Fire: During her Critical Edge she grinds her sword against the haft of her lance, using the friction to ignite both weapons.
• Pretty in Mink: Her coat has fur trim.
• Princesses Rule: A justified example. She was forced to take up ruling Wolfkrone after her father went mad.
• Rank Scales with Asskicking: The princess of Wolfkrone and also its greatest warrior. Oddly, she doesn't consider herself strong and worthy enough to wield the Glänzende Nova and the Frischer Himmel, believing Wilhelm to be the strongest fighter in the kingdom.
• Rebellious Princess: When she was young she would often skip her studies to walk among the commonwealth.
• Revenge: As in the original timeline, she seeks vengeance against Nightmare for having attacked her kingdom and turned her father into a Malfested.
• Royals Who Actually Do Something: She personally goes out into the fray despite being the ruler of a kingdom.
• Token Wholesome: As usual, Hilde is completely covered in both her default and alternate outfits. It goes to show that Hotter and Sexier for her is simply not having a helmet and wearing a form-fitting suit of armor.
• Tough Leader Façade: Her premature ascension to the throne visibly weighs on her as the story progresses. Though she strives to keep the image of a headstrong and capable ruler, Hilde is troubled by her father's malfestation and her own wish to surpass him. Wilhelm even states she should be allowed to follow her heart for once.
• The Von Trope Family: As a Germanic woman of high rank, she bears the surname Von Krone - literally “of the crown.” This means her name, roughly translated from old German, is Battlefield of the Crown.
• Warrior Princess: As the Princess of Wolfkrone, she had to step up to the throne and lead her kingdom both as a monarch and a warrior after King George became a Malfested. As she has been training for combat since her teenage years, even winning a sparring match against Wilhelm, we see that "badass" part has always been there.
• Wearing a Flag on Your Head: A variation. She wields the flag of th Wolfkrone Kingdom in her spear, Frischer Himmel.
• Wise Beyond Her Years: Even as a child she showed incredible insight and will, with even adults speaking to her as an equal.
• Younger than She Looks: Just like her fellow German Siegfried, it's easy to confuse her for someone much older. For most of the story she's just a teenager!

New Characters

Grøh

The Agent in Black

My mission is what matters, not you.

Origin: Norway, Kingdom of Denmark-Norway ^note At the time the series is set, the Kingdom of Norway was essentially a Puppet State, due to being in a Real Union with the more powerful Kingdom of Denmark, and wasn’t yet an independent nation.

First Appearance: Soulcalibur VI (2018)

Weapon: Aerondight Replica, a double sabre

Fighting Style: Aval dual-swordsmanship

Height: 181cm (5'11")

Weight: 82kg (181lbs)

Blood Type: A

Alignment: Good

Relationships: Curtis, best friend (deceased); Orzal, master (deceased), Hildegard von Krone, friend

Voiced by: Takahiro Sakurai (Japanese), Xander Mobus (English)

A stern warrior clad in black. He serves a mysterious group known as the “Aval Organisation”, an organisation based out of Denmark, whose mission is to rid the world of “Outsiders” — those connected with the cursed sword. Hailing from Norway, which was under Danish dominion at the time, he represents the first Nordic character in the series.

Grøh is a balanced fighter who can deal moderate damage at any range, and has great mix-up options available. The nature of his Double Weapon means he can use it as a single weapon or as two smaller weapons via his Innocent Draw stance. His Soul Charge turns him into a Lightning Bruiser engine of destruction, and during Innocent Draw in this state he can freely teleport. Overall, a solid beginner-friendly character for players who believe the best defence is a strong offence.

---

• Achey Scars: Grøh invokes this when his malfestation starts acting up, claiming that the wounds Nightmare dealt him are causing him pain.
• Adaptation Origin Connection:
  • It was Grøh and Curtis who discovered King George of Wolfkrone as a malfested and brought Hilde up to speed on the dangers of Soul Edge.
  • In Grøh Side Story 1 which is available in Soul Chronicle for free after Update 2.20, it is revealed that Grøh saved Maxi's unconscious body from being taken by some malfested, and his body ended up taken by the river, with Grøh expecting his circumstances will allow him to be rescued by someone along the river eventually.
• Animal Motifs: Not him in particular, but the Aval Organisation symbol shows a Lion.
• Anime Hair: Sports silvery gray hair flecked with blue at the fringe. In his alternate costume the fringes are gold-colored, and in his Super Mode they turn red.
• Arch-Enemy: Azwel is particularly his biggest nemesis during the events of his story mode and in Libra of Soul. Nightmare, his would-be killer, is also one to an extent.
• Badass Boast: In one of his intros.
  Grøh: Do not hold back. However, I will.
• Badass Normal: This was deconstructed as, prior to becoming a malfested, he ends up being nearly murdered by the magically enhanced Nightmare who stomps him with ease.
• Bifurcated Weapon: Grøh's weapon of choice is a pair of swords that combine at the hilts to form a single weapon.
• Bond One-Liner: "Atone for the sin of weakness."
• Butt-Monkey: A dramatic example caused by bad luck. Almost everything that happens in his story ends with him with another big problem. And that's before he becomes a fully malfested in Libra of Soul.
• Calling Your Attacks: Invoked in-universe, no less! Grøh believes that the techniques that the Aval Organization uses should be passed down to future generations, and thus gave his techniques names based upon the group's history. It's mentioned that he actually shouts his attack names in the presence of his allies to inspire them. In Season 2, his dialogue has been updated to call out even more of his move names.
• Comic-Book Fantasy Casting: With his icy-blue eyes, tousled hair and intense, stern looks, he bears a striking resemblance to actor Dane DeHaan.◊
• Character Development: It's subtle, but it's there; in the beginning, he's incredibly aloof and doesn't have a particularly good opinion towards The Conduit, only enlisting them as they prove to be useful for closing the Astral Fissures, but he begins to slowly see them as a genuinely good person rather than just a tool, moreso if he survives the final battle, which he'll be much warmer after being reverted back to human.
• Chekhov's Gunman: The Aval Organization is stated to have been founded by the vassals of an ancient king who wielded Soul Calibur and with his dying breath entrusted them with the destruction of Soul Edge. The wielder turned out to be King Arthur as revealed in the History section who gave the fragment of Soul Calibur to Sir Bedivere who became the founder of the Aval Organization.
• The Comically Serious: Shouts the name of his attacks a lot to inspire his comrades, despite such a practice being potentially rather silly.
• Confusion Fu: Not so much in normal mode, but when in Soul Charge his ability to teleport in any direction is definitely this. Not only is he stronger and faster, but the inherent ability to keep his opponent always guessing and off-balance is also important in making the most out of the mode.
• Cutting Off the Branches: Hwang's Soul Chronicle reveals that the Aval Organization is looking for a cure for Grøh's condition, making the good ending of Libra of Soul where he survives his fight against the Conduit canon.
• Dark Is Not Evil: He looks sinister, and is undoubtedly something of a cold, uncompromising zealot, but he’s actually part of an organisation that directly opposes anyone connected to the cursed sword Soul Edge. He also has a Red-ish Purple aura in Soul Charge Mode , due to his Malfestation.
• Double Weapon: His Aval Twinblade weapon, the Arondight Replica, can best be described as two swords fused at the hilt, though they can be separated.
• Dying as Yourself: This could be one of the two outcomes of the final boss fight with Grøh as he manages to return to his senses at the last moment to deliver a final apology.
• Empowered Badass Normal: Originally, Grøh had no mystical abilities but was still a very capable warrior. After his fight with Nightmare, his malfestation and experimentation by Azwel granted him the ability to use the Outsider power as his own, greatly increasing his ability to go toe to toe with powerful fighters and creatures on equal footing.
• Eye Patch Of Power: Part of his uniform as an agent of the Aval Organization, he wears a sinister looking patch over his left eye, from which emits an eerie glow.
• Fights Like a Normal: Whenever he isn't using his powers, due to being Willfully Weak. Whenever he goes straight to his Soul Charge mode, such as trying to fight Azwel, you know he means business.
• Final Boss:
  • Of the main story in "Libra of Soul" mode, due to his Superpowered Evil Side taking control after trying to give Azwel a Disney Villain Death.
  • He's also this in Hard Difficulty Arcade Mode. Curiously, unlike the other final bosses, he can be fought in the lower difficulties as a normal foe as well.
• Foil:
  • To Kilik. Both have distinct similarities but are very different in terms of personality.
    • Both have a Superpowered Evil Side, with Kilik becoming a powerful Glass Cannon and Grøh being a less powerful but faster and less risky Lightning Bruiser. Both of them hate this mode as well and only channel it as a last resort.
    • Both are long ranged fighters with otherwise balanced stats, on top of using rod-style weapons. However, Kilik uses a staff while Grøh uses a double saber.
    • Both were forced to kill a close friend after they became Malfested. (Xianglian in Kilik's case, Curtis in Grøh's case.)
    • Kilik is associated with the color red while Grøh is associated with the color blue.
    • Kilik is an important character in the Soul Chronicle while Grøh is an important character in Libra of Soul.
    • What separates the two is that Kilik is The Hero, and a gentle soul who only fights to protect others. Grøh is also a hero, but is more of a cold and merciless zealot who lives for exterminating outsiders.
  • Similar to Mi-na, Grøh was bested by one of the "big four" (Ivy and Nightmare, respectively). He's also quite sore about it, though he doesn't show it as much. Grøh also gains manifested powers again his will upon nearly being killed while Mi-na stays normal.
• Foreshadowing: One of the sidequests has you put in a sparring match against him when he uses his Soul Charge permanently. Said mechanic is usually reserved for a Final Boss.
• Heävy Mëtal Ümlaut: He’s Norwegian, and his name features a Norwegian/Danish "slashed o" — Ø — though the name itself doesn't make complete sense in either of those languages. The nearest equivalent would be something like "Grøholt", which is a perfectly regular Norwegian name, so he may have simply shortened it, or it could also be a translation error, as the name makes more sense without the 'h' at the end — "Grø" is a Norwegian surname, as well as a place-name.
• Hero Antagonist: Like Taki, he hunts down Kilik in the main story in Soul Chronicle. Unlike Taki, he's a bit more willing to help once he sees Kilik's goal by leading them to Nightmare, though he leaves to do other things after that.
• Hunter of His Own Kind: Even after being malfested, he doesn't hesitate to kill others of the same type. Justified as he doesn't like being one as he was cursed by Azwel.
• Hunter of Monsters: Grøh is an agent of the Aval Organization, a group dedicated to purging the Malfested, which they call Outsiders.
• Impossibly Cool Clothes: His design is so intricate and so not tied to history itself that some would say he looks more like a Final Fantasy character.
• Icy Blue Eyes: Sports very pale blue/grey eyes combined with a very fair skin-tone.
• Jack of All Stats: Grøh is good at both close and long range, has good mix-up options, and can deal great combos while having moderate damage potential. That said, he doesn't particularly specialize at any of them, and thus the player must use their skill to compensate against someone who has an area of expertise. His true specialty might be his Soul Charge, which makes him into a force of destruction where all of his abilities are turned up to eleven.
• Let's Get Dangerous!: He goes straight to his malfested state upon encountering Azwel.
• Light Is Not Good: Contrasting Kilik's malfested state, which is an example of Dark Is Evil , Grøh's malfested state highlights his pale skin and makes his hair brighter, though he still uses the evil soul charge, making him a more downplayed case than most examples.
• Lightning Bruiser: His Soul Charge turns him into one. Grøh goes from being a Jack of All Stats to having superior damage, quicker movement, and teleportation that makes him fun very to fight as, and a lot less fun to fight against.
• My Greatest Failure: At some point he fought Nightmare and lost, the shame being compounded by his superiors questioning his competence and threatening to take Arondight from him.
• Mysterious Backer: Revealed to be the one who gives out the locations of the Astral Fissures to the Aval Organization in the good ending after a side quest available after the last main mission.
• Mythical Motifs:
  • The Nordic Yggdrasil — an immense mythological ash tree that is center to the cosmos and considered very holy — appears on a large shield in the background of his character artwork.
  • He sports an eye patch in a nod to the Norse god Odin, who sacrificed an eye, but gained a more sacred, divine level of wisdom in return.
  • He and the rest of the Aval organization are clear nods to King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table.
• Nightmare Face: Pulls a terrifying one as a malfested in Libra of Soul.
• Non-Standard Character Design: His overall style heavily evokes the Anime aesthetic, even more so than characters from V which already leaned heavily towards that influence. While no one can deny that other characters have a stylistic design that evoke Rule of Cool with little regard for historical accuracy, they still take influence from the western art style (even the characters that are actually from Japan) and have some kind of influence related to their culture or upbringing. Grøh on the other hand, with his silvery grey/blue hairstyle, futuristic-esque eyepatch, Impossibly Cool Clothes that includes a gauntlet on his left arm, flashy Double Weapon, and his Shonen-like Super Mode that turns him red, seems comparatively out of place among them.
• Only Known by Their Nickname: It was revealed by Word of God that Grøh is a code name used as a member of the organisation, as are the names of the other Aval agents, including Curtis. His real name is unknown.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Grøh never wants to use his Malfested state, and generally only does so as a last resort out of shame for himself. So when he immediately goes into it, without a moment's hesitation, you know shit just got real.
• Perpetual Frowner: So far, he is never seen smiling at all. Even in victory, he just considers it the foregone conclusion, unlike most of the other characters.
• Post-Climax Confrontation: After you defeat Azwel in Libra of Soul, you spend the last chapter hunting him down to put an end to his Malfested self's rampage.
• Power Dyes Your Hair: His hair features blue highlights to begin with, but activating certain special moves sees said highlights turn bright red.
• Power Limiter: The armor on his left arm hides his Malfested side, which is shattered the moment he enters his soul charged form.
• Purple Is Powerful: Various shades of purple are his main color scheme in his gear, and he's one of the stronger fighters.
• Red Baron: Known as “The Agent in Black”. Referred to as the "Black Demon", similar to the Azure Knight, in the final chapter of Libra of Soul.
• The Rival: Gameplay wise, he's depicted as such to Kilik, considering he has a special pre-battle quote.
• Roaring Rampage of Revenge: His family were killed by Malfested when the Evil Seed struck, filling him with a deep hatred and desire for revenge against them.
• Serious Business: Calling Your Attacks, if his extremely long-winded winquote to Hilde is any indication.
  "You've become stronger. It is well to shout out your attack names, but there are risks. First...it interrupts your breathing, which can be dangerous. It also alerts the opponent to the technique you will use. The greatest risk is it may disrupt your concentration, which...Hey, are you listening? Why are you laughing?!"
• Sexy Scandinavian: He's a brooding, platinum-haired Pretty Boy sporting a form-fitting outfit and a personality that evokes the classic Nordic Noir Anti-Hero. SCVI producer Motohiro Okubo states in Grøh's introductory video that he was specifically designed with the visual and personality stereotypes that Japanese people have of Norwegians (and other Nordics) in mind — cold, pale, brooding and icy.
• The Social Darwinist: If there's one thing he openly dislikes, it's weakness.
  Grøh: Atone for the sin of weakness.
• Superpowered Evil Side: He was Malfested after a battle with Nightmare, making him one of the "outsiders" he'd previously been sworn to hunt.
• Spell My Name With An S: It remains to be seen if Namco will correct their error, but the Nordic name "Grø" would never have an "h" at the end — no Norwegian or Danish^note  the only nations to use the letter words end with an "h" following the slashed o letter. This is therefore likely a phonetic spelling from when his name was translated from Japanese characters, though even this is still wrong — the name isn't pronounced with an "oh" sound at the end, but rather "ø" is pronounced roughly like the "i" in "sir".
• Spoiler: His existence was initially mentioned through a leak before being officially teased at the end of the game's very first official trailer.
• Stance System: He fights using two distinct styles involving his twin-blades fused together and also separated, the latter called Innocent Draw. He can transition seamlessly to this stance with little delay, and being able to master it is very important to playing Grøh well, compared to other fighters where it's simply an added weapon to the arsenal.
• Super Mode: He is Malfested, making him able coat his weapon in red energy and activate a form where his eyes, scars, and the fringes in his hair glow red.
• Teleport Spam: During his Soul Charge, he can teleport freely, and the player is encouraged to make full use of this.
• Tomato in the Mirror: Grøh is horrified to learn he's been Malfested, though Azwel gleefully revels in rubbing the fact in that he's now one of the monsters he's sworn to kill.
• Tricked-Out Gloves: The armor that covers his left arm acts as a Power Limiter to help him control his malfestation, also serving to hide the physical evidence of his corruption.
• The Unpronounceable: A relatively mild example, but even the in-game announcer struggles to pronounce the “slashed o” in his name correctly. “Grøh” would approximately rhyme with “fleur” or "sir", and would not be said as “grow”, as per the announcer — it’s pronounced more like "grewer".
• Video Game Caring Potential: Combined with Video Game Cruelty Potential, as your choices throughout Libra of Soul affect his fate after you face his Malfested form as the True Final Boss. If you're good, you successfully bring him back to his senses and he goes off to continue investigating the astral fissures. If you're evil, however, you end up killing him in self-defense and bury him atop a hillside, placing his weapons next to his grave.
• Voice of the Legion: In his Super Mode, his voice gains a distinct echo to it. The modifier even extends to his win quotes if you win a match with it.
• Walking the Earth: This is his fate in the good ending. Having been able to go back to his senses, Grøh decides to leave the Aval Organization in order to better control his powers and investigative astral fissures. It is implied that there will be enough support in the Organization to allow Grøh to return despite being malfested, should he decides to come back.
• When He Smiles: The one time he does smile is in the "good" ending where he's spared and given another chance at life.
• Willfully Weak: His intro "Do not hold back. However, I will." suggests he isn't using the full extent of his power.
• The Worf Effect: Easily bested by Nightmare despite being a skilled fighter himself early on in his story mode.

Azwel

Leader of Humanity

You shall be sacrificed for the human race!

Origin: Holy Roman Empire (Germany)

First Appearance: Soulcalibur VI (2018)

Weapon: Palindrome - Chaos & Order, a pair of bipolar wave amplifying gauntlets

Fighting Style: Techniques taken from martial philosophy and theory

Height: 185cm (6'1")

Weight: 65kg (143lbs)

Blood Type: AB

Alignment: Evil

Relationships: Loves all humans equally

Voiced by: Masashi Ebara (Japanese), Taliesin Jaffe (English)

A mysterious, highly intelligent, self-proclaimed anthropologist and philosopher from the Holy Roman Empire. Azwel wields a pair of gauntlets, one that utilizes a fragment of the demonic sword Soul Edge, and another that utilizes a fragment of the holy sword Soul Calibur. These gauntlets allow him to harness both swords' energies in order to create physical manifestations of the various weapons and fighting styles they have experienced. Fascinated by the effects of the Evil Seed which caused humans to become Malfested, transforming them into beings with enhanced abilities, Azwel has set a grand, insane plan into motion in the hopes of recreating this phenomenon, but under his own terms. His goal is to use his "Ultimate Seed" in order to evolve humanity, believing that it is the next step in the road towards evolution.

Azwel is a very odd character to say the least. He has no actual weapon, but summons weapons out of nowhere. To this end, Azwel runs on a Stance System that each focuses on a different fighting archetype: The Comedy stance (lance and shield) which focuses on parrying and long-ranged pokes, the Beauty stance (dual blades) which focuses on vertical invasion and mix-ups, and the Tragedy stance (axe) which focuses on damage and rushdown. Similar to Kilik, he has a unique Soul Charge, and can access two different Critical Edges. The second one requires him to burn an additional meter while already under the effect of the Soul Charge. While costly, it's very powerful and can win games by itself.

---

• Adaptation Origin Connection:
  • His research on the Evil Seed and malfestation is found by both Zasalamel and Raphael, kickstarting the events that happen in the future and leading to a Sequel Hook.
  • Furthermore, he's the one who inquires Raphael about Soul Edge, setting him on the path to seek and forge a new world.
  • If Amy's trailer is any indication, he'll play a role in her becoming Viola down the line.
• Arch-Enemy: Grøh's, specifically. Evident when the latter stops fucking around and goes straight into his soul charged mode in Libra of Soul. He also has a personal rivalry with Amy, who wants nothing to do with his plans for her.
• Authority Equals Asskicking: Formerly a high ranking member of the Aval Organization and now the leader of his own cult, as well as one of the higher tier fighters in the roster.
• Ax-Crazy: For all his claims of loving humanity, he's a brutal sadist who loves to psychologically and emotionally torture people, is positively giddy at the sight of his enemy on the brink of death, and his Critical Edge's animation has him throw his head back in laughter.
• Beard of Evil: A bad guy with quite an impressive and long goatee.
• Big Bad: He's the main villain of the Libra of Soul mode, and of Grøh's section of the Chronicle of Souls. Furthermore, his research into the Evil Seed and malfestation is found by both Zasalamel and Raphael, kickstarting the latter's descent into madness.
• Big Bad Ensemble: He's one of two primary antagonists of Soulcalibur VI as a whole, the other being Nightmare.
• Bond One-Liner: Varies whether he's Soul Charged or not.
  • "Excellently done!" (normally)
  • "Consider yourself saved!" (when Soul Charged)
• Composite Character: His moveset incorporates the attacks of several characters that didn't return from past entries, including Revenant from III, Link and Spawn from II, Galen Marek/Starkiller/The Apprentice from IV, and Devil Jin from V.
• Continuity Nod: His plan to create the "Ultimate Seed" by combining Soul Edge and Soul Calibur's energies, and his ability to transform into a monstrous form by doing so, are references to Zasalamel's plan and transformation into Abyss from Soulcalibur III.
• Dark Messiah: With a god complex to boot.
• Disc-One Final Boss: Of Libra of Soul.
• Does This Remind You of Anything?: Azwel's sudden interest towards Amy as one of his "experiments" and pawns in whatever his new scheme is that involves Raphael is portrayed as being just as uncomfortable and creepy as one could imagine.
• Dual Wielding: His weapon, Palindrome, draws power from both Soul Edge and Soul Calibur's energy, wielding one in each hand similar to Algol.
• Even Evil Has Standards: It's more out of spectacle and aesthetics rather than moral issues, but his battle quotes indicates he doesn't like Nightmare or Cervantes.
  "Disgusting! Your odor turns my stomach."
  "You impure brute!"
• Evilutionary Biologist: He plans to use a souped-up version of the Evil Seed to Malfest all of humanity, raising them to what he sees as the next evolutionary level.
• Evil Counterpart: To Sophitia and Zasalamel.
  • Sophitia is a paragon who encourages the people she comes across to take a heroic path. Azwel proclaims that he loves all humans equally and wants to save them. Sophitia is blessed by the power of the Greek gods through Hephaestus to save those who were Malfested. Azwel wields the power of both Soul Edge and Soul Calibur together with the hope he can create another Evil Seed to evolve humans beyond Malfestation.
  • With Zasalamel, they both played a major role in the Conduit's journey during Libra of Souls. Zasalamel is the first person the Conduit encounters and serves as his/her distant guide and observes him/her from the shadows. Azwel is the final enemy the player character faces in the Libra of Souls.
  • Similar to Grøh and Kilik, he has a Soul Charge that makes him a unique fighter.
• Evil Is Hammy: Not only is he the newest Big Bad, he is by far one of the hammiest characters in the game.
• Evil Plan: His studies on the history of humanity brought him to the conclusion that humanity would self-destruct through wars and other calamities. His fanatical "love" for the people led him to concoct a terrifying scheme, his plan being to deploy his own creation, the "Ultimate Seed", to evolve humans to the next evolutionary level and save them from themselves.
• Evil Versus Evil: Completely wrecks a Fygul Cestemus hideout in his search for astral fissures.
• Faux Affably Evil: Even while causing misery, he treats Grøh like a buddy, all while hamming it up.
• Final Boss: Of Very Hard difficultly Arcade Mode.
• Foil:
  • Shares the Big Bad status with Nightmare, but wants to become humanity's ruler while Nightmare wants to kill all of it. He's also a Knight Templar associated with light while Nightmare is a Card-Carrying Villain associated with Darkness. Unsurprisingly, the former doesn't like the latter.
  • Also this to Zasalamel, as mentioned above. Both are manipulative sorcerers with grand ambitions, but while Zasalamel is content to work from behind the scenes and seems to have mostly benevolent goals, Azwel is a Dark Messiah who wants to kill most of humanity and malfest the rest. Also, while Zasalamel is at most a Cold Ham, Azwel is an extremely flamboyant Large Ham who just cannot stop talking.
• The Friend Nobody Likes: Everyone in the Aval Organization expresses distrust towards him, stating that he has no loyalty to the order. Sure enough, he proves to be The Starscream.
• Godhood Seeker: Azwel already sees himself — in particular his intelligence as being at a level that even a god would be threatened by. His plan would have made him be seen as a god among those still left.
• He Knows Too Much: In both his and Grøh's respective Soul Chronicle, Azwel killed off those within the Aval Organization who are foolish enough to uncover his plans.
• Humans Are Special: He fully believes this, and in fact his plan is to spread an enhanced version of the Evil Seed called the Ultimate Seed, which he believes will raise humanity to a higher level.
• Hypocrite: Claims to love humanity despite being a massive asshole who sees them as his toys.
• I Let You Win: Implied whenever he loses to Amy. He barely seems to be taking fights with her seriously and congratulates her when he loses rounds or the match.
• Knight Templar: What's his idea of enhancing humanity? Why, unleashing the Evil Seed, of course!
• Kung-Fu Wizard: He uses sorcery heavily in combat, much more than the other characters, to the point where the weapons themselves seem almost secondary.
• Large Ham: Oh lordy lord, is he ever, especially with his Critical Edges.
  "ACCEPT THIS FROM ME! MY LOVE!"
  or
  "Now is the time... FOR PROGRESS!!!"
• Lean and Mean: Can be considered this. His height is 185 cm (6'1) and his weight is 65 kg (143 lbs), meaning that he is close to being underweight.
• Leitmotif: "A Zealous Herald". If you hear this track playing, you'll know that he's nearby.
• Light Is Not Good: Dresses in an intricate outfit that screams holy man...and he's a psychotic nutjob.
• Love Freak: Absolutely cannot stop babbling about how much he loves humans.
• Mad Scientist: A noted scholar and intellectual that just so happens to perform twisted experiments in the name of uplifting humanity.
• The Man Behind the Man: As it turns out, he is this to Raphael. Azwel encourages him in the secret true ending of his Soul Chronicle to go through with his plan to create the "perfect world" for Amy, and is in fact the "Scholar of the Future" who authored the notes on Soul Edge that were sent to Lord Dumas before Raphael assassinated him. Amy's Soul Chronicle reveals that Dumas was actually a "comrade" of Azwel's who also had ties to the Aval Organization, but it's heavily implied that he was just an Unwitting Pawn to Azwel in the end. So when Raphael ended up killing him for the rights to an inheritance, he also inherited Dumas's status of being manipulated by Azwel. It's also implied that his research into the "Ultimate Seed" was what sparked Zasalamel's goal of combining Soul Edge and Soul Calibur's powers to break his curse of immortality.
• Meaningful Name:
  • Whether intentional on the part of the developers or not, the name “Azwel(l)” is full of meaning for a magic-based character. An ancient Anglo-Saxon name, it refers to someone who lived by a spring (well) in a grove of hazel trees, and across most ancient Anglo, Celtic and Nordic cultures Hazel was associated with wisdom, prophecy and divination — in Norse mythology it is known as the Tree of Knowledge.
  • In terms of his weapon name (“Palindrome”), a palindrome is a word, number, or other sequence of characters which reads the same backward as forward — perhaps referencing the weapon’s multifunctional nature or the Mirror Character qualities of Soul Edge and Soul Calibur (since the weapon is powered by both swords).
• Mechanically Unusual Fighter: Azwel does not play like your standard Soulcalibur character. He doesn't have a defined weapon, but rather he summons weapons through magic, and these weapons are tied to a three-tiered Stance System with each one reminiscent of a fighting game archetype. Furthermore, he has two Critical Edges, with the second one requiring him to both be in Soul Charge and to expend another meter while in this state to unleash the massively devastating attack. Just looking at him is odd enough, but playing him feels downright strange.
• Mind over Matter: Has telekinetic powers, which leverage the use of his many weapons.
• Multi-Melee Master: Similarly to Necrid from Soulcalibur II, his Palindrome can transform into a variety of forms — including an axe, a greatsword, and a pair of kris.
• Not-So-Well-Intentioned Extremist: He regularly claims to love the human race and that his experiments and goals are for the benefit of humanity. In reality, Azwel is a maniacal sadist who intends to exterminate most of the human population with the Ultimate Seed and rule over the remainder as a living god.
• Offhand Backhand: Fend's off Grøh's attacks in this manner in their first battle in Libra of Soul.
• Omnidisciplinary Scientist: Is apparently well versed in alchemy, medicine, sorcery, philosophy, history, and fine art.
• One-Winged Angel: He has a monstrous transformation where his skin turns charcoal grey, he becomes covered in Tron Lines, and his arms transform into spike-encrusted claws. The spikes on his right arm are red, and the spikes on his left arm are blue. Using this form, he appears to summon Soul Edge and Soul Calibur, though it's hard to say if they're copies or the originals due to matching his other weapons in appearance.
• Overly Long Gag: Azwel has by and far the longest win quotes in series history. How long? For one, if you're playing in the middle of Arcade, you won't even make it halfway there before cutting to the next fight. Second, the subtitles don't even finish the second line. It's so long that Azwel clearly runs out of breath by the time he's done. The quote below is only one out of three.
  Azwel: Hehehe... Hahaha! What a thrill to see a Human on the brink of death abandon their sense of reason for despair or hope! Hahahaha! It is like the sweetest nectar to me! I could never grow tired of the human race! Hahahaha! *coughs* Ha...he...
• Parts Unknown: Downplayed in his case (and atypical to his status as a boss character) as his birthplace is noted as being the historic Holy Roman Empire. However, unlike many of the other warriors, his city of birth within the Empire is omitted, and as the Empire encompassed many modern-day nations ^note Germany, Netherlands, Austria etc. it isn't possible to peg his nationality in a modern context.^note Unlike Sophitia for example, whose birthplace is noted as Athens, Ottoman Empire, so it's clear that she is Greek in the modern sense. This was perhaps done to retain a hint of mystery, whilst still grounding him in reality.
• Recurring Element: Similar to Necrid and Algol, Azwel is a unique character that doesn't have a physical weapon, but can create one from energy. Just like Algol, he's also a Final Boss.
• Sadist: Azwel gleefully revels in psychologically torturing his opponents to get off on their despair and rage.
• Shaped Like Itself: Azwel's listed fighting style is "Practical Application of Martial Philosophy and Theory." In other words, his fighting style is "fighting style."
• SNK Boss: In Libra of Soul, he's permanently soul charged and has an infinite meter.
• The Social Darwinist: He intends to make humanity evolve further by creating the "Ultimate Seed".
• The Sociopath: Superficially charming, sadistic, blankets his true motive with a nicer narrative, and is ultimately uncaring of anyone else.
• Sore Loser: He takes losing badly and tries to kill the Conduit in one last attempt to achieve his goal.
• Spontaneous Weapon Creation: He can use his powers to manifest blue and red weapons — with his main ones being a blue shield, spear, and kris; and a red axe and kris.
• The Starscream: He's one of the Twelve — the highest-ranking members and leaders of the Aval Organization. The other members of the Twelve are aware he's not truly loyal to the Organization and might one day betray them, but even they are unaware that he is plotting to obtain both Soul Edge and Soul Calibur for himself and reshape humanity in his own twisted image.
• Stance System: His move list is divided according to what weapons he summons. The Comedy stance (lance and shield) focuses on parrying and long-range pokes, the Beauty stance (dual blades) focuses on vertical evasion and mixups, and the Tragedy stance (axe) focuses on damage and rushdown. Executing a move with one weapon results in future moves with the same weapon coming out slightly faster, at least until he uses a different weapon. Lastly, some of his non-stance moves are influenced by his stance moves.
• Storm of Blades: Can summon a bunch of red and blue weapons to rain on his opponent as his Critical Edge.
• Suddenly Shouting: His wonderfully delivered voice line upon activating soul charge against Raphael.
  Azwel: Death is nothing, WHEN THERE IS LOVE!
• Suspiciously Similar Substitute: Azwel appears to have been made specifically to revisit Necrid's core concept of summoning an assortment of energy weapons out of nowhere — Necrid never having returned due to rights issues with Todd McFarlane. Unlike Necrid, Azwel is fully integrated into the lore, and furthermore has a fully-developed style as a opposed a cobbled-together mish-mash of other styles, making the concept feel truly unique in comparison.
• Tricked-Out Gloves: His weapon is essentially a pair of enchanted guantlets. The right one includes a fragment of Soul Edge, while the left one has a piece of Soul Calibur. Azwel draws his power from the memories of past battles, preserved within those fragments. While he appears unarmed, his gauntlets allow him to summon a variety of deadly weapons, which he can use with brutal effects.
• Visionary Villain: He wants to improve humanity... by killing it all off and starting over again, with him being god.
• What Happened to the Mouse?: His plans are foiled in Libra of Soul and he is defeated by the player character, but it is not explicitly stated or shown if the player character killed him or not, and the screen abruptly fades to white, leaving Azwel's fate uncertain... until Raphael's secret true ending in Soul Chronicle is unlocked by having the Conduit help Raphael obtain the rest of the documents he needs. In it, it is revealed that Azwel survived as he appears before Raphael, facing off against him and inquiring about his intentions with Soul Edge.
• Wicked Cultured: Apparently a connoisseur of the arts, which causes him to commit sadistic acts of violence purely to savor the "drama" that they create.
• Wrestler in All of Us: One of his attacks is a juggle that eventually leads to him hitting the opponent with a Kinniku Buster.
• Yin-Yang Bomb: His Palindrome weapon is powered by shards of Soul Edge and Soul Calibur, manifesting constructs out of both swords' energies.

Guest Characters

Geralt of Rivia

The White Wolf

Challenged a Witcher? Must have had a death wish.

Origin: Rivia, Kingdom of Lyria and Rivia

First Appearance: The Witcher (2007)

Weapon: Witcher's Steel Sword & Silver Sword, steel & silver longswords

Fighting Style: School of the Wolf

Height: Unknown

Weight: Unknown

Blood Type: Unknown

Alignment: Neutral

Relationships: Visenna, mother; Korin, father; Yennefer of Vengerberg, lover; Triss Merigold, lover; Ciri, adopted daughter

Voiced by: Kazuhiro Yamaji (Japanese), Doug Cockle (English)

The protagonist (or arguably co-protagonist) of all the media set in the The Witcher's world. He is a, if not the witcher — a mutant created through alchemy and black magic to create an ultimate killing machine, he was in fact such a success compared to the other boys who underwent the Changes that he was subjected to additional processes that bled his hair white and took the pigment from his skin, but the benefits in return were many-fold. Geralt is the epitome of a professional monster-hunter: courteous, meticulous and devoid of emotional hangups. He represents the Guest Fighter in the base game of the Soul series' sixth iteration, having been whisked into our dimension by a powerful sorceress. Geralt finds himself in a strange new world, home to the cursed sword Soul Edge, the power of which the sorceress had spoken...

Geralt uses two longswords, and has a very precision-based style that involves evading and striking his enemies at the right time. Notably, his silver sword does increased damage against Soul Charged opponents. Like a true witcher, he can access five different Signs at the cost of meter: Aard, Igni, Yrden, Quen, and Axii. During Soul Charge, Geralt can freely access all five. Geralt is a pretty strong all-around mid-range fighter and for a character not native to Soul Calibur, he is a fantastic choice for learning the fundamentals of the game: Spacing and movement.

For tropes related to his appearance in his home series, see this page.

---

• Animal Motifs: Wolves, of course. He was trained by the School of the Wolf, wears a wolf-shaped medallion, and is known as the White Wolf due to his white hair and pale complexion.
• Badbutt: Downplayed. Geralt is from a series that's as hard-R as games can get, earning many (well-deserved) comparisons to the likes of Game of Thrones. Here, he's placed in a much lighter T-rated game, and has to be toned down to match. For example, there's no blood from his attacks, his language is considerably more restrained, and he doesn't go about his ways of love with the female cast (though he is pretty heavily implied to get it on with an NPC). That said, Soulcalibur VI is far from kid-friendly, has no shortage of sex appeal, and is filled with legitimate badasses, so in this case it's more like a downgrade from "badass motherfucker" to just plain "badass".
• Bond One-Liner: "Ever fight a witcher? Guess not..."
• Boring, but Practical: Despite having magic, Geralt isn't particularly flashy, as even his magic is mundane compared to the other magical fighters. That said, his versatile move-set allows him to adjust to each fundamental skills needed.
• Bullying a Dragon: Alluded in his reveal trailer and one of his victory quotes. Given that he is a super-strong, ageless, magical swordsman...
  Geralt: Challenged a witcher? Must have a death wish...
• Canon Immigrant: Much like Akuma in Tekken 7: Fated Retribution, Geralt is confirmed to be canon to the story of Soulcalibur VI, and is said to play an integral part. Unlike Akuma, who has next to no explanation for why he is linked to the plot of Tekken, Geralt's inclusion is actually justified due to him being from a universe capable of inter-dimensional travel.
• Choice of Two Weapons: Geralt wields a pair of longswords — a steel one for killing human monsters and a silver one for killing inhuman monsters.
• Covered with Scars: His body is covered in a lot of nasty-looking scars.
• Dance Battler: Incorporates balletic twirls and pirouettes into his fighting style, as witcher training emphasizes lots of fast dodges to avoid monster attacks that would otherwise shred through their armor.
• Double Entendre: Geralt makes one in the ending of his Chronicle. Because he's in a T-rated game this time, he can't explicitly have sex with the Sorceress, but rather just allude to it.
  Sorceress: Step over here and make yourself comfortable... would you care for some fine wine?
  Geralt: Mh. Warm welcome— nice 'n' all, but... as I see it, you owe me a lot more'n that.
• Final Boss: Prior to version 1.30, he was this of Normal difficulty Arcade Mode. He’s a Sub-Boss in Hard Arcade — always the 4th fighter you face.
• Fish out of Water: He is thrown into Soul Calibur's version of 16th century Earth, which while also populated by monsters, are unlike anything from the world he originates from. Whereas Geralt is familiar with every single type of monster from his world, the ones in Soul Calibur are the result of Malfestation, human experiments, divine curses, or the Astral Chaos. He also counts as a Fish out of Temporal Water, as within Witcher lore, Earth has long since been destroyed by Geralt's time, not that it prevents dimension travels from visiting it, exactly as he does here.
• Foil:
  • To 2B, another guest character. Both are Fish out of Water characters with Mystical White Hair who use two swords attached to their back as their primary weapons, but while Geralt is a manly Magic Knight who uses European longswords and magical Signs, 2B is a Lady of War Multi-Melee Master who uses katanas, spears, gauntlets, and futuristic weapons such as laser cannons and machine guns. In addition, while Geralt is from a Low Fantasy Western RPG set in a Constructed World, 2B is from a Science Fantasy Eastern RPG set on Earth in the far future.
  • He's one to another one of Mitsurugi's rivals, Haohmaru. While both come from games that are never shy about showing blood and killing, Geralt is a Magic Knight with a European aesthetic, while Haohmaru is closer to Mitsurugi's style, being a Badass Normal running on Charles Atlas Superpower. Furthermore, Geralt is a Deadpan Snarker whose emotions are suppressed (but not removed), while Haohmaru is a Boisterous Bruiser.
• Gameplay and Story Integration: His silver sword — which in the Witcher series is super-effective against non-human monsters — does extra damage against Soul Charged opponents. In an example of Gameplay and Story Segregation, however, it does no extra damage against characters that aren't human (Inferno, Astaroth, Lizardmen, and Malfested, for example), so as to avoid giving him an unfair advantage over such opponents.
• Guest Fighter: Following the successful guest appearances of Heihachi, Link and Spawn in SCII, most subsequent games in the series include a high-profile guest. Geralt, according to producers, was felt to fit in perfectly with the game's 16th century Eurasian setting.
• Good Scars, Evil Scars: Discounting the nasty-looking ones on his body, his are the fairly classic rugged hero scars, the most prominent being one that crosses over his left eye.
• Hell-Bent for Leather: His usual outfit is a suit of leather armor with silver chainmail for extra defense against monsters.
• Magic Knight: Witchers are created through magic, and thus have some affinity to it, giving them an ability to use simple combat spells called "signs" in battle. In his SCVI appearance, he uses both his swords and combat spells in-game.
• Mana Potion: His Soul Charge has him drinking a Tawny Owl potion to power him up. In his home series, said potion increases his stamina regeneration, allowing him to use more of his signs without fatigue, which is carried over here.
• Mechanically Unusual Fighter: While other characters use magic, Geralt has a unique mechanic involving "signs" that give him different abilities like fire-based projectiles, time-slowing abilities, and counters the others don't have, which require meter to use whereas in this game, it's either for Soul Charge or Critical Edge. This actually makes him akin to Yoshimitsu in that are the only fighters who need meter for EX Special Attacks akin to the Brave Edges in SCV. Also, in a more subtle way, one of his commands does a strafe rather than an attack, making him especially good at evading vertical strikes, which is befitting for a monster slayer who often relies on his ability to dodge and counter attacks in combat.
• Meta Guy: Geralt isn't acclimitized to the tropes of the Soul series, and notes just how weird it is that he can't seem to so much as turn a corner in this new world without encountering a warrior eager to duel him and skilled enough to go one-on-one with a Witcher.
• My Name Is Inigo Montoya: One of his intros goes like this.
  Geralt: Geralt of Rivia, witcher.
• Mystical White Hair: Geralt's hair is white due to his unusual compatibility with the witcher mutagens.
• Normal Fish in a Tiny Pond: Played with. Geralt is already remarkably and exceptionally strong in his home universe, where there are few people who can stand up to a wither in combat, save for mostly certain mages, monsters, and exceptionally skilled people like Leo Bonart, as well as a handful of enhanced people. In Soul Calibur, while still considered powerful, individuals and monsters capable of posing a threat to a witcher through the use of magic, powers, or skill are much more common than in the Witcher Universe. It helps that the abilities exhibited by characters in Soul Calibur are typically much wilder and more powerful than many of the types of magic in the Witcher universe, as well as powers and magic generally being somewhat more common amongst the cast.
• Recurring Element: Yet another Guest Fighter.
• Really Gets Around: While he doesn't have his way with any of the Soul series' female cast, Geralt reflects on his relationship with Yennefer and is all-but explicitly stated to have sex with the Sorceress at the end of his Chronicle of Soul as payment for using him as a test subject.
• Red Baron: "The White Wolf".
• Seen It All: Geralt's already seen plenty of bizarre magical things and traveled to alternate dimensions in his home series, so being transported to the world of Soul Calibur is hardly the weirdest thing to ever happen to him. Even so, occasionally something here will manage to surprise or frustrate him, such as the concept of losing a fight via Ring Out (as mentioned below).
• Silver Has Mystic Powers: Geralt's silver longsword is super-effective against the non-human monsters of his world, and he's relieved to note that it's also potent against the malfested and other monsters of the Soul universe. In gameplay turns, his silver sword does more damage against an opponent with a charged soul gauge.
• Slashed Throat: His back grab involves dragging his steel sword across the opponent's neck after grappling them from behind. This being a T-rated game, it leaves no wound and is nonlethal by itself.
• Small Role, Big Impact: His Chronicle of Soul indicates this is the case following his encounter with Zasalamel; which causes the sorcerer to verify the existence of alternate universes and parallel dimensions, mentioning that he'll need to revise his plans accordingly.
• The Stoic: Geralt rarely expresses emotion outwardly and approaches every problem as a calm and non-judgmental professional. He even claims that witcher mutations deprive him of feeling emotion, though it's clearly not true for him or any of his kind. Though...
  • Not So Stoic: Geralt yells out a surprised "What the hell!?" or "This is ridiculous!" if he loses via Ring Out (whether he was knocked out or just fell out himself). Obviously, loss by technicality isn't really a thing where Geralt is from...
• Supernatural Gold Eyes: Like all witchers, his eyes became yellow and cat-like as a result of his mutations.
• Suspiciously Similar Substitute: Meta Example; Noctis was planned for Soul Calibur VI, but got sent to Tekken instead as Namco got the rights to use him, but didn't want it to go to waste trying to wait for a new Soul game, with T7 being their latest fighting game. Like Noctis, Geralt is a protagonist from an Action RPG and is a powerful Magic Knight.
• Transplanted Humans: Even though he and the people of his world inhabit a completely different dimension and world, the humans of Geralt's world appear exactly the same as the 16th century Earth humans of the Soul Calibur series, because they're actually Transplanted Humans in the lore of The Witcher. Humans are said to have arrived on The Continent some 1,500 years ago, following the Conjunction of the Spheres, which trapped humans and many other creatures in the Witcher world.
• Trapped in Another World: Gets zapped into the world of Soul Calibur by a sorceress he was hired to investigate, and spends several months wandering around searching for a portal to take him back, fighting numerous Malfested along the way.
• Unknown Rival: Mitsurugi considers Geralt his biggest rival yet. Unfortunately for the former, Geralt sees him as just a hot-headed idiot who doesn't know his place. Eventually downplayed as he does recognize Mitsurugi's skill despite lacking any of Geralt's magic.
• Wacky Wayside Tribe: In Libra of Soul mode. Despite being teased as playing a critical role in the story, Geralt's canon role is to basically fall out of an astral fissure, fight a few Malfested, get into duels with Mitsurugi, Zasalamel, and the Conduit, and then just sort of... go home. His presence does convince Zasalamel to alter his plans, but what exactly this entails isn't explained.
• Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: Being transported into the Earth-realm by portal doesn't help his long-running hatred of them.
  Geralt: Rrgh! Crap like this, EXACTLY why I hate portals!
• A Wizard Did It: His appearance in the real-world setting of the Soul series is explained via his meeting with a powerful sorceress, who first told him of Soul Edge and transported him to the Earth-realm to uncover its mysterious powers. Considering the prevalence of inter-dimensional portals in his home series, and the fact that his adopted daughter Ciri has visited Earth before (during both Arthurian times and the 14th century, as well as possibly the late-21st), this isn't as contrived as it sounds.
• Worthy Opponent: Mitsurugi views him as this. In addition, he'll sometimes say "Not bad, I gotta admit" after losing a round.

2B / YoRHa No. 2 Type B

Glory to Mankind

Pod: Alert. Hostile lifeform detected.

2B: Eliminating threat.

Origin: Earth, 11945 A.D.

First Appearance: NieR: Automata (2017)

Weapon: Virtuous Treaty & Virtuous Contract, a pair of large swords

Voiced by: Yui Ishikawa (Japanese), Kira Buckland (English)

Fighting Style: Automated infantry for machine life form

Height: 168cm (5'6") (includes heels)

Weight: 149kg (328lbs)

Blood Type: None

Alignment: Good

Relationships: Pod 042, wingman and support unit; 9S, maintenance

Pod 042 voiced by: Hiroki Yasumoto (Japanese), D.C. Douglas (English)

One of the protagonists of NieR: Automata. In the far distant future, humanity has been driven to the brink of extinction by an army of alien machine lifeforms invading Earth. With the bulk of the remaining humans evacuating to off-world colonies, an army of androids known as "YoRHa" has remained behind to fight the machine lifeforms and reclaim Earth for humanity. Of these androids, 2B is one of the most formidable. Equipped with a variety of close-range weapons and a Support Pod for long-range engagements, 2B is equal to the new mission that she has been given: to destroy the cursed sword Soul Edge.

She was released on December 18, 2018.

2B plays like how she should from NieR: Automata but transplanted in a fighting game, making her very unusual. 2B can use different weapons configurations, access a Flash Step to evade her opponents, engage her enemies while airborne, call upon Assist Character Pod 042 for different projectile attacks, and has two Critical Edges: her standard attack, which she can use at any time, and her Self-Destruct Mechanism, which she can use when at under 30% health. The latter will leave 2B at a sliver of health, and thus one must be sure they can win with it. Oh, and yes, it blows her skirt off here, too.

---

• Achilles' Heel: Due to how aggressive 2B can be in battle own to her long strings, a predictable one falls prey to reversal edges and guard impacts much more than most.
• Advertised Extra: Story-wise, at least. 2B doesn't have her own Soul Chronicle, and aside from Azwel, she has no unique interactions with the rest of the cast.
• Assist Character: Pod 042 helps out with some of her attacks.
• BFS: The Virtuous Treaty and Virtuous Contract swords are both approximately as long as 2B is tall.
• Ass Kicks You: During the animation of her left side throw ("Suppression: Reversed Projectile Blade"), she first jumps forward and hits the opponent with her butt before attacking with her sword.
• Blindfolded Vision: 2B's blindfold is actually a nanotech combat visor that acts as a Heads-Up Display and relays orders from the Bunker.
• Bond One-Liner:
  • "Until our day of reckoning comes."
  • If done while low on health:
  2B: Ugh...Nines..?!
  Pod: Alert. Error in YoRHa Unit 2B's memory region.
  2B: Understood.
• Boobs-and-Butt Pose: Her artwork depicts her this way, which is an easy position as she's not even human.
• The Cameo: 9S and machine lifeforms can be seen in the background of her home stage, and the Terminals can sometimes be seen hovering in the background at the start of a fight. Her release also comes with Grimoire Weiss and Emil as CAS accessories.
• Character Customization: Holds the distinction of being the first guest the player can fully customize like the original cast.
• Combat Stilettos: As an android, she can leverage the use of her heels without a problem. She is notably the only character to have her height include the height given by her heels, a carryover from her game.
• Fem Bot: She's a sexy humanoid robot.
• Fish out of Temporal Water: An android from the far future thrust over 10,000 years into the past.
• Flash Step: Several of her attacks give her a momentary speed boost, where she uses an omnidirectional flurry of sword slashes that are too fast to be seen. Her Critical Edge has her vanish in midair, before launching a series of attacks before her hapless opponent can hit the ground.
• Foil:
  • To Geralt, the former coming from a western RPG set in a medieval time that doesn't take place on our Earth, while 2B hails from an eastern RPG set in a futuristic Earth. In addition, their overall characterizations and fighting styles contrast each other nicely, as Geralt is a manly monster slayer who uses European style longswords alongside a variety of magic signs, while 2B is a refined Lady of War who uses Japanese katanas alongside various futuristic weapons, such as holographic spears and gauntlets, machine guns, a laser cannon, energy spikes, and a Self-Destruct Mechanism. There are even some superficial similarities in their character designs, as both have silvery white hair and wear two unique swords on their back, but while Geralt is a scarred, rugged, manly warrior, 2B is a clean and elegantly dressed Robot Girl.
  • Also one to Haohmaru, both of them come from a Japanese franchise that can be quite over the top and both of them are quite good looking with 2B being a beautiful android and Haohmaru being a Hunk. However, 2B comes from the far future in a robot war, has high tech weaponry that sticks out like a sore thumb, and is serious about her mission while Haohmaru is from the near future, can blend in with the rest of the cast despite being able to do abilities such as creating a tornado, and is often an Accidental Hero due to only seeking a challenge from people who happens to be antagonists.
• Guest Fighter: Originally from NieR: Automata, she's the second guest after Geralt. Also holds the distinction of being the first female guest in the series, assuming one doesn't count the KOS-MOS costume from III.
• Hard Light: 2B ends her Critical Edge by impaling her opponent on an energy field of spikes. She can also project them as her neutral (A+B) attack and during several of her air combos while she's soul charged.
• Katanas Are Just Better: 2B wields the Virtuous Treaty and Virtuous Contract swords as her default weapons.
• Lady of War: Stoic, graceful, and incredibly deadly, 2B is a standout example both here and in her own game.
• Leaning on the Fourth Wall: One win pose has the camera focusing on her backside just up her skirt while she's petting Pod... and then Pod alerts 2B of an observer spying on her.
  Pod 042: Alert. We are being watched from below.
  2B: From below?! (swats away at the camera and gives a disapproving Death Glare)
• Male Gaze: She gets quite a bit of it, just like in her home game. Even lampshaded, as detailed above.
• Mechanically Unusual Fighter: Because 2B hails from an entirely different series with her abilities maintained, she plays very differently from the others and it shows in multiple ways.
  • She's the only character on the roster with an assistant in the form of Pod 042, who helps her out with certain moves and attacks. Also of note, Pod provides different uses of projectiles, a rarity in the cast.
  • She can engage in a Flash Step that can potentially put her in an advantageous position, and is the only one with such an ability (though similar abilities exist, none are quite like hers). Outside of that, she can zoom in with bursts of speed.
  • She can use multiple weapon types, such as different swords and gauntlets.
  • She is one of the few characters with projectiles, including a long-range laser and shorter-range ground spikes, courtesy of Pod.
  • She can perform combos on her opponents while airborne, and has special moves just for that purpose.
  • She's one of the few characters with two distinct Critical Edges. In this case, her second CE is activated when she's at low health, in which case she'll activate her Self-Destruct Mechanism in a last-ditch effort to win. It's also the only CE that hurts the user, and while it won't lose automatically, it'll leave you with minimal health, and thus one should be sure they can win with it.
• Mother Nature, Father Science: Inverted with Geralt; 2B is technology based while Geralt is a Magic Knight.
• Ms. Fanservice: Unsurprisingly, 2B's costume from NieR: Automata is maintained and she fits right in with the other girls of Soulcalibur. As a bonus, 2B comes with special YoRHa-themed CAS parts, including a costume that's also made for fanservice. It helps that the self-destruct feature is maintained, and yes, its destroys her skirt here, too. Its possibly no coincidence that her announcement trailer features her confronting Ivy, one of the biggest holders of the title that also bears some slight semblance to her.
• Multi-Melee Master: 2B uses a variety of weapons that she can materialize from thin air, including swords of varying sizes, a spear, and gauntlets.
• Mythology Gag: Her alternate outfit is her Revealing Outfit from the Automata DLC, which itself was based off of Kaine from the original Nier.
• Pet the Dog: Almost literally. Her taunt has her giving Pod-042 an affectionate pat on the head. Doing this repeatedly will prompt Pod to urge 2B to do the same to 9S, to which 2B says "I'll consider it".
• Pint-Sized Powerhouse: She's 5'6" — with heels. The best estimates without them put her at around five feet tall. She's still a badass android, though.
• Recurring Element: Similar to Noctis in Tekken 7, 2B is a Guest Fighter from a Square Enix JRPG and is vastly different from the mainline characters.
• The Rival: In a similar way that Geralt is set up as Mitsurugi's rival, 2B is set up as a rival to Ivy.
• Robot Girl: 2B is a YoRHa unit, one of an army of androids created to take back the Earth from hostile robots, and appears as a young woman.
• Sexy Backless Outfit: 2B's dress has a large hole exposing much of her back.
• The Smurfette Principle: Not out of the main cast, but of all the guest characters in Soul history, not including KOS-MOS's CAS gear in III.
• Sticks to the Back: 2B's swords levitate behind her while not in-use.
• Strange Salute: One of her victory poses is the YoRHa salute: left hand over the left breast, palm inward, accompanied by the phrase "Glory to Mankind".
• Taking You with Me: When low on health, 2B can use an alternate Critical Edge where she traps her opponent and activates her Self-Destruct Mechanism to destroy them. If successful, Pod will save 2B, but she will be left with a sliver of health.

Haohmaru

Ronin Vagabond

Remember the name Haohmaru in the afterlife!

Origin: Jōkamachi, Musashi Province, Japan

First Appearance: Samurai Shodown (1993)

Weapon: Fugudoku, a katana

Fighting Style: Self-taught

Height: 5 shaku 7 sun (approx. 173cm or 5'8")

Weight: 17 kanme (approx. 64kg or 141lbs)

Blood Type: A

Alignment: Good

Relationships: Unnamed older sister; unnamed mother; unnamed father; Oshizu, lover; Mikoto, adopted niece

Voiced by: Daiki Nakamura (Japanese), John Snyder (English)

The main character of Samurai Shodown, which takes place 200 years after the events of Soulcalibur. Having had his potential discovered by Jubei Yagyu, Haohmaru was directed to the monk Nicotine Caffeine for tutelage in the way of the sword. Now a wandering samurai, Haohmaru lives for a good fight and seeks out opponents to test his strength. Finding himself transported to the world of Soul Edge under mysterious circumstances, Haohmaru takes the opportunity to challenge its mightiest warriors.

He was released on March 31, 2020.

Haohmaru seems similar to his fellow samurai Mitsurugi, as he uses a katana to play a medium-range spacing game and is fairly straightforward. However while Mitsurugi focuses more on gameplay fundamentals, Haohmaru's focus is on punishment and strong single attacks that rely on meter; combos are not really his forte. He even gets "Deflects" and his Lightning Blade special, keeping him faithful to how he plays in Sam Sho.

---

• Advertised Extra: Story-wise. Like 2B, Haohmaru does not have his own Soul Chronicle.
• The Alcoholic: Always has a gourd of sake ready, to both drink from and whack you with.
• Anime Hair: Not as bad as most, but with his voluminous ponytail and incredibly exaggerated forelock he sticks out like a sore thumb in Soulcalibur.
• Anti-Frustration Features: Though his 14-Strike Combo does have a long, dedicated input and players are incentivized to use it, it is possible to perform a slightly weakened variant through simply mashing any of the 3 attack buttons after landing the initial Soul Attack.
• Blood Knight: Lives for the thrill of a good fight.
• Blow You Away: His signature Senpu Retsu Zan/Cyclone Slash, where he slashes with such power that it generates a miniature tornado projectile.
• Bond One-Liner: "Whew. Worked up a good sweat." (after using Critical Edge) or "This is what it means to be a warrior." (after using Lightning Blade)
• The Cameo:
  • The Kuroko referee appears at the beginning and end of matches on his home stage. Unlike Samurai Shodown, he smokes out of the stage when the match begins rather than judge the players in the background. The Samurai Shodown announcer also takes over the Soulcalibur narrator when playing on said stage.
  • Haohmaru comes packaged with CAS gear to create Nakoruru and the Kuroko, the latter including his flags as the game's first post-release additional weapons for Taki and Cervantes.
• Composite Character: Much like how Geese Howard was ported over into Tekken 7, in this game Haohmaru is a complete package and a love letter to Samurai Shodown from the developers. He has all of his special moves and Weapon Flipping Techniques (two of which serve as his Critical Edges here, making him one of the few characters with two distinct CEs), from every game in the series as well as from both his Slash/Shura and Bust/Rasetsu versions. He has lines of dialogue that hearken back to all of his early appearances, even appearances such as Capcom vs. SNK 2. He has both his old and new style throws from early and later Samurai Shodown games. He has the Dodge from 2019, has Rage Explosion and Lightning Blade and even the universal 14-hit Deadly Rave-style combo that characters could perform in IV as his Soul Attack.
• Expy Coexistence: He's the one who inspired Mitsurugi to begin with. Now they're both in the same game. Fittingly, Haohmaru's reveal trailer shows them dueling each other. Also, their similar appearance gets Setsuka to mistake him for Mitsurugi, using the same pre-match intro against him when fighting Haohmaru and prompting this response from him.
  Haohmaru: You've got the wrong guy!
• Fish out of Temporal Water: He's actually displaced by two centuries, but you wouldn't know it right off since his motif fits right in.
• Foil: To both of his fellow Guest Fighters.
  • Haohmaru is quite different from Geralt, Mitsurugi's other rival. While both come from games that are never shy about showing blood and killing, Geralt is a Magic Knight with a European aesthetic, while Haohmaru is closer to Mitsurugi's style, being a Badass Normal running on Charles Atlas Superpower. Furthermore, Geralt is a Deadpan Snarker whose emotions are suppressed (but not removed), while Haohmaru is a Boisterous Bruiser.
  • Regarding 2B, both of them come from a Japanese franchise that can be quite over the top and both of them are quite good looking with 2B being a beautiful android and Haohmaru being a Hunk. However, 2B comes from the far future in a robot war, has high tech weaponry that sticks out like a sore thumb, and is serious about her mission while Haohmaru is from the near future, can blend in with the rest of the cast despite being able to do abilities such as creating a tornado, and is often an Accidental Hero due to only seeking a challenge from people who happens to be antagonists.
  • He's also one to Mitsurugi himself. Mitsurugi is a balanced fighter with a variety of stances to facilitate flexibility and has minimal gimmicks compared to the other fighters. Haohmaru on the other hand has one stance (not counting his bare-handed techniques) and focuses on overwhelming power while also having a variety of unique mechanics and moves due to him coming in from a series with vastly different fundamentals.
• Guest Fighter: From Samurai Shodown, and the third guest in Soulcalibur VI.
• Hunk: Broad shoulders, rugged face, and a chiseled physique.
• Mechanically Unusual Fighter: As a pre-existing fighting game character, Haohmaru brings along a few mechanics from his home series:
  • He retains the Rage mechanic but unlike Samurai Shodown, it is not meter-based nor does it increase his attack damage, instead serving as a secondary Soul Charge state. Max Rage will automatically activate when he is at low health, enhancing several of his attacks, including his special moves such as his Ougi Kogetsu Zan/Crescent Moon Slash and Solid Tackle. He also gains access to his second Critical Edge, the Tenha Seiou Zan/Flame of the Conqueror, which deals significant guard damage. Holding the input for Soul Charge while in Max Rage will make him enter Rage Explosion, during which he can perform the Tenha Dankuu Retsu Zan/Judgment Sky Divider and Lightning Blade, the latter giving him a total of 3 Critical Edges. However, once Rage Explosion is used and its duration ends, you will no longer have access to Max Rage.
  • Like his fellow SNK companymate Terry Bogard in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (and Terry's cross-company rivals the Street Fighters in that same game for that matter), Haohmaru can perform his Samurai Shodown special moves with either Soulcalibur inputs or Samurai Shodown inputs, the latter dealing more damage. For example, his first Critical Edge, the Tenha Fuujin Zan/Judgement Bash Slash, has the respective inputs of A+B+K and 341236421B+K. Some of his special attacks will gain additional properties if you perform them with the motion inputs. His Zeroshiki (623A) and 14-Strike Combo Soul Attack (236A+B+K, then A,A,B,B,K,K,A,B,K,K,K,K,B+K), for instance, get Just Frame versions that deal more damage, but only if performed with the traditional motions.
  • He can cancel some of his moves into any special move.
• Mighty Glacier: In contrast to Mitsurugi, who has more of a focus on speed, Haohmaru's use of a katana focuses more on raw power.
• Recurring Element: Similar to Geese in Tekken 7, Haohmaru is a Guest Fighter from a SNK fighting game series who bends some of the Soulcalibur rules to play more similarly to his home series.
• The Rival: To fellow Japanese swordsman Mitsurugi, with Haohmaru's trailer showing them dueling each other.

---