WMG / Soul Series

Per wiki policy, WMG pages are Spoilers Off!

Games with their own pages:

• Soulcalibur VI

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Inferno is the new Nightmare

After Inferno was almost killed in Soulcalibur II and Siegfried and Nightmare split, Zasalamel placed Inferno into the old Nightmare armor, thus creating the new Nightmare.

• This one is all but canon; Nightmare's bio in SCII and III stated that Soul Edge essentially possessed Siegfried's cast off azure armour, and Inferno is simply the spirit of Soul Edge given physical form, much like Soul Edge (the character) from the first game in the series, Soul Blade. Once the vast majority of the pieces of Soul Edge were gathered by Nightmare, Nightmare essentially became Soul Edge incarnate, to the point that Nightmare and Soul Edge are one and the same.
  • It is canon. Oh, and "Soul Edge" IS Inferno.

Soul Edge will find a new host

Zasalamel only reanimated the armor as a temporary body; without Siegfried's body, Nightmare is falling apart. By SCIV, his torso was being held together by sheer willpower and Rule of Cool.

• One can argue that Soul Edge has already found a new host in Sophitia's daughter, if this is to be believed.
  • While Nightmare does have a new host in SCV, this bit at least has been Jossed, since Pyrrha is her own character in that game.
• Nightmare sent out Tira to find a suitable replacement host for him, as his body was a rather fragile "shell", and he himself went on to hunt Siegfried to recover his "true" body (Soul Edge). According to Soul Calibur 4, Tira found a prospect host on Sophitia's daughter, though the fact she's still too young (4 at most) has made her seek further: by SCIV, she has targeted both Maxi and Yun-seong (only in Mi-na's story mode) to serve that role.
• Nightmare's new host is an unidentified male body using the name "Dumas," though Tira seemingly wishes to make Pyrrha into another host to do away with Nightmare.
  • If Pyrrha Omega is any indication, Tira succeeded.]]
    • Adding to the confirmation, the man known as Dumas was recently confirmed in an artbook to be Raphael.

Zasalamel was originally from Babylonian times

A lot of his moves are named after Babylonian gods...

• That one's possible, he's helluva old. But he's African and he got Blessed with Suck when he stole a relic from some tribe (says it in the SCIII manual). It could be they gave him a Babylonian name because it felt appropriate?
• That happened a long, long time before the games. Zasalamel came from the tribe that used to protect Soul Calibur, but got expelled after he tried to use the sword for his own benefit. He later learns the secret of reincarnation. African is just his (assumed) current incarnation's origin; his true origin is unknown, but likely Babylonian.

Zaslamel comes from the distant descendants of Algol's people

They are a long-forgotten culture who guarded secrets about both spirit swords.

• Confirmed in Soul Calibur IV; Zasalamel's full profile downright states he's a former member of the tribe that was tasked with the protection of Soul Calibur after Algol's death.

Zasalamel is the Emperor of Man.

He's immortal, has been around since the beginning of civilization, and, in SCIV, dedicates his life to guiding Mankind to its full glory.

• Alternatively, Zasalamel, Mitsurugi, Algol, and Talim will all combine and form the Emperor. Zasalamel and Algol for awsome powers, Mitsurugi for the fighting skills, and Talim to add the messianic touch.
  • So is Talim the Emperor's compassion that he removed from himself to slay Horus? Does that make the Starchild, Talim?
• And Nightmare is Khorne. Do you need to ask why?
  • Surely Astaroth is a more appropriate fit. Then again, he could be Gork or Mork.

Revenant is an important character in someone's past.

Why else would he return in SCIV? He even has his own official bio!

• He looks like the original form of Soul Edge (the character), which was, essentially, an undead, flaming version of Cervantes. Perhaps it's a shout out to the very first game?
• He killed Zasalamel at some point in time. Even though he reincarnates, getting killed is never a pleasant experience. As revenge, Zasalamel reanimated his corpse to do his bidding.
  • So, basically confirmed.

Zasalamel is Death

He wears a hood, carries a scythe, creeps around, he's immortal...

• On the other hand, the guy's been running around for a really long time, so it could be the other way around, and the popular depiction of Death as a guy with a scythe and a hood could be based on Zasalamel.
• In the Tower of Lost Souls in IV, there is a more likely Death: Zasalamel's style, cloaked, and a skeleton.

Ivy is working off severe... err... frustration.

We know she's a Celibate Hero, but it may not be something that comes easy to her. The more, ahem, unsatisfied she becomes, the skimpier she dresses, figuring that if she can't have any, she might as well cause some frustration in her enemies.

Ivy will be walking around completely naked by the time SCVI comes around.

Cassandra is in the closet

While the Omake is... an Omake, she is WAY too interested in stripping Hilde.

Siegfried canonically dies at the end of IV, but is resurrected by Soul Calibur

We already know its evil counterpart Soul Edge is able to bring back the dead (see Cervantes), and that Soul Calibur might not be entirely good, AND in every ending (except Hilde's) that involve him, he dies. Now, to figure out how he will come back wrong...

• Didn't his SCIV bio hint that he died during the battle against Nightmare at the Lost Cathedral, but was resurrected by Soul Calibur? It was stated that he had a mortal wound in his chest that should have killed him, but now, he's practically or partly one with Soul Calibur, just like Nightmare is one with Soul Edge, hence why his armor is all crystal-like.
• Siegfried was "near death" before Soul Calibur bonded with his soul, saving him from what would have been death. Also, according to Broken Destiny's The Gauntlet, Siegfried ended up crystallized as a price to stop Soul Edge, and was left under Ivy's care until your team awakens him again. Though considering the mode labels itself as non-canon right off the bat and is more of a parody, it may mean nothing.
• Given that he is showing using Requiem again in the trailer for V, and his armor has gone back to normal style, it seems that he has gone back to being a normal human; seeing as Calibur heals rather than hurts, it's possible that he was going to die, but got healed and devoted his life to Soul Calibur's pursuit, but ended it after he figured out just how far it was willing to go, being yet another atoner.
  • According to SCV, despite no longer being the wielder, a piece of Soul Calibur remains inside him, possibly to keep him alive. This is why his Critical Edge still involves crystals.

Zasalamel is Tristy

The fly on the wall narrator from Weapon Master Mode in Soul Calibur II. He's a member of the secret order that protects Soul Calibur, and by the end of the story, he becomes immortal due to the opposing energy of the swords. This would explain why he thinks getting between them again will finally kill him. As for the name, he changed it because it sounded silly.

• Seems highly unlikely, given Tristy is part of the group protecting the three gates (which could be the tribe protecting Soul Calibur), and Zasalamel's stated to have found the "secret of resurrection" way after he was expelled from said group. Based on the fact that Tristy in-game uses a Kilik avatar and there's a picture of a younger Edge Master wielding Kali-Yuga in the intro for the mode, I'd wager that Tristy is actually Edge Master, Kilik's immortal and all-knowing master.
• To correct my previous assessment from the post above, Tristy most likely is not Zasalamel or Edge Master. Even if we were to ignore that, as briefly noted at the beginning of Chapter 9, Tristy is a woman ^note  Hideo Yoshie, the lead character designer in III and IV, noted in an interview from the III era that Zasalamel could possibly reincarnate as a woman, but his backstory clearly notes that he has Resurrective Immortality instead of being ageless, Weapon Master Mode most likely exists within its own universe (much like Chronicles of the Sword)... unless you want to chalk up the differently-named regions, landmasses, and bodies of water as the mode being set in Eurasia during antiquity.

Every character's weapons are actually made from aluminum

That why they never cause permanent damage (read: they act as blunt objects), and that's why Siegfried/Nightmare/half the characters can wield impossibly large weapons as if they weighed as much as a foam bat. It also helps the mystery that is Cervantes' wooden pistol still being able to shoot bullets (because it's actually aluminum).

• Gameplay and Story Segregation. In the story itself and various endings, weapons are quite capable of injuring and/or killing.
• In Nightmare's case, it may be a combo of his bond to Soul Edge and Rule of Cool.
• Well, actually, the swords Siegfried and Nightmare use would only weigh about 10-15 pounds, historically speaking.
• In the time the games take place Aluminum has not been discovered yet

Every character's weapons are actually spiritual projections of their will to fight, with no physical substance

As above, but it also explains how they can impale people without leaving any visible wounds, let alone proving instantly fatal.

• So Cervantes shoots frickin' mind bullets?
  • Yes, because he's awesome that way.
    • I didn't mean to say he wasn't awesome, I just wanted to make the reference.
• Considering the often-mentioned motifs of "souls" ("My soul burns brighter than ever!" and "Whose soul shall be stronger?") and the whole concept of Soul Weapons (e.g. the Three Sacred Treasures, and how all the weapons just seems to suit each character's style and even personality perfectly) and such, this seems like a really plausible theory. Maybe the "money" you get from different story modes (e.g. Weapon Master) are actually some kind of soul strengthening points similar to common RPG Exps, that allows the bearer to strengthen their own fighting will and obtain better weapons through spiritual projection?
  • Actually, it's possible that they are buying ACTUAL weapons, but because in battle they are so focused on attacking, their soul covers up their weapon, and in cutscenes they are in full control mode, meaning that they won't get their soul into the mix, and the people who have the discipline, Kilik and Xianghua, to prevent this from happening are against killing people naturally, so they actively use this to prevent people from getting killed during a fight. This would explain things such as Kilik being able to pierce soul Maxi with his staff, he took off his Soul... Edge... and actively used the weapon to full power, whereas in III's fight between Siegfried and Nightmare, they both managed to pull off the blunting edge of their weapons during the final strike, but the one who hit managed to inflict the lethal injury while coming out fine; presumably Nightmare started doing it, and Siegfreid picked up and removed the soul on his own edge for the last strike. This would also be why the fire strikes are never seen outside the battlefield, because they need the soul cover in order to activate.
• Or it could all be a case of Gameplay and Story Segregation.

Siegfried has Chronic Angeleus Crystallius Inoffcium

That particular disease — CACI — causes the afflicted person to TURN INTO A CRYSTAL. What's happening to Siegfried? Yes, it's caused by the body's rejection of a Cruxis Crystal... but there's nothing saying Soul Calibur isn't one. When Lloyd Irving appeared in the SC Universe, in Soul Calibur: Legends — he thought that the Soul Edge was using Exspheres. Soul Edge and Soul Calibur are essentially the same thing- and a similar relationship is shared between Exspheres and Cruxis Crystals. Also — Cruxis Crystals' effects on people seem angelic — similar to the effects of the "Spirit Sword", Soul Calibur. Exspheres, on the other hand, turn people into monsters (Do I need to say what Soul Edge does, besides eating souls — which Exspheres do as well). Lloyd, as stupid as he is, may have been exactly right — and Angol forged the two swords using these Lifeless Beings. Which, if Soul Calibur was made from a Cruxis Crystal — Siegfried may have been that unlucky 1:1 Million guy, and when he wields Soul Calibur, he exposes himself to the Cruxis Crystal, and his body is rejecting it — causing CACI, which takes a slightly different form, as it's attached through his weapon, rather than to his throat.

• Algol forged Soul Calibur off a Soul Edge shard, being purified through a ritual that claimed his life. He didn't forge Soul Edge, though, and the details on how, when, and who created it are still left unexplored.
  • Soul Edge was an ordinary blade that transformed into what it is now by soaking up blood in battle.
    • It is not. A steel zweihänder (yes, that is the original form) dating back to before 3000 BC? It may not have come to life yet, but it was everything but ordinary.
    • It's an evil artifact of supernatural origin first wielded by a king of an ancient dynasty that no one (barring Edge Master, Zasalamel, and Scheherazade, most likely) knows squat about. Who's to say that 1) Algol's nation wasn't scientifically advanced for its time (if Wolfkrone Monument and Fu-Ma no Sato: Mechanical Spider can have animatronic/mechanical contraptions in the late 16th/early 17th century, perhaps Algol's kingdom had access to steel before its first known appearance in history) and 2) that run-of-the-mill sword turning into Soul Edge is what caused Soul Edge to take the form of a zweihänder. There are no hints as what kind of sword Soul Edge was prior to its metamorphosis, after all.

Siegfried will be fully possessed by Soul Calibur in the next game.

Soul Calibur certainly has a will of its own, and even has a voice, as seen in Cassandra's ending. Soul Edge spoke to Siegfried and tricked him into becoming its host; however, the transformation to Nightmare didn't happen instantaneously. Rather, Siegfried did what Soul Edge told him of his own will at first, believing that it would bring his father back to life. Then over time, Soul Edge fully took over him, turning him into Nightmare. Now look at how things are now. Siegfried is carrying Soul Calibur and perhaps it talks to him as well. Siegfried is being urged on by Soul Calibur to destroy Soul Edge, just as Soul Edge urged Siegfried on to gather souls. Since Soul Calibur was once a part of Soul Edge, it isn't that much of a stretch to assume that it will use similar tactics. And of course, there is Siegfried's crystallized appearance, hinting that Soul Calibur is beginning to take over. In Soul Calibur V, Siegfried will once again be a mere host to a spirit sword.

• Possibly Jossed, as Siegfried no longer has Soul Calibur in V.
• He was temporarily taken over by Soul Calibur in his final battle with Nightmare, and Soul Calibur/Elysium possesses Patroklos in V proper.

Tira has two souls.

According to her SCIV profile, her mind was completely torn to pieces during the clash of the spirit swords at the Lost Cathedral. Her consciousness pulled itself together and was reformatted into two people. Her profile refers to them as two separate entities, two individual consciousnesses. Since Tira is now two different people, it is not that much of a stretch to assume that she also has two souls. This will possibly factor into her story in Soulcalibur V. Perhaps, as seen in the cutscene that plays for characters who fight Nightmare as their final boss, Nightmare absorbs her soul when he feels she has outlived her use. Unknown to him, this does not kill her and she manages to crawl away while Nightmare is busy with Siegfried. This means that one of her selves will be lost; assuming it's Jolly, then Gloomy will be in control and most likely very very pissed off.

• Partially Jossed as Jolly and Gloomy are both alive and well in Soulcalibur V. Though no confirmation for or against Tira having two souls.

Ivy is a potentially closet lesbian.

It's been known that she doesn't want to have children out of fear that they'd have Soul Edge's influence like she does. But in all honesty it's rather hard to picture Ivy as someone whom is very much asexual due to her infamous appearance and on how her personality can reflect that. Namco probably only avoided making it blatant out of hope that the games won't get M-rated. Though her 2nd outfit in Soulcalibur II might come off as a rather questionable example to certain people as well.

• You mean the one that looks like George Washington? Do I WANT to know how that is questionable?
  • Her more masculine costumes do have a certain "butch" element to 'em... not to mention that odd little smirk she has in SCII's opening while she fights Taki...
• POTENTIALLY, you say?◊

Zasalamel is the first person in the ancestry of Altair, Ezio, and Desmond

Look at that outfit! Also, he enjoys dealing death and can never permanently die himself. Furthermore, the artifact that cursed him may well be the Piece of Eden.

Yoshimitsu did not establish a legacy of people who all took the name — he attained immortality and is the same person in the Tekken series

Immortality is fairly cheap in the Soul series - Algol, all the golems, Cervantes, and Zaslamel have it, and it is quite possible that others (the vampires, anyone?) do as well. It would have been easy for Yoshimitsu to acquire immortality at some point, and continue fighting against tyranny and sanity into the modern day. After all, Heaven's net is wide... but lets nothing through. Yes, it says Yoshimitsu's been stated to be both "Yoshimitsu the First" and the "First Manjitou Leader," and the sword to in a future be "handed down from generation to generation." He's just reallllly sneaky.

• Or he could be a robot or golem. Those mechanical arms might be where the fake flesh coating stripped away....
• Except Yoshimitsu had two flesh arms in his first Tekken appearance and they are both missing different arms.
• Maybe whenever he loses too much of his artificial body, he just fakes his death and lays low for a while. A few years later, the "new" Yoshimitsu shows up (complete with fresh limbs) and convinces everyone else that he's the original's apprentice or something.
• Jossed by the Yoshimitsu in V, who is explicitly said to have been raised and taught by Yoshimitsu the First (i.e. the Yoshi from the previous four games).
• However, in Tekken 3's PAL manual it is stated that Yoshimitsu may have existed since the 18th Century, implying that a descendant of his is the one to attain immortality. Also, Tekken 2 Yoshimitsu is clearly part cyborg, and gradually becomes alien. It's possible the sword is possessed by Soul Edge and that is why he's the only character to have one in the game.
  • It's a case of Legacy Immortality, plain and simple. And despite the weirdness of Yoshimitsu's design evolution over the course of Tekken, prosthetic arm aside, that can all be chalked up to the simple fact that he's wearing armor. Various, elaborate suits of armor of varying peculiarities. He's gone from a masked man in a bodysuit (T1) to a masked samurai with a sedge cap (T2) to an alien-esque figure (T3) to a skeleton with a beetle's exoskeleton (T4) to a demonic samurai (T5) to an even more demonic samurai (T6), and now he's back in a regular suit of armor come Tag Tournament 2. Yoshi clearly likes to reinvent himself, and the same was true of his predecessor(s).

Yoshimitsu is not a title handed down — only the name of the weapon.

The character of Yoshimitsu is confirmed a Legacy Character, but the weapon name the character uses (and presumably handed down) is also named Yoshimitsu. When someone takes on the moniker, he relinquishes his name and identity (hence the mask) and gives himself to the Yoshimitsu blade, not as the master of a sword but as the wielder of an entity (The Yoshimitsu sword itself.) However, this is likely more figurative than literal despite SoulCalibur's tendency for living and magic weapons.

• Except the first Yoshimitsu was actually named Yoshimitsu, and the name of the sword came from the character. He named it after himself to gain better control over the evil spirits contained within the sword. Also, the Yoshimitsu in SCV refers to himself as "Yoshimitsu the Second," and his backstory confirms that the name is actually a title. The blade itself canonically will only accept its wielder if they have the title.

Mitsurugi is actually Hiko Seijuro I.

His fighting style resembles battoujutsu to some extent, and he kinda made it up himself. Look at his Relic stance, then look at Kenshin's battoujutsu stance. Also, Hiten MITSURUGI? Mitsurugi strikes this troper as egotistical enough to name a kenjutsu style after himself.

• Actually, a Hiko Seijūrō, presumably the original, already appeared in an earlier one-shot by Nobuhiro Watsuki, Crescent Moon in the Warring States. Although the title is handed down to succeeding masters of the style, it's not impossible for Mitsurugi to be Hiko Seijūrō II, just difficult chronologically. Though the story is set during the Sengoku era, Watsuki (allegedly) mentioned Muromachi Japan (1336–1573) in particular; Mitsurugi wouldn't be born until 1562, right before the end of this period (if one assumes that both works are concurrent), and doesn't take up the sword and the last name Mitsurugi until his parents died of illness when he was 14. That being said, Mitsurugi canonically was trained by the Murakami clan of samurai.

The Soul Series is the prequel to the Tekken series.

In this theory, Heihachi Mishima is the descendant of one of the winners of the Soul tournament. For one reason or another, the sword infuses itself into the soul of its new host, or curses them somehow. This is why the Mishimas in general are so hard to kill. The Moonlit Wilderness stage in Tekken 5 is what remains of the Lost Cathedral. Raven is either a descendant of Zasalamel, a reincarnation of Zasalamel, or working for Zasalamel.

• More specifically, exposure to the power of the Soul Edge or one of its fragments is what caused the Devil gene to develop in the first place. There's a reason Ivy decided not to have kids, but not everyone made that choice.
• Not so much the theory itself, but because of the fact that Yoshimitsu is the founder of the clan that Tekken's Yoshimitsu is a member of, it's pretty much canon that Soul Calibur takes place in the same universe as Tekken, just hundreds of years earlier.
• It has been noted that Mitsurugi bears a strong resemblance to the Mishima family and also features as the standard lead character in each game no matter what the plot. It is plausible that Mitsurugi's offspring is Jinpachi's father.
• Arthur has some of Paul Phoenix's moves and resembles him. He may well have fled Japan to go to the US. Such things may explain why Paul is a champion of Martial Arts himself - his ancestors were raised in Japan.
  • This would also explain why both Paul and Lee train with Law, as well as why Paul's rival is Kuma - Paul is a friend of the Mishimas and the family connection may go back centuries.
• Kunimitsu is plausibly descended from Natsu (Taki's replacement in Soulcalibur V). It was originally speculated that Kunimitsu was descended from Taki, but Natsu's reddish-blonde hair means she is more plausibly related to Kunimitsu, who has red hair. Natsu's second costume is purple and she wears her hair in a ponytail, which makes it vaguely resemble Kunimitsu's outfit. Natsu's personality is also that she disobeys the clan she is part of, which is exactly what Kunimitsu does that gets her kicked out of the Manji clan and presumably murdered by Yoshimitsu in Tekken 2. Speculation could be that Natsu joins the Manji Clan and her descendants are part of it for centuries, until Kunimitsu betrays it and is killed without having any children.
• That's somewhat reaching, especially since recessive genes (or, depending on how closely linked Namco wants the two series to be, the taint of Soul Edge, as seen with Xiba) could explain Kunimitsu's red hair despite her being Japanese. It's more likely, given the similarities between Manji Ninjutsu and the Fu-Ma Clan's brand of ninjutsu (particularly where Kunimitsu and Taki/Natsu are concerned) as well as Yoshi II's familiarity with Natsu (they were raised in the same village and are possibly Childhood Friends), that the current day Manji Party was formed by some merger of the Soulcalibur-era Manjitou and Fu-Ma ninjas or consists of the remnants of the latter (or some kind of bleeding effect when it came to the ninja arts, at the very least). They don't necessarily have to be related, though, and chances of all the above bullets being true is very slim due to contrivance.
  • Concept art from Tekken 1 features a character◊ who resembles both Kunimitsu and Taki, i.e. the idea for Natsu could have been based on her. Taki was a neutral character who Yoshimitsu had no issues with, but Natsu appears to be drawn towards evil and greedy acts due to being possessed by the Arahabaki demon. This bears some resemblance to how Jin started off as a "good" character but became more possessed by the Devil Gene as he went on. The reason for Natsu's red hair is given as related to this demonic possession (not unlike how in Soul Edge, possessed characters you fight in Edge Master Mode would appear green), and could plausibly explain Kuni's too. My guess is that Kunimitsu never had honest intentions upon joining the Manji clan and only did it for her own personal gain. One thing that has not been mentioned is that Tekken 2's story mentions Kuni's grandfather who is an excellent swordsmith. It is known that Taki made her own swords and could have passed this tradition down to Natsu who took it through the generations until reaching Kunimitsu. Might we see Kuni's grandfather in a future Soul game? It is a mystery.
    • 1) Though some discarded character designs have become full-fledged characters in the past (such as Azola originating from Sophitia's original alternate costume), we have no way of knowing if concept art from the original Tekken influenced the creation of Natsu so many years later. 2) Despite Arahabaki being described as "a symbol of rebellion," there's no indication Natsu is possessed by the demon; on the contrary, they appear to have some sort of mutual agreement considering Natsu can freely call upon his power for her Critical Edge. The fact that Yoshimitsu is respectful towards Natsu (he refers to her as "Lady Natsu" and asks for forgiveness if he uses his Rainbow Drop throw on her) also contests this, as he would've otherwise labeled Natsu as an "evildoer" during his taunt like he does with Patroklos. 2) Natsu's hairstyle is suggested to be due to Arahabaki's influence according to concept sketches, not her hair color (which is strawberry-blonde, by the way); Natsu's hair color was chosen by Project Soul to deliberately make Natsu stand out from Taki (given the rest of her design, she's thought be based on gyaru fashion), but there's no in-universe explanation. 4) That's canon; Kunimitsu was dismissed from the Manji Party due to stealing out of self-interest, but she attempts to steal Yoshimitsu (the sword) so that her grandfather can forge a copy of the blade before he dies. Any connections between her grandfather, the rest of the Manji clan, and the Fu-Ma ninjas beyond this, though plausible given the similarities noted, are still conjecture. (Also, to be even more nitpicky, it would have to be an ancestor of Kunimitsu—possibly the original bearer of the title if Namco wanted to add another layer to the current Yoshimitsu's relationship with Kunimitsu—who appears given the centuries-long gap between the Soul series and Tekken. On the topic of Jin, while we're at it, bearing the Devil Gene was but one factor in his Protagonist Journey to Villain, and even then, he didn't truly/fully turn evil, but that's irrelevant to this topic.)

In the ending where you face Night Terror, Zasalamel succeeded in killing himself.

This is why neither Zaslamel nor Abyss is visible during the fight — he's gone, but enough of Soul Edge's accrued energy got out to create its ultimate avatar. Of course, since that ending is non-canon, Zasalamel failed. One wonders why the fighting skill of an unrelated person would have such an impact on his apotheosis...

• This is basically canon. Read Night Terror's profile in game; it says this outright.
  • It says that Night Terror killed Zasalamel, not that Zasalamel killed himself, though.
• Unrelated? Butterfly Effect.

Necrid from Soul Calibur II was Algol's early attempt to resurrect himself.

Something went wrong during whatever process it was that was supposed to bring him back, and he turned into an incoherent green abomination, so he went back to the spirit world and tried again. Supporting this is the fact that both Necrid and Algol have the similar fighting style of materializing weapons in their hands through will alone.

• Impossible by both their backstories. Necrid is stated to have been a normal traveling warrior out to get Soul Edge, but ended up trapped in the Chaos world. Algol has never been awakened since his sealing, and he's been inside Soul Calibur, never on Chaos. He also learned his energy-bending while inside the maelstrom of energy released at the end of Soul Calibur III, and is just pure thought: he has no physical body, but one made of raw energy he created with his mind's power and will.
• Further Jossed by the Japanese sourcebook which mentions Necrid in the series timeline. Necrid has nothing to do with Algol.

Rothion is a beard; Sophitia is a lesbian, too.

I'm◊ just◊ sayin'◊ here...◊

• I sure as hell hope so.
  • Well, that's just terrible. For shame.
  • Not really. Homosexuality was still considered an evil thing back then, especially considering that Greece is still part of the Ottoman Empire by that time, and so an example of each decided to hook up so as to keep the idea that they weren't into the opposite sex as far from the public eye as possible. Honestly, if I don't ship Sophitia with Rothion, I use this idea pretty much exactly, since we don't have to go through something like the characterization of Rothion as a drunken, abusive asshat, or having an unfortunate forging accident to have him be shipped with whoever else they might aim for.
  • she believes in the greek myths. she was chosen by the god of the forge after all. the Greeks were super gay. Apollo is the patron of same sex attraction. So she can be a lesbian.

Ezio or a relative of his will appear in a Soul game.

All right, given the Soul Series' predilection for guest fighters, this isn't so much a wild guess as a near certainty.

• Not to mention, unlike the others, Ezio was active at about the time all this is supposedly going down.
  • Not quite, ACII happens in the late 1400s, around 90 years before Soul Blade (1584). Still though, it's definitely closer than Kratos was in Broken Destiny.
• Confirmed!
  • Just adding; his appearance in the game is justified due to a glitch in the Animus after Ezio picks up an artifact before he goes off to confront Cesare Borgia. Hence why he appears in a timeframe one century later than he reasonably should.

Another character will have to become Nightmare.

Nightmare can't continue to exist as a body for the sword forever; he needs a host, and he needs one now. Given that Phyrra is too young, some potential candidates for Nightmarehood are Tira, Sophitia, Maxi, and Yun-seong. Alternatively, Nightmare kills Algol and in absorbing him gains the power to exist perpetually on pure willpower, eliminating the need for any character to fall to the Nightmare persona.

• I damn sure hope that someone else becomes Nightmare already so things can finally change a bit!
• Or how about Mitsurugi becomes Nightmare? Since he may be an ancestor of the Mishimas (in Tekken), it would make a lot of sense for him to acquire the Devil Gene via Soul Edge, which he then passed on down to his descendants. Jinpachi in particular bears some great resemblance to Soul Edge, what with that demonic eye he can have. And his demon form is even the same red/purple color scheme as the sword.

• As of SCV, Nightmare's new host is a spare body that was hidden under Ostrheinsburg and assuming the alias of Graf Dumas.
  • Which turns out to be Raphael's body.
    • And if it was found under Ostrheinsburg, one has to wonder whether this actually makes Amy's SCIV ending canon.
  • If it is really Raphael. They both do look alike, fact; but Project Soul has yet to actually confirm that.

Cassandra and Raphael's stories will remain linked

In the transition to SCIII, Cassandra's weapons were cracked from an encounter with the vampire townsfolk Raphael turned, while in the transition to SCIV, she was attacked by Raphael personally and had her shards stolen, seeking out the holy stone. This road could lead to her becoming Raphael's nemesis rather than Soul Edge's, and end in one of two ways for her appearance in SCV's opening or ending: as the world's first vampire hunter... or as Amy's pet.

In Soul Calibur IV, Angol Fear spares Earth from destruction because of the Dodo species.

Angol Fear's ending states that "If mankind was the only being on this planet she would had brought judgement without hesitation but there are other numerous lives on this planet that are unswayable by others and live in peace." She seems to be looking on Talim's stage filled with Dodo birds.

• Immunity to both Soul Calibur and Soul Edge is what "unswayable" means. Angol Fear hopes they would become sentient and become the new dominant species. Humanity would be destroyed by the Soul Swords.
• Or like the Tau in Warhammer 40K, they lack souls that Soul Edge needs to feed and are unaffected by Soul Calibur mind control. It would leave both swords with no way to affect the planet and maybe even the wise dodo species would destroy them. This could make them immune to becoming malfested.
• Holy Roman Emperor Rudolf II also had a collection of stuffed Dodo in his Kunstkammer which was a collection of the three kingdoms (animal, vegetable, mineral). Graf Dumas serves this emperor so the Dodo extermination might have started at his reign. The dodo's in the collection were too dangerous to remain alive and Nightmare killed them himself. To please the Holy Roman Emperor he gave their bodies for his collection.

Soul Calibur V

Assuming there will be one, where do you speculate the plot and characters will go? Put your guestimates here. (Now that there is, adding bullet points for the answers).

• Lizardman will return from being a comic relief villain. His goals make him an Evil Counterpart to Sophitia and gives him and Astaroth a common enemy, possibly giving Astaroth more to do than be Nightmare's The Starscream over and over.
  • Aeon (no longer going by Lizardman) did manage to bounce back from comic relief status, but since we don't really see what he does storywise, he's more of a threat in gameplay, now that he has two weapons and wings.
• Algol will die or become a What If? character like Abyss and Night Terror.
  • The What If? possibility is Jossed. He fought Mitsurugi.
    • Algol is still around in the Astral Chaos, trying to play The Man Behind the Man on the conflict between Soul Calibur/Patroklos and Soul Edge/Pyrrha.
• Tira informs Sophitia that if Soul Edge is to survive along with her children, that it must be fed souls. So Sophitia kills her and feeds her soul to Soul Edge.
  • Alternatively, Sophitia takes Soul Edge herself, allowing it to possess her and becoming like the very being she once fought, bringing the story full circle.
    • Remember that shard of Soul Edge that was lodged inside Sophitia's body since way back at the end of SE when she fought Cervantes? Yeah, she pulled it out and implanted it into Pyrrha to save her life (since she cannot live without the Soul Edge), but ended up dying in the process. Then the poor kid was kidnapped, setting off a domino effect that turned her into quite The Woobie.
• Talim somehow takes possession of Soul Calibur, the spirit sword drawn to her pure heart; with its current Knight Templar tendencies, however, she will need to keep it under control. Enter Zasalamel, who becomes her unseen guardian, training her skills and willpower in order to keep either sword from gaining an edge and helping preserve the continuing existence of the human race.
  • They've both been Put on a Bus.
• A combination of Algol's and Kamikirimusi's ending becomes canon. Algol is able to claim both Soul Edge and Soul Calibur. Kamikirimusi finds the family she was looking for by by falling in love with his strength. They both elope together, gathering many followers among the youkai and humans. Algol creates the Danmaku System of Conflict Resolution based on his fighting style, particularly his Eltanin Nath (Menacing Eye) projectile attack. Later, he rules Gensokyo with his bride, Kamikirimusi, from the shadows after the Hakurei barrier is established. Which is hinted at in his SCIV ending as his motivation: "What the resurrected Algol aims to achieve is an eternal rule that will never die." A source of Hourai Elixir would do just that.
• Taki, banished from her ninja clan, takes a last name, Hakurei, becoming the first priestess of the Hakurei Shrine. She does this as the numbers of youkai fall but feels a disconect with the rest of humanity, possibly coming to the conclusion that the only difference between humans and Youkai is power levels. So she flees to a land full of Youkai unable to live with the rest of humanity, creating a position that treats humans and youkai somewhat equally. Taki traveled to at least Ostrheinsburg, maybe even some of Europe, which explains why the Hakurei miko outfit has western influences such as the skirt and frills. The longer hair and clothes help hide her identity from the Fu-Ma Ninja and allow her to bury her past. When the Hakurei barrier is created, she goes to the barrier to live with the youkai, keeping them in line.
• Hakurei Reimu, Marisa Kirisame, Sakuya Izayoi, and maybe Cirno will be the the new guest characters for the next Soul Calibur game. Taki will get her "first Hakurei Miko" costume, Ivy a Nekoromancer costume, Cassandra a cute witch costume, Amy a "Scarlet Devil", and a shop keeper costume for Mitsurugi.
  • ...I refuse to comment on these.
• Rock will be dead or retired by the time of SCV - BANGOO!! will take his place.
  • It's unknown what happens to Rock. Though it would be nice to have Bangoo follow in his footsteps, as Rock's Soul Calibur ending hinted at.
• Here's how it goes down:
  • Nightmare and Siegfried clash, awakening Algol. Algol takes Soul Edge and Soul Calibur, destroying Nightmare once and for all, and putting Siegfried on the brink of death. Zasalamel tries to use his mystical arts to stop Algol, but is handily defeated by the Hero King because he lacks the power to overcome him. Kilik then arrives, and both Kilik (who has the Rod and Mirror that created Soul Calibur in the first place) and Zasalamel ironically work together to purify and defeat Algol, banishing him forever; but in doing so, Inferno and Crystal (which is what I am calling Soul Calibur's soul) break free of their restraints: Inferno enters Zasalamel's body, turning him into Abyss and using his powers to materialize in our world as Night Terror, while Crystal renters Siegfried's body and turns him into an angelic being called Evangelion, and materializing in our world in an ephemeral form as Logos. Kilik tries to stop this, but is stopped by Xianghua who fears for his life. This will set up a unique system in the story for the next game, setting up a war between the two swords: The Dark Capital versus the Kingdom of Light.
    • Siegfried and Nightmare do have their showdown, and the clash between Soul Calibur and Soul Edge sends them to Astral Chaos, where in the end, Siegfried prevailed, destroying the Soul Edge. Because of this, the Soul Calibur wouldn't respond to him anymore, so Siegfried left it and went back to the Schwarzwind. But that wasn't the end of Soul Edge, and its fragments got scattered about again. So, with time, most of Soul Edge was put back together by the malfested (i.e. people who were infected by its will) and it reformed Nightmare into a new host (possibly Raphael's mortal body), who rather than slaughtering living stuff left and right, preferred to use diplomacy and lay low, and spent 12 more years at this.
  • Maxi will be killed by Nightmare, so that his piece of Soul Edge will be absorbed and Li Long will take his place.
    • Maxi is still alive and well, though the piece of Soul Edge stopped him from aging. He just didn't succumb to it because Edge Master taught him how to control its dark urges. Li Long, meanwhile, is living with Chie, who is now the head of the Fu-Ma ninja clan, and their son.
  • Yun-seong will realize too late his foolishness, and will die protecting Seong Mi-na, and Hwang will take his place.
    • Nothing happens to them. They go back to Korea and, since Tokugawa Ieyasu declares peace, there's no more need for the Koreans to fight.
  • After awakening, Night Terror will turn Ostrheinsburg (sorry for the misspelling) into the real Dark Capital, and consume every soil there (including Wolfkrone's entire army), and only those protected by Soul Calibur or spared by Soul Edge will be saved.
    • The Nightmare we knew is gone. So, no Night Terror here. And Ostrheinsburg is correct.
  • Logos will establish itself in the kingdom of Wolfkrone and rename it the Kingdom of Light, as the beginning of the new perfect world (as Crystal sees it) and Crystal (with Soul Calibur), will sit on the throne and emit a radiant light that can be seen across the kingdom and adjacent lands, but what most people don’t know, is that this light will slowly brainwash all who see it…
    • While that is Elysium's M.O. (and she came this close to doing it to Siegfried and Patroklos), and that could've been a good plot point as detailed above, it doesn't happen. Where Wolfkrone was there's still a wasteland.
  • Seong Mi-na and Hilde will despair, having lost everything, and will devote their lives as servants of Evangelion and Logos.
    • As said before, Mi-na went back to Korea and stayed there. As for Hilde, she's trying to rebuild Wolfkrone elsewhere.
  • Sophitia realizes that her daughter has already been consumed by Soul Edge and gives her mind over willingly to Soul Edge, like a drunkard drinking to keep from being sober, and becomes a loyal servant.
    • Read above on Sophitia's fate.
  • Taki tried to stop Siegfried, but was soundly defeated, and watches as her worst nightmires are realized; only through the power of Mekkimarru does she survive, but Mekkimaru is consumed by Night Terror, strengthening it; Yoshimitsu watches as his group of thieves is wiped out when Ostreins-you-know-what-I'm-talking-about becomes the dark capital and has his sword consumed by Soul Edge; he joins up with Taki and the two forge new weapons and pledge to fight both swords.
    • Taki doesn't get to do anything: she just goes back to Japan and takes Natsu under her wing, then heads to the West when she hears rumors of Toki and goes missing, prompting Natsu to go looking for her. Yoshimitsu, in the meantime, goes back to leading the Manjitou, dies one year before the events of SCV and is succeeded by the new Yoshimitsu, which is the one we see in this game.
  • Raphael searches for Siegfried, but he runs into Kilik instead and is purified by the Holy Stone; he and Amy are spared by Night Terror and Soul Calibur, and meet different fates; Raphael joins Soul Calibur, while Amy is forced to join Soul Edge because of her malfestation, and is slowly corrupted by the sword to become its new number two.
    • There's a potential spoiler on Raphael's fate, because they haven't yet decided what happened to him: if he's still a vampire, or if he's Nightmare's new host posing as Graf Dumas. What is known is that Raphael is looking for Amy, who had suddenly disappeared (assuming you don't believe her to be Viola).
  • Kilik and Xianghua survive due to the power of the Kali-yuga and Dvapara-yuga, but Kilik becomes angry with Xianghua, affecting their relationship; Talim, who was protected by the wind, joins them, and together, they vow to bring balance to the world; Xianghua meets her father and learns of her heritage, including her connection to Xianglian, as will Kilik, and this will help heal their relationship.
    • The worst that happens between them is that Kilik leaves Xianghua behind only with the Dvapara-Yuga. While they get a Relationship Upgrade, he cannot be in a relationship with her since he's still tainted with the evil of Soul Edge, and must train hard to cleanse himself. So he goes off to the Astral Gates, while Xianghua was placed in an arranged marriage with an army general and had Leixia (who, surprise surprise, wears the Dvapara-Yuga as a pendant). Oh, and that one-night stand would result in Xiba, though apparently only Xianghua knows it.
  • Hwang joins Soul Calibur with Mi-na; not sure what Li Long will do.
  • Astaroth is killed by Rock, who also destroyed Ashlotte (who was confused by their similarities and attacked Rock); Rock is spared by Soul Calibur, but doesn't outright join with it, thus escaping its grasp.
    • Astaroth does die, but by Ashlotte's hand. She retrieved his heart and sent it back to the Fygul Cestemus, that was getting back together. Deciding what to do with it was something different altogether; in the end, Kunpaetku, who came Back from the Dead, ended up with the heart and made another Astaroth, which is the one that appears in SCV. In fact, the backstory says he made some more, but nothing in the game came of it (unless the giants we see tied up in some stages are Kunpaetku's golems too).
  • Cassandra, ticked off with the whole situation, pledges hatred against both blades (even though she was saved by Soul Calibur when the Dark Capital was created) and joins up with Aeon Calcos (who reclaimed his soul and human form when the two spirit swords clashed) and pledges to free Sophitia (or put her out of her misery), while Aeon wishes to atone for his sins now that he has regained his humanity.
    • Cassandra's apparently still lost in Astral Chaos after Sophitia knocked her out cold and left her at Ostrheinsburg.
  • Ivy joins up with Logos to fight Soul Edge; her father, Cervantes, survives, and, because of his connection to the sword, is forced to bow before Soul Edge, but makes plans to reclaim his "property".
    • Ivy has a showdown with Cervantes and kills him (as much as you can kill an undead anyway), releasing all the souls he's ever stolen. At this point, the Astral Chaos opened and he was sucked in. When Soul Edge was shattered, Ivy knew that it was not the end of it, and promptly went back home and hit the books to look for a way to destroy Soul Edge once and for all. As for Cervantes, he came Back from the Dead when he returned to this world.
  • Voldo stays loyal to Soul Edge.
    • Kilik manages to cure him. But then Voldo gets employment under Graf Dumas, a.k.a. the new Nightmare, and it's back to the same old, same old...
  • Mitsurugi and Setsuka fight, but it is inconclusive; Mitsurugi and Setsuka are spared by Soul Calibur, but Mitsurugi joins no side, while Setsuka joins the side of Soul Calibur to oppose the evil (and to get a shot at Mitsurugi, who she knows will fight against everyone to prove his strength; Shura had tried to get between the two and fight them both, but was killed; she will be replaced by Arthur, who has perfected a new style that uses the katana and wakizashi in both hands, and his role is thus far uncertain.
    • Mitsurugi's fight is actually with Algol. However, while they were fighting, Siegfried and Nightmare's tiff opened up Astral Chaos, which sucked Algol in, leaving their fight in a stalemate. Mitsurugi's only option was to go back home. He does get to fight Setsuka later, and she manages to beat him and avenge her master, taking his katana in the process. She then realized the emptiness of pursuing vendetta, left Japan, settled in Istanbul, changed her name to "Neve" and, among other things, passed her style on to Patroklos. Mitsurugi, on his part, had to settle down as a farmer, since the peace of the Tokugawa Shogunate saw him out of work. Once he hears that Soul Edge's back at it again, though, he sells his landplot and heads off to the West without a second guess.
  • Dampierre will survive because he fled the cursed city before it became the Dark Capital, but he will probably not play an important role.
    • Heh, yeah. Not that he'd want to see himself anywhere near a battle like that anyway...
  • Kamikirimusi pledges loyalty to Soul Edge as her new family.
  • Angol Fear decides to continue to observe Earth.
  • Scheherazade decides to take an active role in her story after seeing what happened to Wolfkrone and begins to find a way to stop the madness of this cataclysmic war.
    • None of them comes back. I suppose it's because they're more IP of their creators than Namco's (and Angol Fear was transplanted into Sgt. Frog later).
  • Valeria, Hualin and Lynette will return(!), serving their employer Cepheus, who is an ancient weapon master, like Edge Master and Olcadan, and all three gentlemen meet to become an Omnipotent Council of Vagueness, with the shopkeeper girls as their warrior servants.
    • They don't. The only one we know is still around is Edge Master (doesn't mean the others aren't - after all, Olcadan's been in his dungeon for centuries, for one, but he's yet to see some action again).
  • It will be revealed that Siegfried's friend who tried to protect him from Taki in Taki's backstory was actually this universe’s version of Veral (the main antagonist of SCII's little alternate universe adventure story), and he will be this game's main protagonist.
  • Tira will have been consumed Soul Edge to give him a power boost.
    • What does that mean? She consumed Soul Edge or she was consumed by Soul Edge? Either way, she's still doing her same function here, except this time her loyalty is more clearly with Soul Edge itself than with the new Nightmare whom, basically, she thinks is a wuss. Hence why she manipulates Pyrrha into becoming Soul Edge's host.
  • The new bonus characters would be: Link for Wii and an ancestor of Desmond Miles of Assassin's Creed for 360 and PS3
    • Some of us Devil May Cry fans have been waiting for Dante since the rumor that SCIII was used for a DMC3 boss battle.
    • Yep, there is Ezio as a Guest Fighter. Sadly, there's not even a Wii version, let alone Link.

Taki will found the Kuzunoha Clan

Shortly after the ending of Soul Calibur IV, Taki resumes her Demon Hunting profession and reforms her clan under the name of Kuzunoha.

• Not possible. The Raidou line has existed for 1200 years in the 1920s, SC isn't in the 800s.
  • Yeah, the series officially takes place in the mid-late 16th century.

Olcadan is somehow related to Edge Master

In Olcadan's Tales of Souls playthrough, he ends up facing Kilik as his Destined Battle, and always uses a staff. Now, why would this be?

• It's heavily implied, if not outright stated, that Edge Master is the one who managed to fight Olcadan to a draw in the past.

Raphael is a pedophile

Just look at how Amy's dressed. Not to mention how close they are. Also remember that Amy is only his adoptive daughter.

• Seeing as it goes two ways (note that Raphael only got attached to Amy after the latter stuck her neck out to help him), it could be equally a case of Precocious Crush on Amy's part. Her behavior, at the least, indicates that she's not completely innocent...
• Alternately, Raphael does have romantic feelings for Amy and was simply biding his time.
  • If that's true, he'll probably be overjoyed if the Viola = Amy theories are right.

Kilik is actually Sun Wukong/Son Goku.

OK, let's see, he fights with a staff, has one of his weapons named after the Monkey King's staff (Jingu Staff/Ruyi Jingu Bang), possesses tremendous power that leveled the temple he was raised in, nobody knows where he came from... and oh yeah! His seiyuu is Soichiro Hoshi, the same guy who voices Goku in Saiyuki.

• (claps) Factoring in that last line, Kilik's berserker state when not in the possession of the Dvapara-Yuga = Goku's Seiten Taisei. In other words, he's stronger, faster, but feral and lacking the sanity to properly wield such powers. Also, wouldn't this make his nigh-Battle Couple status with Xianghua at the end of IV a full-on God Couple?
• Jossed so bad by V. There is definitely a REAL Monkey King in this universe.
  • Well, not quite. Xiba, like Kilik, is based off of Son Goku, but there's nothing (yet) pointing to Xiba being of divine origin. The fact that they're father and son makes things even more humorous, since they more or less split the entirety of Wukong's backstory and traits between them.

The reason why Soul Calibur became evil in SCIV is because of Soul Edge.

After the events of SCI, the titular weapon is stuck inside the Abyss of Inferno. In SCII, it has been absorbed by Inferno, and became corrupted, even sporting an evil eye like Soul Edge does. During SCIII, it is pulled out of the Abyss, but then is locked in the Soul Embrace with SE. In SCIV, it does finally get away from Soul Edge, but the long-term exposure to it has made it Lawful Evil.

• It's very likely, given that Inferno's ending in the first SoulCalibur has it state that it willingly turned the holy sword evil. Perhaps the spirit of the evil sword was Genre Savvy enough to conclude that even if it couldn't destroy its mortal enemy, that it'd make it just as dangerous for the heroes as it was to itself. Alternatively, it's possible that since Soul Calibur was birthed from Soul Edge, it retained a portion of its original malevolent intent (it might have been created from a purified shard of Soul Edge, but remember, Pure Is Not Good).
• Soul Calibur's Knight Templar nature is actually due to the restlessness of Algol's spirit corrupting it when he sacrificed himself to create the sword. The time it spent trapped with Soul Edge, plus the lack of proximity to the other Sacred Treasures meant to purify Soul Calibur (back when it was the Krita-Yuga) probably helped speed things along.

Soul Calibur isn't actually evil.

She's just a Knight Templar, and someone will set her straight, hopefully Siegfried.

• And now this Troper has an image of Siegfried bitch-slapping the spirit of the Soul Calibur.
  • Considering they might as well be an Official Couple till V...
    • Soul Calibur was never meant to be evil to begin with. Algol made it to counteract the evil of Soul Edge, but all the time it spent inside Inferno ended up warping its original purpose (the WMG before this one is pretty much canon).

Soulcalibur V will chronicle the further adventures of Necrid

Because he's such an interesting, well-designed, and popular character that it'd be a pity if all we got to see of him was his role in SCII.

• Jossed.

Voldo is Vercci.

The official story goes that Vercci, driven insane by the loss of most of his wealth in the Great Italian Wars, ordered his seamen to dig the Money Pit to serve as a treasure hoard and tomb for the Merchant of Death; Voldo was then commanded to kill the seamen and become the Money Pit's sole guardian. In reality, however, the increasingly paranoid Vercci was unwilling to let anyone near the treasure, and murdered Voldo shortly after the sailors were dead. Vercci's guilt at having killed his most loyal servant led him to believe he was Voldo. Now the Merchant of Death himself guards the pit, his lifespan unnaturally lengthened by his greed and his exposure to Soul Edge, occasionally taking orders from whatever part of his mind is still relatively intact. Naturally, this voice sounds like Vercci's.

• Wow... considering that this is Voldo we're speaking of, that is freaky enough to work. Jeez, and they say that Tira has all the mental issues.

• Alternatively, Vercci disguised himself as Voldo out of paranoia. Afraid of assassins, he pretented to be the servant, while Voldo pretended to be Vercci. The real Voldo died after the Money Pit was built, and Vercci jealously guarded over his treasures. The years of isolation drove him insane, and he ended up believing he was Voldo.

Necrid is the future fate of Johan Dürer.

Inferno's realm, Chaos, exists outside of time, allowing for Dürer to escape from Chaos in his new, completely corrupted form before he entered the realm.

Necrid is a Time Lord.

His TARDIS is powered by the universal resentment of Soulcalibur fans.

Soulcalibur V will crossover with Highlander.

Both are franchises with a heavy emphasis on sword fighting. And since there's talk about a reboot of the movies...

There is a Sword of wisdom/knowledge

Pratty or Aera will be a guest fighter

Namco Bandai owns all of Banpresto and has absorbed their devs/properties now, and flight-plan's death left their stuff to Banpresto according to the article I read on it, plus both have developed fighting styles already. Given SC is a Fanservice fighter, who could resist the temptation of lesbians?

A Sith Lord created Soul Edge

The Sith create many types of evil stuff, in the form of Sith Swords, Sith Amulets, and Sithspawn (monsters). The Soul Calibur world is already connected to the Star Wars Universe (the planet is stuck in the Cowl Crucible). What does Soul Edge do — make weapons (it helped build Ivy's sword), become shards that corrupts people, and turn them to monsters (Charade). It may be calling Vader to use its power properly since no one knows Sith Sorcery in the Soul Series and since it could repair Cervantes while he was crumbling to dust, a pair of arms and legs would not be too hard for Soul Edge. It might even want Anakin's body with his repaired Force Potential, and a whole universe of souls to harvest.

• The reason the Soul Calibur crew can block lightsabers? The Force Weapon ability which grants resistance to lightsabers, which is mentioned to have been created by many cultures and force traditions.
• This would date Soul Edge's creation during the Old Sith Empire when Sith swords were in style.
• Muur Talisman is a good example of a sith artifact able to create minions called Rakghouls.

Hilde's inclusion in IV (and by proxy, her relationship to Siegfried) was intentional.

Siegfried is already supposed to be a homage to the legendary Norse hero, Sigurd. Gram, the sword used by Sigurd to kill the dragon Fafnir, is a recurring weapon of Siegfried's (mistranslated in the games as "Glam"), and Siegfried himself gets to face Fafnir in Legends. Then comes Lady von Krone in IV. She gets some light Ship Tease with Siegfried, and ultimately offers him the one thing he sought in her ending: forgiveness. Now look at her name. Her full name is Hildegard, or Hilde for short. Hilde, as in Brunnhilde (or depending on the translation, Brynhildr or Brynhild) the valkyrie? Does either a) the Völsunga saga, b) Nibelungenlied, or c) Der Ring des Nibelungen ring a bell? If you're not familiar with these stories, all that you really need to know is that our hero rescues the fair shieldmaiden, they fall in love, and soon after marry (well, at least in the first two). Make of that as you will.

• Hilde already has two kids, I believe a daughter and son, and she's not stated to be married. While there is no official mention of a father, Hilde has spent the last seventeen years as a part of Siegfried's motley crew, the Schwarzwind. It's far from unlikely that they grew tired of feeling alone for a time. This could translate into those kids being to Soul Calibur what Ivy and Pyrrha are to Soul Edge.

Soul Edge and/or Soul Calibur have/has the power to break language barriers.

Ok, I'll admit this one was partly Just for Fun, but the setting for Soul Calibur has everyone speaking the same language. This could just be a case of Translation Convention, but Tekken, which is in the same universe, has everyone speaking different languages, even though it takes place in a time where it's easier to learn languages and people are probably more likely to be able to speak the same language. Plus, cutscenes just seem to imply that characters from different countries who probably wouldn't be bilingual can understand each other perfectly. (For example, Taki and Siegfried, or Algol with anyone other than Arcturus and maybe Zasalamel.) So I just like to think that when the two swords got so powerful that they started to affect the balance of the world, language barriers were among the things that were affected.

• Though Mitsurugi and Arthur's backstories both mention language barriers. (Mitsurugi experiencing them in Europe, and Arthur being unable to return to England due to forgetting how to speak English.) But Mitsurugi's was mentioned in one of the older games and Arthur went to Japan and learned Japanese well before the events of the games themselves, so the swords wouldn't have been as powerful at those times, and therefore probably not powerful enough to affect language barriers.

Pyrrha will be either Soul Edge's new host or its Dragon in SCV

With the news of the timeskip and Sophitia's son Patroklos being the new lead (along with confirmation that Pyrrha is in fact in the game), it seems clear that the best motivation for his father forging the new weapons and teaching him to use them is the fact that his sister has been lost to darkness.

• And, yes, the images of her we've seen so far just look like a slight tweak on her mother and aunt. However, we know that those images are recycled SCIV assets, actually guaranteed to not appear unaltered in the finished game. It could all be an elaborately-staged case of Demos Always Lie.
• Pyrrha, no. Pyrrha Omega...

Ivy is immortal and unaging

The creators will not be able to resist putting her in and taking the outfit up yet another notch, and with the taint of Soul Edge in her blood atop the alchemic experiments, they have an excuse to avoid Fan Disservice.

• The new art is in and she looks like she is at least unaging.
• Definitely confirmed by her profile. Her cursed blood caused her body to "forget how to age."

(almost?) Everyone is unaging

Due to exposure to Edge and Calibur, which is confirmed to be able to make people immortal of some variety, either as a lesser "splash damage" of Z's plan that makes them ageless but killable, or because of Calibur's stasis thing, most, if not all, of the player characters will be roughly the same physical age. The ones that won't are Rock (Bangoo has had enough focus to be a obvious successor to him, plus the slide he is seen in shows him with Rock's axe), Setsuka (she isn't involved with the swords during SCIV and can't gain immortality this way, her face on the boob chart looks older IMO), Mitsurugi (he is the one character in the cast I can see most definitely working as 17 years older).

• A lot of the cast is under 20 pre-timeskip, so Queen Hilde of Wolfkorone, High-Priestess Talim, General Hong Yun-seong, and so forth could easily show up in their mid-to-late 30s (and rocking the M/DILF look if fanservice is a requirement).
• From the company that really shook up the roster of Tekken with a 17-year jump, it would be a huge letdown if they copped out this time.
• As of Soulcalibur V, the "immortal" or "unaging" characters of the current cast are confirmed to be: Algol ("everlasting"), Edge Master ("eternal"), Ivy (whose aging stopped as a result of her cursed blood and her research into Astral Chaos), Kilik (assumed to have stopped due to exposure to Astral Chaos), Maxi (not immortal, but physical aging has slowed down due to the Soul Edge shard inside him), Raphael (hasn't aged since SCIV presumably due to being malfested), and Tira (assumed to have stopped due to malfestation).

Rothion will run the weapon shop in V

Because it would make sense to some degree (swordsmith sells weapons) and make him appear in some fashion.

• Appears to be impossible now. We've seen Pat's profile, and he's dead.
• Maybe Soul Edge brings him back as a ghost or something.
• 1. That would be needlessly creepy; and 2. There isn't a weapon shop in SCV anyway. The Cepheus Store was repurposed into selling DLC costume parts.

Sophitia will be incapacitated or frozen in time in V

In a fandom viewpoint, this would allow her to reappear youthful in the upcoming games so she didn't degenerate into an old hag as time passed, kind of like Nina and Anna in-between Tekken 2 and 3. Story-wise, this would make sense if you remember that the Greek Pantheon is full of Jerkass Gods. Sophitia's unwilling Face–Heel Turn wouldn't go unnoticed by the Gods, and even Hephaestus himself, so once the events of IV ended, Sophitia will be punished with either incapacitation or being held in a frozen state for turning her sword against them, even if her goal was VERY sympathetic. Years later, Patroklos would learn of what happened, and will fight and probably save his sister to redeem his mother and bring her back to the living. Oh, and he'll be very bitter to even Hephaestus.

• Official profile says she got killed, as well as her husband.
  • Actually, she got rid of the Soul Edge shard that had been lodged in her heart since her fight with Cervantes in Soul Blade to save Pyrrha, therefore, Sophitia's dead.

Patroklos will become the new Nightmare.

Many are specualating that Pyrrha will become possessed by Soul Edge due to Tira infecting her with Soul Edge's energy. However, notice how it's Patroklos who appears in Soul Edge's eye while the music suddenly becomes more sinister. This hints that Patroklos will become Nightmare, or at the very least, become Soul Edge's new wielder. In turn, Pyrrha will become Soul Calibur's wielder.

• Jossed. Actually it's the other way around: Pyrrha got Soul Edge, and Patroklos got Soul Calibur.

Lizardman will no longer be a comic relief character.

Well, we can dream, right?

• He's been confirmed for V. We'll see how his story pans out. Cross your fingers, everyone.
  • They don't give him anything to do. Gameplay-wise, though, he Took a Level in Badass.

Zasalamel died at the end of SCIV...

...and will return as a 16-17 year old girl in SCV.

• But he lost Time Lord-style immortality in III, gaining real "can't be killed" in IV.
  • That's only in his own ending, which involves him absorbing the two spirit swords anyway; it's totally not happening.
    • Nope: Losing his normal immortality is the entire plot of III and his actions in IV, seeing a vision of future earth with hints of space travel deciding right there and then that "he wants to live to see that era."

Siegfried will act as Patroklos' mentor figure in V.

His new look just screams Older and Wiser, doesn't it? Also, being the previous hero and main villain of the series at different points in time would definitely make Sieg very knowledgeable on what the neophyte protagonist is up against on his journey.

• There was a sort of setup to this in the Story Mode, as Patroklos does interact with Siegfried and the Schwarzwind. However, due to Pat's general douchebaggery, nothing comes of it.

SCV's Story Mode will have three Final Battles and Ending Cinematics per character.

• Bad End: Commands and/or gets corrupted by Soul Edge.
• Bad End 2.0: Commands or gets "Purified" by Soul Calibur.
• Good End: Escapes, destroys, and or balances out both weapons for the sake of all that lives.
  • There's only one ending to the story mode, but the good one is confirmed.

An entirely new character will be of Russian origin

Ok, most of the area is crazy no-man's land, but the general area is unused in Soul__.

Setsuka will train Arthur's daughter

Either as just a trainer, or step-mom.

Algol is responsible for the Soul blades' SCV appearance.

Supposedly, there will be a reason given for why the Soul swords have changed to a short-sword form. How does Algol use the two blades? Why, as a pair of short swords that manifest in the place of his hands. Following his probable defeat, the two blades likely retained this shape, molding themselves after their ancient source material instead of the greatsword template adopted from Siegfried. Then again, given the new protagonist, there's likely to be a little of Sophitia's influence thrown in as well.

• Jossed. Algol uses the SCIV versions of the soul swords, and he doesn't even have an impact on the story (then again, you don't see what most of the other characters are up to during Story Mode). As for the new appearances of the weapons, this is due to the weapons changing their form in accordance to their new owners: Pat and Pyrrha.

Ashlotte has telekinesis

Would explain why she's able to throw people without making contact.

Pyrrha looks scared because she just saw the female model concept art.

"What do you mean D is the middle ground?!"

Pat and Pyrrha will have a Luke/Leia thing

Pat's bio says they haven't known each other during the 17 year gap...

• More or less confirmed in the Story Mode.
  • Nope, that's Jossed. Patroklos knows that Pyrrha's his sister, and immediately tells her so.

Pyrrha is still possessed by Soul Edge enough to mirror what Siegfried had once done.

In Soul Calibur, it mentioned that whenever Sieg would sleep, he would awake to find his sword covered in blood. The same will happen with Pyrrha.

• Further supported by everyone close to her seemingly dying and being imprisoned for killing her fiancee, despite her swearing to not remembering committing the murder.
• Actually, that was Tira who killed Pyrrha's fiance. However, Tira does manipulate the girl into killing others, eventually turning Pyrrha into a malfested (i.e. Pyrrha Omega). This would suggest that Soul Edge had some sort of lingering effect from all those years ago.

Pyrrha's lifeforce is still connected with Soul Edge.

In one of Patroklos's endings, he will find Soul Edge and destroy it just as Pyrrha walks in. You can guess what happens.

• Jossed.
• The scenario above is Jossed, however, Pyrrha's life still appears to have a connection to Soul Edge, as it was the reason Sophitia chose to sacrifice her life.

Lizardman/Lizardmen are really the dinosaurs from Jurassic Park

A theory I thought of really just meant to be silly. But I often play Soul Calibur II and whenever I see him, he obviously reminds me of a dinosaur (specifically a velociraptor) and also we see that Lizardman/Lizardmen really have no back story and are just extras. That got me thinking... remember that the velociraptors in Jurassic Park became highly intelligent, especially at the expense of the humans at the island? So what if the Soul Calibur Universe is not really a historical happening, but more of a post-apocalyptic world that shares many of the same historical cultures, ideas, etc. (basically I guess a repeat of our world/history) passed down from its pre-apocalyptic world, but in a different way (it would explain certain things such as the Translation Convention, Eternal Sexual Freedom, etc.)? Obviously this doesn't take place directly After the End, but maybe a few thousand years and possibly the end was even caused by the demonic sword itself? Anyway, assuming we all know what happened in Jurassic Park, the world ends and obviously animals still survive including the secluded island of dinosaurs. Possibly they just continued to evolve, but not enough time passed when we first see them, so they're still intelligent and possess human-like qualities, but still remain very dinosaur/lizard-like. Personally, a velociraptor with a sword is just Rule of Cool, but that's just me.

• That could explain also the experiments on Alex four centuries later...

Taki's oversized breasts are a curse by Gel-O-Fury.

Gel-O-Fury, though never fought in-game, is a recurring nemesis of Taki, whose job is to seal away demonkind. During one of their battles, he cursed Taki. What does this curse do? It caused her breasts to inflate to ridiculous proportions, and made them incredibly sensitive, so any attempts to restrain them with reasonable clothing would hurt even more than just letting them swing around as she jumps around. This is why Taki runs around with her breasts swaying freely. They're cursed. It's possible the curse is infectious, and has spread to many of the other females that Taki has had dealings with.

• That would explain why most of the gals have had their breasts inflate to the point where a D cup is average in terms of endowment when they used to be either more modest up top or at least reasonably buxom (relatively speaking). The increasingly Stripperiffic outfits are also telling.
• It probably isn't Gel-O-Fury doing it, but Soul Edge itself, which is known to be sapient and is apparently a perv. Notice that the two women with the most exposure are Ivy and Tira, the former of whom is confirmed to have very tainted blood and is suffering the worst of the Inflation Syndrome, and the latter of whom merely has a tainted psyche and is physically incapable of covering more than 50% of her breasts.

Sophitia will be the new Nightmare.

• She's one of the more likely choices, alongside Patroklos and Pyrrha (their contamination by Soul Edge could very well be a Chekhov's Gun in waiting) and Tira (y'know, the very same girl who wants to become one with Soul Edge). It could account for the ambiguity of her alleged "death" by the time of the game. (By the way, I'm just replying; I didn't come up with the theory itself.)
  • The latest trailer seems to heavily support this theory.
  • The latest build of the character select screen◊ finally shows Nightmare, next to Tira at the end of the second row (as well as the reveal of Raphael next to Viola and Guest Fighter Ezio Auditore in the top row). Now, look closely at Nightmare. His (her?) eyes look very feminine. Recent screenshots, however, show no feminine touches to Nightmare's armor that would suggest this, though.
  • Not to mention that in the official reveal trailer for Ezio, while the Azure Knight is shown in all of his (her?) glory, Nightmare doesn't utter a single word, despite all of the other characters in the trailer having had their voices heard at least once (whether it be trailers or gameplay videos). Either this is the greatest Red Herring in series' history, or the dev team is very terrible at keeping a secret.
    • Most likely Jossed in that Nightmare's voice has been heard more recently, and he definitely sounds like a guy.
• Jossed by Nightmare's 2P outfit, which clearly shows his host is male, and by his profile.
  • Also, it was recently confirmed that Raphael is the new Nightmare. Or at the very least looks like him.

The Narrator is an in-game character yet to be seen.

Listen to the voice clips of him saying "Transcending history and the world, this is a tale of souls and swords, eternally retold..." in each of the games. Don't have links, but you should be able to find it on YouTube. You'll notice that his voice in V sounds like it belongs to an older person, fitting the in-series timeskip.

• Alternatively, it could be Edge Master, but that's only if a) you adhere to the theory that II's Weapon Master mode is a prequel to the series and b) you believe that Tristy is Edge Master (see the above "Zasalamel is Tristy" WMG; most prominently, Tristy states at the end of Weapon Master Mode that the energies of the soul swords have made him immortal, and as such, he'll spend his days chronicling the tales of the two weapons and their wielders from afar).

Sophitia was Driven to Suicide sometime between SCIV and SCV

When Patroklos says "Goodbye mother", it sounds a lot like he's talking to a gravestone. And it would make sense, too — Sophitia was so overridden by her guilt at protecting Soul Edge, that she lost all faith in everything she ever believed in and ended up killing herself. Now, Patroklos wants to avenge her, and Pyrrha is unaware that she is the reason Sophitia was protecting Soul Edge.

• Actually, other trailers make it clear (as though the background wasn't enough) it's while smashing Soul Edge...
• Not necessarily. Aside of the "Sophitia is the new Nightmare" theory, recent screenshots of SCV's Story Mode show Siegfried slaying Nightmare during the events of IV, with Soul Edge in the latter's possession. It's most likely that Soul Edge was (thought to be) destroyed then by Sieg.
• If Story Mode is any indication, Tira apparently killed Sophitia sometime during the 17-year-gap.
• Confirmed, although the reason she chose to kill herself is different. Sophitia chose to kill herself to pass on the Soul Edge shard inside her to Pyrrha in an effort to keep her alive.

Algol forged Soul Edge and Soul Calibur using a lost Ancient Sentient Technology that stumbled across earth by a Storm Shock chaos

Which explains both swords' opposite nature are similar to how Red Sentients and Blue Sentients are. Or maybe just a potential plot to a nonsensical crossover.

• Algol forged only Soul Calibur. Soul Edge was already around at his time, such that he was the first known person not to go homicidal-apeshit upon wielding it.

Xianghua will make a comeback in SCV

Because a Mother-Daughter Team consisting of a thirty-something mom and a 15-year-old Little Miss Badass is too amusing to pass up.

• Jossed. As much as it could be amusing, their styles are still too similar for them to coexist in one game. Sure, one can make a case for Rock and Astaroth, but they underwent Divergent Character Evolution for this exact reason. And also, when Li Long appeared as an extra in SCIII, his chuck-fighting style was dissimilar enough to Maxi's.

Hilde is a Grey Warden in SCV

Between the fourth and fifth game, Hilde's gear has gone from a wolf Animal Motif to that of griffins, the symbol of the Grey Wardens from Dragon Age: Origins. Perhaps, in the intervening seventeen years, Wolfkrone has been overrun by darkspawn and Hilde became infected with the Taint, forcing her to join the Grey Wardens to save both her life and to cleanse her kingdom of the wretched fiends.

ZWEI is Hilde's son...

... and so, for that matter, is EIN. EIN was Hilde's firstborn, but s/he become a werewolf, and was eventually killed. This drove their younger brother, ZWEI, mad with grief, and he ran away from home and started going by "two" (or, in German, "Zwei") rather than his real name. Being able to summon his dead sibling's werewolfed up soul is not making him any more stable.

• Highly unlikely unless Hilde had children not mentioned in her profile aside from and prior to her two kids. Her kids are said to be alive and well, and have inherited her original weapons. Also, Z.W.E.I. apparently has no idea what E.I.N. is himself.

There is a fragment of Soul Edge under the Hon-Maru.

That would be a better explanation for the dark power Jinpachi developed over the years than the Devil Gene (which it's fairly safe to say that only came to be through Kazuya's Deal with the Devil). It having skipped Heihachi's generation could be explained due to atavism, but then Lars (who, unlike Lee, is his genetic child) would have to develop it, right?

• This could also give the modern-day incarnation of Zasalamel a reason to start pull some strings behind the scenes 'cause you know, a Scary Black Man with a scythe in a fighting tournament, while intimidating, wouldn't be taken seriously. And, if his SCIV ending is any indication, he might be in a corporate position that allows him to broker deals with the Mishima Zaibatsu or the G Corporation (or both, behind each other's backs) to further his goals.
• And then there's the present-day Yoshimitsu, who could be given a greater role in the story with the closer canon integration.
• Tekken 7 revealing that the Devil Gene actually comes from Kazuya's mother (thus, Jinpachi never had it) just adds fuel to this particular fire.

The Guest Fighter in V will be one of the Belmonts.

For one, V is set to be released in 2012, one year after Castlevania will be celebrating its 25th anniversary. Who's to say that Konami's Milestone Celebration (besides some new Castlevania) won't involve inserting one of their characters into this series? It's not like Castlevania doesn't have its fair share of supernatural and gothic elements, so it'd be right at home with the series' atmosphere. The Belmonts also bring a very appealing set of moves and weapons to the table, including the Vampire Killer, subweapons, and Item Crushes (which could fit the concept of supers used in V). I could honestly see it working similarly to Link, only without the whole "bottom-tier" label.

The most likely candidates would be Simon Belmont, his great-grandfather Christopher Belmont (which would make a bit more sense), or (even likelier still) Christopher's son Soleiyu, given the chronology. The Soul series takes place in the late 16th century. If my facts/sources are correct, the timeline goes Soul Edge/Soul Blade (1584) —> Soulcalibur (1587) —> SCII-SCIV (1591). With the 17-year Time Skip, that would put V somewhere around 1608. The original Castlevania is set in 1691; this would mean that Simon would yet to be born, although Soulcalibur has its fair share of Time Travel that could mitigate this problem (as was the case with Heihachi and Spawn in II). Christopher's adventures took place 1576 and 1591, but he already seems to be well into middle age and has a son. The reason Soleiyu would make for the best representative is because he was only 15 in Belmont's Revenge, which would make him 32 here.

Personally, it'd great to see Soleiyu make it into the game, since he and his dad are easily the most obscure members of the Belmont clan.

Alternatively, it could instead be Alucard, seeing as he's functionally immortal. Even though he went to sleep in 1476 and didn't awaken from his slumber until 1797, this could always be hand waved by the dark influence of Soul Edge disrupting his sleep, forcing Alucard to go investigate. Alucard has enough to also seamlessly transition into the series, with his Alucard equipment (namely, the Sword and Spear), Dark Magic, transformation magic, and summoning of his familiars.

• Jossed. Looks like the◊ Guest Fighter here is Ezio.

EIN is somehow connected with Arahabaki

It is known that Natsu has the demon Arahabaki sealed within her. Screenshots of her personal stage seems to be a shrine to some demonic entity, presumably Arahabaki himself, and contains a large statue of a wolf-headed, multi-armed humanoid. Let's see... what's another wolf-like humanoid we've seen thus far?

• The Japanese artbook confirms that the statue in Natsu's stage is of the demonic Toki. The shrine serves as a reminder of the trials the Fu-Ma clan faced. Also, Arahabaki is shown to be a fiery figure surrounded by snakes in the same book.

Raphael is going to be the Big Bad of SCV

ZWEI seems like an antagonistic entity and has the werewolf-like entity EIN as an ally. Voila is also on ZWEI's side and bears a striking resemblance to Amy. In addition to Amy, EIN seems like another possible connection to Raphael, as he is known to corrupt his followers and has a werewolf in his service during his SCIV ending. Given the man's gradual descent into insanity over the years, it wouldn't be surprising to see him go Big Bad if he's completely cracked.

• Raphael's been confirmed for V, although whether or not he'll be the main villain (especially with Nightmare back on the scene) remains to be seen.
  • In a twist, it turns out he is a main antagonist. He, or rather his body, is the new Nightmare.

Z.W.E.I. is an ancestor of Jun Kazama.

Well, Z.W.E.I. controls E.I.N.◊ as an ally (or perhaps the other way around?). Unknown (from Tekken Tag Tournament) is bonded to a spirit as well, which, incidentally manifests itself as a wolf.◊ The upcoming Tekken Tag Tournament 2 confirms that Jun Kazama is Unknown, and given that Soul Calibur and Tekken are confirmed by Namco to be in the same universe...

• Sorry to poke some holes in your theory, but Tekken Tag Tournament and Tekken Tag Tournament 2 are non-canon by virtue of being Dream Match Games, not to mention that Unknown was intended to be Jun Kazama's sister before TTT became a spin-off. Nothing's been explicitly stated yet in actual Tekken canon, but it's unlikely that it's true, so I wouldn't try to take the implications that Unknown is a demon-possessed Jun with more than a grain of salt at best. Harada could've used Jun/Unknown as the final boss of TTT2 simply as a nod to the various Jun = Unknown theories out there for all we know. Could this change in the future? Possibly, but I guess we'll have to wait for Tekken 7. Additionally, Z.W.E.I. having E.I.N. as a familiar doesn't necessarily mean that he's related to Jun. E.I.N. could simply be that very same wolf demon itself (or at least be connected to it).

Mitsurugi's "brother" is Arthur's daughter

She's raised by her father alone going by SCIII, so there is a perfect reason to mistake her for male. As for "brother", it's either a bigger misunderstanding, or intentionally misleading in-universe. This could also set her up as a potential Expy of Setsuka should the latter not return in SCV.

Sophitia is Soul Edge's new host/template

Explains why her son thinks her dead and her daughter has been wandering all of her life. Plus it ramps up the Angst.

• See the above "Sophitia will be the new Nightmare" WMG.
• Jossed.

Arthur's daughter is Viola

She's a minimum of 22 and not much older (she was an infant at SCI). Viola is 23.

• While the math adds up (four years between SC and SCII-SCIV, 17 years between SCIV and SCV; give or take a few months and that'd be somewhere between 21-23), are we even sure that Viola herself is 23? Her profile gives her age as "24 Tri-color stars," which is just as outlandish and full of whimsy as the rest of her fairy tale-inspired bio (which might be deliberate, seeing as many have already come to the conclusion that Viola is an older, amnesiac Amy, due to similar traits such as facial features, eye color, hair style, Elegant Gothic Lolita style of dress, etc.).

Ezio WMG

• The Soul Edge and/or Soul Calibur will be revealed to be a Piece of Eden, specifically "The Sword" and one of the characters will be a mercenary for the Templars, which is why Ezio is trying to track them down.
• The Animus Desmond was placed in by the end of Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood is glitching and the Soul Edge or Soul Calibur is the key that will allow him to be able to move on to the next part of Ezio's life.
• Ezio is a Virtual Ghost inside of the SC world; SCV happened, but Ezio is actually part of a re-enactment of that era. Even though both series take place during the time of The Renaissance (making Ezio the only guest so far who completely fits the atmosphere of the series), Ezio is allegedly dead by 1524 at age 64-65, which means that by the time of Soul Edge (the very first game), he would have been dead for exactly six decades. According to Tago, Ubisoft sort of gave them a story for Ezio's inclusion, "saying he could exist in the world of Soulcalibur through the power of the Animus," which is "why at the beginning of the trailer you see all those Animus type reboot sequences." This could be used as a Sequel Hook (maybe Desmond will learn something about Ezio through this event or maybe pick up some more combat skills due to the bleeding effect), but seeing as the presence of guests runs on Rule of Cool, it sounds unlikely.
• Ezio's presence is merely a new animus training program for Desmond.
• Or, alternatively, merely brought over to the Soul universe by Calibur/Edge, to use as a new champion (possibly for both).
• His ultimate weapon will be Altair's Sword, his alt. costume will be Altair's armor.
• The Assassins of the modern day got bored and somehow managed to rig the Animus to be able to play actual video games using the data gathered via Desmond's exploits. They use this to put Ezio in their copy of Soul Calibur V.
• Ezio attempts to finish the job Revenant half started and kill Zas for good.
• Ezio will be viewed/treated, at least by the characters, as one of the villainous characters. This is assumed due to him being on the right side of the selection screen, alongside other villain/antagonists like Nightmare, Tira, Astaroth, and so forth.

Soul Edge isn't really evil

We basically know that Calibur has Knight Templar or possibly even evil tendencies, but something that I noticed has been hinted since at least SCII, is that Edge itself isn't really evil, though its not exactly good. The basis for this theory is twofold, first of all, why are the pieces of Soul Edge so hard to get? Why does it get split all the time and actively engage in battle with the force that can destroy it? Because it WANTS to be destroyed, Edge's power corrupts people, it eats souls, but it doesn't really want to, it just wants to either be destroyed or simply left alone, Why would it kill its own hosts? Why would it seem like its trying to be destroyed? This is what it wants, but its powers and nature are stopping it.

• As an interesting note, the view that Soul Edge isn't entirely evil by nature is somewhat brought up in New Legends of Project Soul. Ivy's research on Soul Edge results in the creation of new life forms. While Ivy herself hates the idea, she acknowledges the possibility that Soul Edge's nature may not be purely about 'destruction'.

Soul Calibur V is a throwback

Why else would Edge look just like it did in the first three games?

• It's possible that Soul Edge (which became complete in IV) split apart after Nightmare's defeat in IV and assumed a Male and Female form like it did back when Cervantes had Soul Edge in Soul Edge, seeing as Soul Edge had a different look in the first trailer.◊ The Soul Edge wielded by the new Nightmare is Male as it looks very similar (but not quite identical) to how Soul Edge appeared in every Soulcalibur before IV, while Female is the new blade, which is smaller and thinner (which was true of the Female Soul Edge when used by Cervantes). Soul Calibur itself appears similar to the new depiction of Soul Edge,◊ but that can be hand waved by the fact that, since the Soul Calibur is the true form of the Krita-Yuga (a Chinese jian), its base size is shorter than that of Soul Edge (as seen with its original form◊).
  • If this Troper recalls correctly, they wanted to title it "Soul Edge 2" but weren't allowed due to brand recognition.
  • Yeah, Daishi wanted to name it that, but his notion was shot down, and thus, Soulcalibur V.

Rothion will be a playable fighter in Soul Calibur V

Links with the "Sophitia is the new Nightmare" WMG above.

It's not that hard to believe, really. If Sophitia does become Nightmare, I can see Rothion decide to do something for a change and try to find her while attempting to either bring her back to normal, or join her/protect her out of love. Could lead into a full on family brawl if Pyrrha and Patroklos get involved as well.

He could also be a replacement for Rock, who would probably be too old to fight after the time skip. After all, Rothion is a blacksmith, and they are usually equipped with large hammers in fiction.

• If he didn't actually die like Patroklos' bio says, it would make for a compelling story if everything else matches up, not to mention it'd be a good way to differentiate Rothion from his family of sword & shield users and finally get him out of Non-Action Guy territory (which at least partially responsible for his Die for Our Ship status in-fandom). That being said, I don't necessarily think he'd take Rock's role, seeing as many are expecting Bangoo to succeed Rock. He'd most likely be a swordsman or hammer-wielder, but I would think they'd take care to make him his own character for the most part.
• Pat's Bio says he is dead though.
• Yeah, but his bio is also based off of how Patroklos himself interprets the events, in a vein similar to how Jin thinks that Ogre killed Jun. Unreliable Narrator is in effect here, and it's the ambiguity of Sophitia and Rothion's alleged deaths that led to WMGs such as "Sophitia will be the new Nightmare" in the first place.
  • Most likely Jossed. Patroklos' bio clearly describes Rothion's deathbed.

Mitsurugi's brother is I, Yoshimitsu (the new one)

Yoshimitsu's back flag appears as an option in CAS, which suggests he won't use it, which supports a new Yoshimitsu taking his place.

• At the very least, it's been confirmed that the Yoshimitsu in V is the student and successor of the first Yoshi from SC-SCIV. No word yet if he's Mitsu brother, though, but it seems unlikely, as Yoshi II was raised by Yoshi the First.

EIN is Unknown's wolf

Yoshimitsu alreddy says they share a universe (even though TTT is non canon).

• They could be similar entities. After all, the wolf spirit controlling Unknown is missing that crescent moon that's in E.I.N.'s stomach. Then again, TTT2 most likely picks up from Unknown's ending in TTT, as the wolf spirit is absent there and Unknown seems to more or less be in control of herself (not to mention that Unknown was originally meant to be Jun's sister in TTT as opposed to Jun herself in TTT2).

Patroklos acts and fights like Cassandra because he was raised by her after Sophitia vanishes/dies

• (not OP) That's definitely possible. After all, it hasn't been explicitly said that Cassandra was killed during the 17-year interim, so she's probably ok. Patroklos may have raised himself, but there's a good chance that Cass was his caretaker for at least some period of time before he struck out on his own. That's probably how he knows about the rest of his family and where he picked up his skills with the sword and shield.
  • Jossed. Cassandra went missing 17 years ago. Rothion raised Patroklos himself until he died when Patroklos was 15.

For a counterpoint for the above, Pyrrha fights like her mom because of some lingering aftereffect of being corrupted by Soul Edge in IV that gave her some sort of magical genetic memory of the fighting style her mom uses

• It's at least a possibility, if SCIII-IV Nightmare is to consider. Since Pyrrha was exposed to Soul Edge very early on, it would have enough time to sink its roots into her and allow her to witness the memories of her mother's fight against Cervantes.

Mitsurugi's "brother" is not a playable character, but a random mercenary trying to get work by using Mitsurugi's reputation

When Mitsurugi find him, what he will do in unclear (train, kill, beat up, be disappointed). As for why, he could be Villager A and an Expy of Kikuchiyo, a commoner who wants to be a Samurai.

• The Japanese sourcebook confirms that Mitsurugi already knows about his "brother." He's apparently apathetic to the whole claim.

Mitsurugi's brother is Maxi.

What is confirmed about Mitsurugi's brother:

• He's Japanese (due to being the brother of a Japanese man)
• He's younger than Mitsurugi by an unspecified amount

What is confirmed about Maxi:

• He's Japanese
• His family is never mentioned
• He's younger than Mitsurugi

Thoughts?

• Jossed: Maxi is from the Ryukyu Kingdom, which was independent from Japan at the time.
• Thanks to a piece of Soul Edge embedded inside him, Maxi has slowed or stopped aging by SCV.

Patroklos is malfested and the antagonist of the story

So far what we've seen of story mode has shown a bit claiming Pat "Destroyed any that looked like malfested" (alongside a pair of story bits of him with an evil expression claiming "to bad there's no way to prove it" and people running in terror), that he works with the guy we know to be Nightmare's alias. Pat is the main character of the story, only in the way Nightmare was in II.

• Jossed, although he's kind of a dick, is misled by Graf Dumas/Nightmare into slaughtering innocent humans, and is nearly turned into a Knight Templar for Soul Calibur. He gets better by the end, though.
• Oddly enough, Yoshimitsu's taunt has him calling Patrokolos an "evildoer," while he does have a second taunt for those not considered "evil." More than likely hinting at some cut story elements, though.
  • That, or Yoshimitsu knows of the ruckus Patroklos caused when he killed that defenseless civilian and/or his service to Graf Dumas (and thus, Yoshi knows who Dumas really is).

Cervantes looks almost identical in V to how he did in the previous games because...

... The new body underwent Transformation of the Possessed after Cervantes took control of it.

Rothion is an avatar of Hephaestus

1: Sophitia meeting a blacksmith seems very "lucky" in the way it was at the same time as Hephaestus induced visions of SE.2: Hephaestus could and did call upon experienced fighters (Aeon), why choose a baker's daughter?This means the children are demigods (and Pat inheriting the Greek god's Jerkass status caused the above). The death by illness was merely cover to disappear.

• Pat's new bio even indicates that Rothion conditioned him to want to destroy SE.

Pyrrha will become Tira's Morality Pet

• Jossed. Tira just manipulates the poor girl so that she can replace Nightmare as Soul Edge's new host.

You, not Tristy are Edge Master in Weapon Master Mode

In the manga (which is canon due to references to it in IV) he mentions he was the first to defeat SE using SC, which makes Tristy impossible. You however

1. : Did do that (if you were first or not is unclear)
2. : Were subjected to the same energy that made him immortal
3. : Wield every style in the game, changing them to suit your needs.
4. : Your name is lost to history, Edge Master's "real" name is never revealed, known only to himself.
5. : The mode name
6. : The requirement to unlock Alioth is to attain the title "Edgemaster."

To fit with Tristy's comments on chronicling the two swords, see the WMG above that he is the narrator.

• Most likely Jossed by SCV which states that Edge Master was Algol's rival when he was mortal.
  • There is also that one minor technicality you guys seem to have glossed over... Despite using Kilik's model, Tristy is identified as female.

Lucius Alexander is the true mastermind behind everything

• (not OP) Sophitia and Cassandra's brother? Considering that he was majorly pissed at Rothion for not telling the family about Sophitia, keeping her disappearance a secret, that sounds unlikely.

Raphael is the new Nightmare.

• And not quite in the way you think. This isn't my theory (the credit goes to the people here), but it's a very interesting one that could very well hold true. To sum it up, there are several factors involved, which I will list below:
  1. Nightmare is four inches taller than he was back in the other games due to now inhabiting a different body. He's now 5'10", the same height as Raphael.
  2. According to his bio, Raphael wakes up in a cell (the location is unknown) with no recollection of how he ended up there. Additionally, Soul Edge is said to have used a spare body found beneath Ostrheinsburg Castle as his host sometime after being killed by Siegfried and subsequently regaining consciousness.
  3. Judging by the wispy fumes generating from his lower body, Raphael's artwork seems to indicate that he might be a ghost. He also hasn't (physically) aged since II, although that could instead be chalked up to his Soul Edge-induced vampirism. Additionally, Odashima notes that Raphael died during SCIV.
  4. Graf Dumas (Nightmare's alias in V) is a French name. Raphael is French.
  5. Dumas is also the surname of the author of The Three Musketeers; Raphael's primary attire is reminiscent of this, and his fencing skills adds to the overall comparison. In the same vein, Nightmare's 2P attire (which seems to be modeled after his 2P outfit in II) features a mask that obscures his facial features (thus maintaining the enigma of his true identity). Thus, he's the Man in the Iron Mask, who was featured in the final installment of the d'Artagnan Romances (which started with—you guessed it—The Three Musketeers). Also, in The Count of Monte Cristo (also by Alexandre Dumas), Edmond Dantès is jokingly referred to as Lord Ruthven, the name of a classical fictional vampire.
  6. Raphael and Nightmare share a seiyuu in V, much like how Siegfried and Nightmare were both voiced by Nobuyuki Hiyama before the latter became the former's Enemy Without.
  7. The name of Dumas' castle in Hungary is Denevér Castle. The word "denevér" is Hungarian for bat, which has been a motif prominently featured on Raphael's attire since III.
  8. The Japanese artbook mentions how Nightmare's armor was designed with a bat motif in mind, and that there is a reason for this.
• CONFIRMED! They both have the same English and Japanese voice actor. The spare body Nightmare took was indeed Raphael's, but somehow Raphael's spirit survived and was tethered to the world due to his will and love for Amy.
  • Not... quite. While Raphael and Nightmare share a seiyuu (the matter of who's voicing him in English is jumping back and forth due to the possibility of uncredited VAs) and Graf Dumas looks like Raph with a mask, nothing was disclosed in-story to confirm it. There are hints, and strong ones at that, but we don't have a full confirmation. At this time, it's just conjecture, albeit a likely outcome.
  • That said, it does seem increasingly likely, especially given the supposed shift in methodology that Nightmare underwent between IV and V: Instead of going on killing sprees, he integrates himself into court and makes extensive use of his minions, similar to Raphael's relationship with his flunkies in IV, and his political machinations recall Raphael's intentions for Soul Edge back in II.

The final boss of V is Patroklos fully possessed by Soul Calibur

The day will be saved by Pyrrha wielding Soul Edge.

• Confirmed... somewhat... Only if you count Pyrrha using Soul Edge as an ICE-PICK to free her brother from Soul Calibur as he fights Elysium from within. And in the end, both brother and sister use Soul Edge to seal Soul Calibur along with the astral plane.

Soul Calibur will be completely destroyed, or be fully absorbed by Soul Edge, at the end of V

And Daishi will finally be able to call the next game, Soul Edge II.

• But wouldn't that just get shot down due to brand recognition again? Sure, that would kind of nullify the semi-Artifact Title thing this series has going on, but it'd be more than a bit confusing to name the seventh game in the franchise that when the original Soul Edge/Soul Blade was displaced by Soulcalibur. At this point in the series, I don't think it'd be a good idea to call the next game Soul Edge II unless it came with the subtitle of Soulcalibur VI.

Tira isn't planning to make Pyrrha the new host of Soul Edge...

... she's been planning on using Patroklos. The whole thing is The Plan of unknown goals.

• Jossed. It's Pyrrha. The only role Pat plays is becoming phobic of his malfested sister, causing Pyrrha to turn to Tira out of spite and desperation, thus ensuring that she'll accept Soul Edge.

Necrid will return in Soul Calibur V

A major part of the known plot seems to be the "Astral Chaos" that Soul Edge retreated to and restored Nightmare in. Algol also seems to be tied to that location, so who's to say that Necrid, a warrior who got trapped in "Soul Edge's dimension", doesn't hail from there as well? And who's to say that said warrior might not get out again, what with such a major rift popping up? It sucked up (and apparently spat out) Cervantes... Necrid might've gotten out as well.

• Doubt it. Even factoring out Necrid's Scrappy status with a good portion of the fanbase, there's still the fact that he's the creative property of Todd McFarlane. Inserting Necrid without first striking a deal with McFarlane would probably prove to be difficult.
  • No playable Necrid, but one of Viola's unlockable weapons has the same name and appearance as Necrid's.

Raphael will have a rivalry with Z.W.E.I.

Z.W.E.I. is the closest thing the series has to a werewolf, and since Raphael is the series' vampire, we can get some Fur Against Fang. Plus, if Viola is indeed Amy, it would probably create some tension since she's been traveling with Z.W.E.I., and I don't think Raphael would approve of his daughter being around strange men.

• Confirmed to an extent. See the "Raphael is Nightmare" theory above.
  • Well, not really. Raphael never shows up in the story, and while Raphael's body most likely is what Soul Edge is using as a host, it's not confirmed.

Elysium

Is the physical manifestation of Soul Calibur's spirit, in contrast to Inferno; the spirit of Soul Edge.

• Confirmed in Story Mode!

Tira wasn't the one who killed Sophitia

The true culprit is Elysium.

• Jossed. It's strongly suggested to be Tira. Elysium just took on Sophitia's form to lure Pat over to her side.
  • At least, that's what we (and Patroklos) have been told. Even if Elysium isn't the culprit, that doesn't mean Tira is.
  • Confirmed. It isn't Elysium either though. Instead, Sophitia killed herself to save Pyrrha's life when Soul Edge was destroyed by Siegfried.

Setsuka trained Patroklos when he was young after beating Mitsurugi.

As strange as it sounds, this is becoming a more and more popular theory as it helps explain Alpha Patroklos. It was said that he originally used Iaido before switching to a sword and shield because it reminded him of his mother.

• Confirmed! Setsuka did indeed teach Patroklos. Though the exact time frame is still unknown.
  • It's been narrowed down. Patroklos trained under various masters for several years between Rothion telling Pat the truth behind Sophitia's death after a 15-year-old Pat won a sword-fighting tournament. As canon dictates, Setsuka would have to be one of the masters, although it's unknown how long he stayed with her (Alpha Pat's bio notes that he was a fast learner, but ran off after Setsuka asked him to forsake his quest of vengeance).

Raphael INS'T a ghost

.After Nightmare is defeated in Story Mode, he loses possession of Raphael's body and thus Raphael is revived, just with no memory. This could be a good reason for him never showing up in Story Mode, though many other characters did not either. It also takes away from the idea of Raphael just being able to will himself back into existence.

Rothion died of a broken heart.

• You would think that a blacksmith that forges fairly badass weapons would have a stronger constitution. But maybe the strain of losing both Sophitia and Pyrrha weighed so heavily on him that it affected his health. Especially when he knew that Patroklos would go looking for Pyrrha and seek revenge for his mother as soon as he was old enough, possibly getting killed in the process and leaving Rothion with no family left. Poor guy.

Zasalamel physically died during the timeskip...

... and will return eventually, in a 17 year old body. Because why not?

• I'm sure that's what more than a few of us were expecting.

Raphael has been dead since the end of II

.

• If Raphael's body is being used for Nightmare then he died. The only time Raphael has been to Othriensburg was at the end of II. In his III profile it even states he should be dead and he somehow makes his way to Amy. He's been a ghost since then and Amy healing his 'wounds' was because he thought he was hurt thus he was. His will and Soul Edge made him this way since he died. This is also likely why Amy goes to search for him in IV but something possibly happened to her, and thus she became Viola on her travels.
• This is most likely not the case. He was merely wounded and infected by Soul Edge after losing to Nightmare in II. Additionally, Odashima revealed that Raphael actually died during the events of IV, not II, so unless Raph came Back for the Dead, the entire prospect seems unlikely.

Soul Calibur will be the Big Bad for SCVI.

• With the Azure Nightmare dead and the Crimson Dispair not cooperating, the power of Soul Edge is waning. Now the main conflict is between those who follow the Spirit Sword's will to purge all possible traces of the Cursed Sword's influence and those who realize Soul Calibur's goals are just as disastrous for humanity in the long run. Tira and those still under her sway remain devoted to restoring Soul Edge and will steer either side toward that goal.
  • Oh, and just to twist the knife for our heroes Pa&Py, Soul Calibur's host on this plane? Sophitia.

SCVI will feature small group-focused plots for its story mode rather than just focusing on Sophitia's children, including a Big Bad Ensemble.

• Pat and Pyrrha will find their attempts to live in peace disrupted by Aeon Calcos, and their story focuses on outrunning and outfighting Aeon and his army of Lizardmen while being drawn into an Ancient Conspiracy from Astaroth's cult, thanks to the Astaroth Army making their move on Soul Edge. Future Badass Cassandra will return to act as a mentor to both.
• Dampierre will team up with and irritate Schwarzwind in one of his Zany Schemes, but Schwarzwind's main plot is undoing the damage Graf Dumas started, and either finishing off Nightmare once and for all or preventing Tira from taking advantage of the chaos to use the Holy Roman Emperor as an Unwitting Pawn for reviving Soul Edge. Raphael will serve as both an ally and antagonist to the group as he and Viola struggle to identify each other.
• Maxi's crew will continue attempting to complete their mission to find Kilik from V, but their plans are derailed by Zasalamel's new incarnation surfacing to manipulate them and Kilik for his own ends.
• Ivy will team up with an aged-up Talim to track down both Soul Swords, hoping to combine alchemy with nature magic to restore balance to the world and stop both Inferno and Elysium.
• If Algol is still relevant, he will realize that the swords are becoming too unstable, and are threatening to tear the world apart. Because of this, he is now forced between sacrificing what energy and willpower he has left in order to neutralize both swords, or take in the energies of both swords, becoming possessed by their combined madness, and becoming a far greater threat than before.
  • It's plausible, but for your third point, it should be mentioned that Kilik was already found before Pat met the Asian warriors in the story. Whatever task Edge Master had Xiba in mind for with "saving" Kilik already came to pass, as Xiba has the Kali-Yuga (which Edge Master said Kilik had to relinquish if he was to be saved) and Kilik is his usual self (and apparently a second Edge Master).
    • Not necessarily, as according to the official sourcebook, Xiba and the gang found the Kali-Yuga perched on the hands of a statue. It's quite possible that Xiba and company haven't met up with Kilik face-to-face in canon prior to meeting Patroklos.
    • But then how do you explain the apparent familiarity between Kilik and Xiba in their intros? Unless I'm interpreting things wrong and Kilik is simply ribbing on his kid for his lack of drive towards training (as opposed to, say, eating), the implication seems to be that Kilik taught Xiba in the ways of the bo at least once. Now as for Maxi and Leixia, it's pretty likely that, judging by the intros, Kilik hasn't seen Maxi in a while and vice versa (although if Xiba and Kilik did cross paths, Maxi would've been there too, so he could be referring to the time elapsed from their last encounter) and is meeting Leixia for the first time (although he is aware that Leixia is Xianghua's daughter).

In Soulcalibur VI, the soul swords will return as the Soul Embrace/Broken Destiny/complete Soul Edge.

At the end of the story, Pat and Pyr use Soul Edge to stab Soul Calibur, which appears to seal both swords back in Astral Chaos. This is an inversion of Soulcalibur III, where Siegfried used Soul Calibur to stab Soul Edge (which caused both swords to fall silent in what was known as the Soul Embrace). If Night Terror is any indication, aside of the few Soul Edge shards still in the possession of some of the other characters (such as the shard in Maxi's body and possibly the ones Taki fused with her Mekki-Maru), Soul Edge can't become whole without Soul Calibur, as she was created from several purified fragments of him. Being imprisoned together could give Soul Edge the chance to reabsorb his other half back into his being. Couple this with the fact that Soul Calibur has shown the capacity to be just as wicked as her brother and Odashima wanting to instead give the name Soul Edge 2 to SCV, and we've got a possible Sequel Hook on our hands.

E.I.N and Viola's orb are manifestations of Astral Chaos' energy

They were given "physical" form as a side effect of Algol's attempt to corrupt the natural world with Astral Chaos' essence.

• So they're essentially made from the same energy Necrid's weapon is made from?

Everything is actually still going according to Tira's plan

Even if Pyrrha didn't work out as the host for Soul Edge, Nightmare was still defeated and Soul Calibur was sealed away in Astral Chaos. Now it's time for the next step in her plan...

• But she still has her deformed Nightmare arm, which means her malfestation hasn't been cured in spite of Soul Edge being sealed. So she could just wait for the right moment to give Pyrrha another reason to go berserk...

Nightmare is becoming its own independent entity, separate from Soul Edge.

As in the armor like manifestation itself is becoming independent, because a new host is used with the same Inferno-possessed-armor incarnation or imprint of it, it is becoming sapient as a result of Soul Edge keeping it's memories and inputting them into each new host. The consequences of this can be seen with each new host-less Nightmare always being less like an animalistic attack dog and more capable of thought.

Soul Edge is either willingly letting this happen or is blind to it because of good old fashioned Blue-and-Orange Morality.

Also, as a consequence of this the old Nightmare that Tira wants back will never return.

• Or, for a similar but somewhat separate thought, Soul Edge himself is simply adapting and becoming smarter/more crafty as time goes on. We've seen traces of Soul Edge being a master manipulator in the past five games, particularly when it came to stringing along Siegfried, but it's finally starting to come to the surface of his alter ego as opposed to being buried under unbridled fury and wanton destruction. That being said, the choice of hosts, their emotional states, memories, etc. could also have something to do with the discrepancies between the personalities of the various incarnations of Nightmare.
  • This theory is sort of impossible by definition. Nightmare and Soul Edge are the exact same being, with the animated armor being an extension of the sword's consciousness rather than a freshly constructed mind.
  • While true, that still doesn't explain Nightmare's somewhat fluctuating intelligence across games. The Nightmare in III and IV (who was Inferno's essence inside the armor with no host), while not stupid, was more prone to just killing anything that stood in his way. Compare this to Siegfried-Nightmare, who managed to get Ivy on his side with a few sleights of hand. Compare that to the current Nightmare, who is willing to indulge in dirty political schemes to further his goals. Even Tira's ending in SCIII where Soul Edge takes her over (even if it's temporary) hints that the Soul Edge-possessed Tira would've been willing to resort to crafty tricks. Nightmare seems to be wittier when he has a host, and more of a berserker when it's just Soul Edge.

Voldo was trained by the Bird of Passage.

Both Voldo and Tira fight with dance-like movements, unconventional weapons, and disturbingly flirtatious body gyrations. They're both insane, and have become broken enough to be absolutely loyal to obviously insane and sadistic masters. Clearly, Voldo fled from the group before its destruction... in fact, perhaps Vercci arranged their destruction after Voldo defected to him.

Some sort of calamity has depopulated most of India.

We never see anyone from India in Soulcalibur at any point. However, we do see a clearly Hindu temple outside its borders (Ling- Shegn Su, in China). There seems to be an operational port on India's southern coast (Maxi goes there), but whenever anyone uses it in SCIII, they always take a water route both in and out, even when land routes seem faster. Clearly, in the Soulcalibur timeline, India became overrun by demons sometime long before the Evil Seed, and has been abandoned by humanity, with anyone who could fleeing to China and the middle east.

The Bird of Passage will play a large role in future installments.

The New Legends of Project Soul sourcebook fleshed out more of Tira's backstory and time spent within the Bird of Passage, and thus, explained a bit about the organization's customs and origins as well. Not only that, but the official timeline included in the book mentions that the Bird of Passage reemerged in the same year SCV's story mode takes place.This may be setting up the larger role the assassin organization will perhaps play in the future.

• But the chain of events that led to Tira and Soul Edge crossing paths came exactly from the Bird of Passage disbanding, because their leader went insane due to the Evil Seed, right? So in which exact capacity would they return?

Astral Chaos is the Webway and the Warp of Warhammer 40K.

Notice that Edge Master tells Patroklos "This Astral Chaos is a place where humans souls amass. It is a place where souls who lack a strong will wander forever." The Webway is made of paths to travel between spaces to lessen travel time. It is a place intimately connected to souls. Astral Chaos also affects people, giving them a longer lifespan (think Kilik and Edge Master). People even build buildings in this void like Algol's new stage. So this is the Webway of the Dark Eldar, empty of Dark Eldar civilization.

Why does it seem benign? Khorne was just born and Slannesh won't be for millennia, so the Soul Series takes place on Earth during the Golden Age of the Eldar.

Viola's orb is of similar properties to the "sphere that absorbed all forms of energy" that Zasalamel once used in an attempt to take in both soul swords' powers

As Viola doesn't have the knowledge Zasalamel had, she is unable to fully control it's power, resulting in her losing her memories. The worst case scenario, of course would be...

Viola becomes Abyss

Or at least an Abyss-like entity. With Night Terror being made canon, albeit with a different still unrevealed origin, it seems appropriate to bring SCIII's other boss into series canon with a new origin. It would also be a great excuse for Zasalamel to return, as only he may know how to stop Abyss.

Talim and/or Zasalamel were killed, possibly by Nightmare.

This explains why they're not only not in SCV but why there still isn't any mention from the artbooks or Word Of God as to what has happened to them.

• Even if so, wouldn't Zasalamel just reincarnate? Killing himself with Soul Edge in the distant past didn't break his reincarnation cycle, so what good would Nightmare delivering the killing blow with the same sword do?
• Jossed on Talim's part. Word of God stated prior to SCV's release that she's still alive.

Pyrrha is still destined to become Soul Edge's wielder again

Within the story mode itself, Pyrrha only uses Soul Edge in it's sword form, keeping the Omega Shield. However, Pyrrha Omega's default weapon consists of Soul Edge split into both sword AND shield form. Pyrrha Omega's Japanese profile also identifies the split Soul Edge as 'male' and 'female', just like when Cervantes wielded Soul Edge in the form of two swords. Perhaps the piece of Soul Edge broken off by Patroklos ends up gaining enough shards to become a short sword Soul Edge? Later, after retrieving Soul Edge itself from Astral Chaos, that blade will turn into a shield form.Of course the question is, why would Pyrrha want/need to get Soul Edge back?

• Maybe she'll eventually muster up the willpower to control Soul Edge like Algol was able to? Sure, they're to entirely different classes of warriors, but let's remember that, rather than give in to Soul Edge's genocidal urges then and there, Pyrrha went and tried to save her brother from dying, and even used its sword part to cleave at the crystals enveloping him. So it's possible she'll be the one to conquer the evil power of Soul Edge; and, if Patroklos manages to take control of Soul Calibur as well, there might finally be a balance between the Soul Swords.

Dampierre really is malfested

For once, Patroklos isn't being paranoid. Of course, Dampierre doesn't realize it himself, attributing his unchanged looks after 17 years as being just his "natural good looks."

Dampierre is an Assassin.

He has what appear to be hidden blades. He is from Venice. One of his nicknames is "The World's Greatest Assassin." This even explains why Ezio showed up in V, because Dampierre was acting as a scout and clued the Venice assassin's branch that something serious was going down. Naturally, they send in their best chance: Ezio Auditore.

• Alternatively, Dampierre was sullying the organization's good name by claiming to be among their ranks, forcing Ezio to time-hop to silence him. Either that or Damp's a Templar masquerading as an Assassin.

SCV will be retconned out of canon, and the series will regress back to IV, a la Mortal Kombat 9.

Is there any other way to fix the Canon Defilement, Character Derailment, Replacement Scrappies and general shark jumping of V.

• Edge Master can somehow send characters back in time, so perhaps he'd play the role of Raiden.
• Confirmed after a fashion. VI is a Continuity Reboot indeed, but with regards to the timeline, it goes all the way back to the first Soulcalibur, but by virtue of it being an alternate timeline, it combines elements from I, II and III while altering some things therein (such as the fact that Raphael doesn't become malfested and Kilik managing to conquer the evil aura within himself). And if Cassandra's state of mind (completely broken from the years she spent inside Astral Chaos) is any indication, it's likely that the original timeline still went its course all the way through to V.

Cervantes de Leon's pistol sword has a wheellock mechanism.

The design would fit a pirate's fighting style of hitting hard and also a status symbol. Since the gun has faster ignition. Due to the lack of a frizzen (L shape steel part that holds a burning match for a matchlock or a piece of flint in a flintlock) and has no need of the pan to wait a for a spark. Wheellocks due to having more parts and harder to make would be more expensive. It's possible Cervantes had his made custom to his specifications.

Edge Master became a Time Diver.

He manipulated time and space itself to undo Patroklos' mistake, and given the fact he's on to Algol's plan to take over the world by absorbing Soul Edge and Soul Calibur's energies, not forget to mention Namco Bandai owning both the Soul Series and Super Robot Wars...

Soul Edge was supposed to be sealed by purifying piece by piece using the Dvapara-Yuga and Kali-Yuga.

Notice in Soul Edge/Blade, Soul Edge (aka Inferno) was awakened using Cervantes to consume souls. Sophitia and Taki defeated Cervantes, but Inferno took over Cervantes's body after the smaller Soul Edge sword was shattered. Siegfried found Inferno while looking for Soul Edge. Defeating it, he took the larger Soul Edge sword and become Nightmare. Afraid of being purified Soul Edge scattered itself and created malfested in Soulcalibur Legends to provide a distraction and gather souls. Krita-Yuga (Soul Calibur) was controlled by monks of the Ling-Sheng Su Temple using the Kali-Yuga and the Dvapara-Yuga. The Dvapara-Yuga's power was used to purify Soul Edge. The Kali-Yuga had the power to absorb energy (good or evil), which would weaken both Krita-Yuga and Soul Edge.

The monks were killed in the backstory of SCI, driven mad by the Evil Seed incident. Nightmare's minions and beings like Kamikirimusi, Olcadan, Necrid, Scheherazade, Gel-o-Fury, and Shura ran havoc around the world. This influx of threats would keep anyone from following the carnage of Nightmare's rampage since everything else would be causing similar incidents. Anyone tracking unnatural creatures would be sidetracked by a massive influx of monsters and Berserkers (like in SCII and SCIII). Alongsode this would be the natural disasters such as famine and plagues that would arise from the destruction from loss of civic order and general health. For example, the lack of clean water would be due to Nightmare destroying an aqueduct because it was in his way.

At the climax of SCI, the Dvapara-Yuga was shattered into shards during the battle with Nightmare. The shards of Dvapara-Yuga became "Holy Stones" to purify malfested, but the seal on Soul Calibur weakened, awakening Elysium in SCIV (look at Cassandra's SCIV ending). In SCII Nightmare's Soul Edge was damaged but shards started to reform such as Cervantes' Soul Edge and Charade. Soul Edge was later sealed by Siegfried and Raphael. In SCIII both swords were sealed in the Soul Embrace. Then Nightmare, who made sure that the knowledge of Ling-Sheng Su's plan was lost, made Soul Edge whole again. Since Dvapara-Yuga was shattered and was not restored, Soul Edge can defeat Soul Calibur without fearing being purified and sealed. All it had to do is fully corrupt Soul Calibur and nothing could stop it. With Soul Calibur now free from the Dvapara-Yuga and Kali-Yuga, it regained sentience again and sought to battle Soul Edge.

The monks of the Ling-Sheng Su were secretive and possibly didn't write down the information, not even Edge Master knowing. They rightfully feared that a human with a fully purified Soul Calibur is just as dangerous as a completed Soul Edge without the other two Yuga treasures. This fear turned out to be right, but not in the way they expected, with both swords trying to control their wielders to maintain their agendas.

• For starters, Legends is non-canon (and with a slew of continuity errors to its name), so let's wipe that from the plate completely. Kamikirimusi, Olcadan, Necrid, Scheherazade, Gel-o-Fury, and Shura are not and never have been minions of Nightmare/Soul Edge. All of them barring Shura (who is a regular case of demon possession) simply have backstories tied in some fashion or another to the soul swords (Kamikirimusi was drawn by a great power, presumably Algol's; Olcadan and Gel-o-Fury were released from their imprisonment thanks to the Evil Seed; Necrid managed to make it to Soul Edge, but fell into the abyss and was warped by its energies into his current form; Scheherazade was interested in the original war between the soul swords and is old enough that she was around when Wolfkrone's founder lived). Now then, the fact that Soul Calibur—born of purified shards of Soul Edge—even exists means that it's possible (if not currently unconfirmed) that Soul Edge could be incrementally purified. The biggest snag for your theory is that we have no idea if the Ling-Sheng Su monks knew that the Krita-Yuga was a disguised Soul Calibur, considering how the sword traded hands through at least four other wielders (Algol, King Arthur, Zasalamel, and the founder of Wolfkrone) before it—now in the form of the Krita-Yuga—and the other two treasures were entrusted by Edge Master to the temple. Nightmare also probably didn't know anything of the Ling-Sheng Su sect; the Evil Seed was more of a domino effect that sometimes led to unexpectedly favorable results for Nightmare (like the mass murders at the Ling-Sheng Su Temple). Soul Edge probably didn't know about the treasures either, seeing as those were given to King Arthur by the Lady of the Lake. History only records Soul Edge as belonging to Algol, Arcturus, and Zasalamel; only Zasalamel would've possibly been around in King Arthur's era and there no mention of the treasures coming into the equation of the battle between the soul swords until Kilik enters the picture in Soulcalibur. Again, it was less a "plan", and more "favorable but unintended outcome."

Soul Edge's first master or creator had a Danmaku fighting style and who sought immortality.

Several moves such as Xianghua's Torrential Chi Blast, Abyss's Cosmic Egg, Viola's Crystal Ball, Necrid's Enigma, and Algol's Eltain Nath start with a sphere of "energy." Astral Chaos might be the source of these energies. Kilik in SCV was able to absorb the memories of those who served Algol in the past allowing to master all the male moves. It's possible Algol's fighting style from SCIV to the present was based on this unknown person, since in his human form he seems have Soul Edge (Naupilus) which is canonically the first form of both swords. Algol didn't block Arcturus' sword strike, but rather caught the blade with his hands. So it's possible he was using a different fighting style rather than his SCIV style which he absorbed his style from some unknown source. Algol laid dormant till SCIV so he couldn't have created the style while sealed inside Soul Calibur.

Also characters changed by Astral Chaos such as Edge Master and Algol become either immortal or keep their youth.

An unknown person who found about Astral Chaos saw it to be a secret to immortality, making it worth the risk. Using a form of magic (which Zasalamel's clan protected), he was able to wield part of Astral Chaos to open a gate or doorway into the realm. During his journey he kept a ordinary sword for protection. His fighting style based on Danmaku and a strong sword arm, was enough to get to Astral Chaos. That person may still wander Astral Chaos trying to find a way out. His sword, found its way back, and with Astral Chaos energies and the blood of countless people became the Soul Edge (Naupilus).

• Considering that Algol is credited in-canon as the first known wielder of Soul Edge and Soul Edge itself gained sentience from all of the blood it tasted in combat (with no mention of the energies of Astral Chaos playing a role), I'm going to have say no to this one unless Project Soul feels like retconning the series lore.

Future Guest Fighters

Post your predictions for Guest Fighters here.

• Reimu, Marisa, and Cirno
• Gig and Revya.
• Any Mortal Kombat, Street Fighter, or BlazBlue character (most likely Noob Saibot, Ryu, Ken, or Ragna the Bloodedge respectably.)
• Raiden.
• Given Namco and Nintendo's support with Tekken Tag Tournament 2 a guess character might be included in SCVI Isaac, Krystal, Chrom or Marth, or Pit.
• The Chosen Undead, because linking this series with that other "Souls" series would just be too good to pass up.

Bonus Characters from IV (Angol Fear, Sheherazade, etc.) will make future appearances

Or, at the very least, characters by the same authors who maid said bonus characters.

The newly-trademarked Lost Swords will comprise the remaining three quarters of Project Soul's original vision for V.

Namco admitted that the story for V was only a quarter done.

• Jossed.

Sophitia didn't completely die.

She really would go into the heavens, but as SC is set somewhere around the Sengoku period, and she's set to appear in Warriors Orochi 3 Ultimate, the merging of worlds caused by Orochi caused Sophitia's soul instead enters the Mystic Realm and restored by Fu Xi, Nuwa, Taigong Wang and other mystics there and is given a second chance to redeem herself after being forced to serve Soul Edge by stopping either Orochi or the new Big Bad in that game (presumably Tamamo-no-Mae). If Sophitia succeeds, she could be given another chance to enter the land of living and stop not just Nightmare, but also Elysium.

Soul Edge and Soul Calibur can switch genders.

Well not so much switch genders as neither sword has to be respectively male/female. According to Elysium's wiki page, she doesn't have an actual sex, and simply chooses to appear Female (it makes sense for manipulating Patrokolos). I'm assume that since Soul Edge is the equal and opposite of Soul Calibur, it is the same way. In other words, Soul Edge could choose a Female form, and Soul Calibur could be male if it so chose. They could also both be the same Gender (so both swords take female forms, or both are male) depending on the situation.

• Soul Edge is technically one of each (or at least it used to be) and Soul Calibur had a female voice even in IV so it at least seems to think of itself as female.
• For what it's worth, Inferno is commonly identified as a male, so while the soul swords have No Biological Sex, they do, as said above, think of themselves as male and female despite not being confined to those labels.

Soul Edge split into two again in between IV and V

Its original form was a male sword and a female sword before the female one was broken by Sophitia so it would make sense that if all of the shards were gathered it would eventually return to that form if left alone. Nightmare's sword in V is probably the male half. The female half could be anywhere.

• This WMG (and the one below it) is pretty much disproven from the get go, since it relies on a misunderstanding of how Soul Edge works. Its "default" form is one sword: Soul Edge. Do note that the earliest form of Soul Edge (which we see in IV) is one sword. It only splits into "male" and "female" if the current wielder fights with two weapons. Thus, when Cervantes claimed the sword, it split into male and female. The only reason it didn't remerge into one when Siegfried claimed it is because he didn't have the whole sword, as Sophitia had already shattered the female half. When Nightmare forces most of the shards to return to the sword in IV (including the female Soul Edge reforged by Cervantes), there is no longer a male half or female half, just "Soul Edge"... until the sword is given to Pyrrha in V, and it splits into her sword and shield, once again becoming male and female (according to Word of God). However, it is worth noting that only the sword (which I presume is the Male) appears in Story Mode proper, so the shield (which would thus be female) may still be out there...

The shards of Soul Edge that Soul Calibur was made from came from the female half.

It would explain why Soul Calibur had a female voice in IV and why the female half of Soul Edge was shattered when Cervantes was killed but the male half remained mostly intact. Missing a large part of it would probably make it a significantly weaker.

Taki is actually invoking Distracted by the Sexy with her skin tight clothing.

She is a kunoichi. True, a more serious one than the traditional kind, but a kunoichi nonetheless. She recognized the benefits of distracting male (and possibly female) opponents with her body, and chose her clothing to take advantage of this while not only still remaining clothed, but also wearing something that could still be seen as practical (in terms of being able to move around). So basically, she went in the exact opposite direction of Ivy.

Soul Edge is actually Stormbringer.

Think about it: Both swords are sapient, evil, eat souls, and have a nasty habit of taking over their user. It could be that Stormbringer was dormant (and thus seemingly normal) until it had fed, then began taking up much of it's original behaviors.

The diver from Soul Edge's ending in Soul Blade.

The female diver in Soul Edge (character)'s ending picks up the sword Soul Edge and becomes possessed by it. The diver was supposed to be an unlockable character, and was given Sophitia's moves. Could it be Cassandra (or Kathandra as she was known then) and could she be have intended to be a version of Nightmare at that point? It's mentioned in Sophitia's Edge Master Mode story that Sophitia was very protective of her.

• For starters, Soul Edge's ending is proven non-canon by what we know in later games. If the diver was meant to be Cassandra, I'd say that subsequent iterations should put that notion to rest.

Would Bangoo have been in SCV if there had been enough time?

The creator is known to have said he wanted him to be. The game is also known to have been rushed. Putting two and two together - could they have intended to add him at a later date? He was long thought to be in a game if a time skip took place. Although he is officially retired it would make sense for him to come looking for Rock. Another thing to note is that Rock has very different moves as he went on to differentiate him from Astaroth. It is very rare for a character to do this to this degree unless they are a Replacement Scrappy.

• This sounds more like a question than an actual WMG, but, like you said, the game was rushed. If Bangoo was meant to be in the game as was hinted prior to the release of V, there's no signs of him existing in the game's data as a Dummied Out element. I highly doubt he'd be a Replacement Scrappy considering everyone was expecting him to take up Rock's mantle due to the time skip. I'm not sure where you're getting the info that Bangoo retired from, either.

Assuming SCV doesn't end up being a total Franchise Killer, the "successors" to the original fighters will all be Rescued from the Scrappy Heap...

... Because the next game will will have all of the old characters alongside the new ones, and they'll noticeably undergo Divergent Character Evolution (with the younger characters leaning more towards Lightning Bruiser or Fragile Speedster while the older ones lean towards Mighty Glacier or Jack of All Stats). This would not only shake up the box in terms of fighter gameplay, but also give plenty of interesting character interactions between the old guard and their successor players (such as Genki Girl Natsu bouncing off of The Stoic Taki, or Patroklos' and Pyrrha's relationships with Sophitia and Cassandra).

This is based off of a similar trend with Namco's Tekken series, with Asuka Kazama and Combot being loathed in comparison to Jun Kazama and Mokujin - that is, until Jun and Mokujin both got to be part of the series again, with Asuka and Combot showing off their own Divergent Character Evolution. Likewise with Cassandra's initial Replacement Scrappy status with Sophitia in Soulcalibur II, until Sophitia returned in Soulcalibur III.

• To nitpick, it was Jun who diverged from Asuka since Asuka gained all of Jun's moves from TTT and then some for Tekken 5. Also, Cassandra first came back in the console version of II and I definitely don't remember Cass ever getting the Replacement Scrappy treatment like Yun-seong did. As for your idea, it's not impossible (and fans definitely have been clamoring for the return of the "missing" characters). It'd just be harder to implement since you're proposing a non-Dream Match Game. There was already hell to pay when people found out V had three sword-and-shield disciplines and three mimics. Now imagine about 1/3 of the V roster having at least one similarly-playing counterpart. It might be easier said than done if the characters are returning in full as opposed to a supporting role.

More thoughts on Soulcalibur VI

• Kilik and Edge Master are out of the picture, and the only mimic char left is the final boss/Big Bad, Elysium/Sophitia.
  • (not OP) Or, you keep Kilik in, but revert him to being a staff-wielder again, with Xiba as his Seong Mi-na. Kilik's still trying to close the Astral Gates, never mind that Xiba's his (and Xianghua's) son, so it wouldn't make much sense to unceremoniously drop him without at least giving his plot arc closure and developing Kilik's interactions with his kid (and maybe Leixia as well). With the ending of SCV and all of the cut story sequences, I similarly have a hard time seeing the final boss as anyone other than either Algol (the intended puppeteer for the events of V) or some Big Bad Ensemble of him and Nightmare/Night Terror (with Tira also running around in the background). (See also the above "soul swords will return as the Soul Embrace/Broken Destiny/complete Soul Edge" WMG.)
    • Just one thing: Elysium is NOT Sophitia. She only took the form of Sophitia because it was easier to manipulate Patroklos into doing her bidding like that (and we're only saying "she" for the sake of convenience; Elysium could as well take on the form of Siegfried's dad if he was still the one wielding Soul Calibur).
• More-than-cosmetic multiple weapons to be re-implemented.
• Full individual story modes will return along the lines of SCIII, with multiple branch points leading to three possible endings for each.
  • Bad End: Tira's plan comes to fruition and a restored Soul Edge ends up in the player's hands (she was shooting for Pyrrha, but the others will do).
  • Bad End II: Soul Calibur's host on this plane is struck down... but the blade gains a living host instead.
  • And a Good End. Details vary, but a non-cursed Ultimate Sword is gained.
• Talim is back of course, as is Xianghua (she tracks down her runaway daughter, finds her abandoned son, and elects to hang with Maxi's Babysitting Service to keep them out of trouble). Maxi finally admits that while his physique and vigor is arcane, his lack of grey hair is quite man-made.
  • (not OP) Considering that the Soul Edge shard embedded in him from the days of II is what greatly slowed his aging, Maxi probably doesn't need hair dye... yet.
• Zasalamel reincarnates. This is inevitable.
• Pyrrha (still quite reluctant to fight anyone but Tira, Elysium, & Nightmare if he is still around) will occasionally^note if the Critical Finishes are back, reserve this win pose for that end a match by dropping her sword, gripping her right arm and growling (with a hint of Power Echoes) "No... never... again!".
• Here's a plot thread idea: we know Ivy's been researching on Astral Chaos, right? And that Patroklos temporarily wound up in Astral Chaos after he ended up killing Pyrrha before Edge Master undid it, right? So, let's say he'd remember things from when he was in there, and one of these was that he caught a glimpse of his aunt Cassandra in there and, knowing that he and Pyrrha may still have their connections with the Soul Swords (considering she still has her Nightmare arm and all), they'd seek out Ivy for advice on how to access Astral Chaos and rescue her.
• Taki would return either empty-handed, or after having found Toki dead, and would resume training Natsu. But, since the Mekki-Maru still has some of Soul Edge's evil power lingering in it (if it didn't wane after all these years), it's been causing Arahabaki's power to gradually rise within Natsu, threatening to possess her; so Taki heads off to destroy Soul Edge once and for all (whether she will take Natsu or not is up to debate, considering risks involved).
• Two ideas for Create-a-Soul, which shouldn't be hard to implement in a possible transition to PS4/XONE:
  • Fighting styles representing characters that have been in the game before, but were left out, like broadswords or spears (Yun-seong/Seong Mi-na's style), for example. Leaving them out shouldn't mean your character can't choose to fight taekwondo with a dao. Also add standard Jin's moveset as an unarmed style in addition to Devil Jin's (because a Badass Normal that can sprout black wings and shoot Frickin' Laser Beams from out of nowhere is just ridiculous, no matter how awesome; not asking Heihachi's because Devil Jin still fights Mishima Karate, while standard Jin's moves are more traditional, ergo, more different).
  • Edit facial proportions (i.e. eye size and shape, nose length and position, mouth width, lip thickness, cheek fullness and so on). Only having a few preset faces to use is pretty restrictive.

Sophitia disappeared from the Soul Calibur universe entirely

According to the character page, Sophitia's unconscious body was taken into the Astral Chaos in Unbreakable Soul. The official series website lists Sophitia as missing, rather than deceased. As such, it is possible she is still alive. But, if she is, where is she?

My theory is that she is indeed still alive, just no longer in the Soul Calibur universe. I believe that her Guest Fighter status in Warriors Orochi 3: Ultimate is more than just a guest appearance, but in fact canon for her character. She is still alive, she was just abducted into a new universe.

• Unbreakable Soul is non-canon, so that takes away some of this theory's credit. Not quite Jossed, though.

Soul Edge is Guts' Dragonslayer

Soul Edge's info says "at first Soul Edge was just an ordinary sword, but after being bathed in blood and hatred countless times, the sword turned into a demonic weapon and gained a wicked soul." This description fits Guts' personality since he has killed many humans and demons with his sword, so one day Inferno forms inside Dragonslayer and later takes over Guts. This can also explain why Nightmare's right arm is different and also explains how the hosts feel no pain.

Soulcalibur VI will bring back the series back to the original setting 17 years prior to V

The prologue to Lost Swords basically says that the stage is set at the end of the 16th century (where SE through IV takes place), and that the shards of Soul Calibur and Soul Edge were scattered across time, bringing the fighters together across time and space (which explains why Patroklos, Pyrrha, and Leixia were together with the old cast). While the gameplay itself was obviously non-canon, that tidbit at the beginning hasn't been confirmed not to be. Given that Project Soul has changed leads since V, and that the old cast has been the ones being promoted over the new (the only exception being Project × Zone 2, where Natsu is featured. However, that game had no involvement from Project Soul), it would seem like the old characters are set to return. Especially when you consider the Facebook Popularity Poll, where all the originals outranked their replacements.

• This seems to be the case judging by the announcement trailer for SCVI, which features a younger Mitsurugi and a very much alive (and presumably younger) Sophitia. On the other hand, Mitsurugi's design is based on how he appears in Soul Edge and Soulcalibur (full armor, no facial hair, apparent lack of scars) and there's a rapid succession of scenes—possibly framed as a prophetic vision of Sophitia's—taken from the opening movie of SCIII, the opening movie of SCV, and cutscenes from V's story. There's also the opening narration to take into account: "Just as shadows are cast where there is light, history hides away more than one truth." We might be looking at some kind of Continuity Reboot in the vein of Mortal Kombat 9, where the previous titles are still canon, albeit now set in a different timeline, and the events of the new continuity may or may not steer clear of the "original" story.
• Confirmed!

Patroklos will be cut from Soulcalibur VI

I don't see Patroklos making it in the next game, given how much of a Scrappy he's become. His inclusion in Lost Swords received universally negative reception, he placed at the bottom of the poll only ranking at #37 out of 45 characters (getting a measly 32 votes), and the fact that Namco themselves made fun of him on Facebook. All of this says that V's "hero" has failed to make a positive impression on the audience, and the character is being subject to Creator Backlash. It's likely that Pyrrha will stay, being that she's an Alexandra girl and has received somewhat better reception, but Patroklos will get written out of the games in some manner in order to make room for the old characters.

• Alternatively, the game will open with a massive Take That, Scrappy!, where one of the game's antagonists brutally kills him. The camera will pan to the killer's face and he'll say "You're welcome," with the next shot revealing he was talking to the Big Bad, who ordered his death.
• Confirmed by way of Continuity Reboot.

Lost Swords was intended as a Stealth Sequel to IV that would've allowed Soulcalibur VI to serve as an Alternate Continuity/Continuity Reboot to V.

The game's opening suggests that Lost Swords, though a non-canon spin-off, takes place after IV, as stills from the Siegfried vs. Nightmare battle at the beginning of V are shown. Instead of Soul Edge breaking into numerous shards (again) and Soul Calibur going dormant (again), both swords shatter, with the Soul Edge shards retreating to other worlds and times through Astral Chaos, and the Soul Calibur shards taking chase. Yet, despite the game's quests establishing that the player character is Trapped in Another World and trying to get back to their own through various arcane methods linked to Astral Chaos and the soul swords (suggesting they might be from the "main," canonical timeline), Fygul Cestemus (the cult responsible for creating Astaroth) exists as antagonists in the Lost Swords world and several late-game quests focus on the Malfested outbreak, not unlike Patroklos' story in V. Kunpaetku, the high priest of Fygul Cestemus, is even directly name-dropped in Chapter 4 of the "Giuseppe of Jupiter" quest. The "Treasure in the Rift" quest also mentions a "Rift of Riches" that exists in the same general Mediterranean location as Vercci's Money Pit, belonging to the similar-sounding Berchi.

At the same time, Project Soul, prior to the release of Lost Swords, ended up changing around a lot of the series' lore (you can read all about it here), particularly where SCV was concerned. It seems that, with the lukewarm reception the (unfortunately rushed) "story" received, Project Soul is trying to sweep things under the rug and pretend the last game (or at least choice parts of it) didn't happen. (That doesn't explain why some revisions went as far back as the first game, though.)

It could be that, with the player character ^note who is probably not meant to be any of the pre-existing Soul series characters you can play as in-game attempting to return home, they eventually set off some kind of Flashpoint-esque space-time fluctuation that completely nullifies the events of V while allowing the story to pick up back from IV's ending without dropping the new faces or select plot elements introduced in V. It's not a likely bet, I know, but this is the only way I could possibly think of some justification for Lost Swords's existence as a whole and the (mostly unnecessary) retconning Project Soul did.

Soulcalibur V will be treated as an Alternate Continuity by SCVI, which will be touted as the "true" continuation of SCIV.

As noted numerous times on this site and elsewhere, though the bare bones narrative of SCV had a botched, if not utterly horrendous execution, that doesn't mean it's unsalvageable. Given the predominantly negative reaction to the cast reshuffling and the complete shallowness of 90% of the replacements (even from the current Project Soul), the best bet for a new entry is to continue off from IV in a different direction while adapting elements of V in a Broad Strokes manner (similar, funnily enough, to how current Star Wars canon treats Legends, the former Expanded Universe), keeping the old guard while introducing their future successors and developing them alongside their parents/mentors in a way that doesn't ungracefully phase out the series stalwarts just for the sake of having a new generation. Tekken did this with its third installment, Time Skip and all, and even managed to bring formerly bussed characters back into the fold as time went on, so it's not an impossible endeavor. The fact that this is even an idea to take into consideration is the worst part, but it's not impossible for Project Soul to do damage control.

• Alternate Continuity seems to be the way SCVI is going, except wait a minute — Mitsurugi and Sophitia both resemble their SCI incarnations! This seems like a Mortal Kombat 9 sort of deal, where we have a pseudo-retelling of Soul Edge through to either SCII or III, then something that happens that offshoots the game into a new timeline for later games to take place in.
  • That's exactly what happens, except no one travels back in time to enact the reboot (except maybe Cassandra, but that's a different story altogether).

If Soulcalibur VI is released on the Nintendo Switch, that version will have Chrom as its Guest Fighter

I have doubts that Namco will want to use Link again, even after the release and smash success of Breath of the Wild. In addition, Soulcalibur II was released before the Fire Emblem series hit it big outside of Japan. Now that we can easily make use of its characters, why not give Chrom a chance? He's the protagonist of the series' best selling game, and was notably left out of the Super Smash Bros. 4 roster despite being Awakening's overall protagonist. And overall, he'd make for a cool character to have in the SCVI roster.

• Well, he was eventually integrated into the Smash roster in Ultimate, but unfortunately, SCVI has yet to come to the Switch.

Zasalamel goes on to become Nick Fury

First of all, both Zasalamel and the modern Fury are bald, badass black guys, and while Zasalamel isn't exactly The Ageless, he does have the Resurrective Immortality thing going on, which is close enough. Not to mention, the Marvel Cinematic Universe Nick Fury was born in 1951 and Zasalamel could hypothetically reincarnate at that time. Furthermore, note that Zasalamel's golden eye is on the same side as Fury's eye patch. As for standing guard over humanity, that's where S.H.I.E.L.D. and the Avengers Initiative come in.

If Project Soul were to collaborate with Tsuburaya Productions, chances are having an Ultra to appear as a Guest Fighter.

Take note the entire Soul series is one of Bandai Namco's popular fighting games next to Tekken. And TsuPro is part of Bandai's subsidiaries. Imagine if the latter gave the green light of having any of these Ultras appear in future SC games as a Guest Fighter who might seek out to destroy Soul Edge. Provided if the Ultras in question fit the Weapon Fighter gameplay, potential contenders include:

• Ultraman Decker
• Ultraman Trigger
• Ultraman Z^note with Beliarok. Since the end of the series, Z can wield Beliarok without transforming into Delta Rise Claw. Also take note in Ultraman Trigger: New Generation Tiga: The Movie: Episode Z, Z and Haruki were able to wield Beliarok in Alpha Edge.
• Ultraman Orb^note Orb Origin