History YMMV / GuiltyGear

** ''Overture'', along with [[OutOfGenreExperience the shift to]] [[GenreBusting a mix of]] ''VideoGame/DynastyWarriors''-style {{hack and slash}} and an {{R|ealTimeStrategy}}TS. None of the original cast return save for Sol, Ky, and Dizzy (the latter in a cameo; That Man and Raven are also present and serve as bosses) and the series' trademark, its rock music, is (mostly) traded in for orchestral pieces. Not helping matters was that it was only ported to UsefulNotes/Xbox360 (although ''Overture'' was quietly ported to Steam), halving its audience.

* MemeticBadass: Slayer. This is the guy who regularly takes characters like ''Sol'' to the cleaners [[WillfullyWeak while extensively holding back]] [[SpiritedCompetitor to be a good sport]]. Even then is he capable of feats like [[MegatonPunch punching you halfway to the Andromeda Galaxy]]. None of this accounts for the fact that [[YourVampiresSuck he has none of the weaknesses vampires are traditionally known for]]. Really, Slayer's badassery isn't so much memetic as it is canon.

** I-No is a depraved ShamelessFanserviceGirl who perpetually wears slutty outfits and has very suggestive dialogue(as well as [[TooKinkytoTorture making suspicious-sounding noises when she gets hit]]). Couple that with a very unsubtle ExtremeOmnisexual attitude and the fact that she's one of the main villains, and as a result fans love to joke about how pervy she is toward other characters.

** A.B.A and Paracelsus are canon, subverted in a sense that Paracelsus is a living being despite being a giant key. She also spends her ''Accent Core Plus'' story working for the P.W.A.B. with the promise that they'll provide a human body for Paracelsus to inhabit. [[spoiler:She ends up succeeding in one ending. In the other, his consciousness gets transferred into... a Robo-Ky head.]]
*** Weirdly subverted in that Paracelsus thinks A.B.A is a nice girl, but would prefer to remain friends.

*** Weirdly subverted in that Paracelsus thinks A.B.A. is a nice girl, but would prefer to remain friends.

** A.B.A., the gloomy homunculus with a key fetish from ''Isuka''. Despite originating from a spin-off game and being completely inconsequential to the plot, fans liked her attractive design and sympathetic backstory enough that [[BreakoutCharacter she became a playable character in the main series]] starting with ''XX Slash''.

** [[ArtEvolution As of late]] Ky as well; his face is drawn to look more feminine and he grows a ponytail, making him qualify as Bridget's older sister.

* EnsembleDarkhorse: With the coming of ''Xrd'''s Story Mode, President Gabriel turned into one of these, gaining a surprising amount of popularity after fans finally got to see his combat prowess.

** ''XX'' had Slayer and his extremely dominating-back-dash-cancels which were guaranteed whiff-poke/punish for free damage across the board no thanks to his poking range and/or Dandy Step followups, making it dangerous to press buttons against him in the neutral game; he also had his extremely broken command grab loop that sent someone into an endless stagger. The latter was no doubt fixed in later iterations of ''XX'', but vanilla ''Accent Core'' allowed his standing HS to be abused in juggle for quite a while if your opponent didn't have burst (it caused ground bounce on air hit instead of ground slide). ''Accent Core + R'' onwards is usually the most balanced version of him with an improved neutral game but neutered overall damage. However, he's still normally considered a SkillGateCharacter due to how easy it can be to just mash out of his effective range with lows, quick moves and/or reversals; as well as punishing his normally-safe tools severely with expert instant-blocking.

* SequelDisplacement: The original game, ''The Missing Link'', became this in regards to it's two sequels ''X'' and ''XX''. Much like the original ''Franchise/StreetFighter'', while it introduced the lore, characters and basic gameplay mechanics, it was the sequels that better refined everything along with the actual ''look'' that codified the series.

** Ramlethal has been both this and a LowTierLetdown. When ''Xrd'' was first released she was vastly overpowered for people who could master her DifficultButAwesome moveset, able to easily deplete the opponent's life bar in a combo string. However some updates seriously nerfed her to the point where one needs to have that mastery to even do any significant damage, which for some players essentially crippled her competitive viability. Fortunately, that all changed with ''-STRIVE-''. Unfortunately, Ramlethal's reworks in ''-STRIVE-'' ended up putting her as an oppressive top tier again. Boasting some of the longest reaching normals in the whole game and very easy coast-to-coast combos from midscreen that deal high damage and grant her Positive Bonus with wall break, Ram can utterly dominate the mid-ragnge and convert off of practically any stray hit.

* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: ''Guilty Gear: The Missing Link'' is very janky compared to later games, with extremely easy infinites existing for almost every character, and the ability to attempt Instant Kills any number of times per round meant matches could quickly degrade into coin flips.

* EvilIsSexy:
** If we're being technical, in ''Accent Core Plus'', we see both [[spoiler:Anji]] and A.B.A as temporary {{Punch Clock Villain}}s, while Baiken gives in to her bloodlust in one ending and turns into a disreputable serial killer. If we're being really technical, [[spoiler:the BadFuture caused by I-No's meddling and Ky's death during the Battle of Rome has a "good girl gone bad" example in ''Dizzy'']].
** With the sheer explosion of fan art and more than a few fans proclaiming her to be their [[Manga/AzumangaDaioh waifu]] not long after her unveiling, one can safely assume Ramlethal Valentine of ''Xrd'' counts as well.
** Speaking of Valentines, the Valentine we see in ''Overture'' would also the fit the bill as she's [[spoiler:a clone of Aria, Sol's [[TheLostLenore Lost Lenore]]. As we know for sure now that Justice is Aria as of ''Xrd Revelator'', you're basically getting a glimpse at what Justice looked like underneath that armor]]. Which means that, depending on how you interpret things, [[spoiler:''Justice herself'' may retroactively qualify]].

* SeinfeldIsUnfunny: ''Guilty Gear: The Missing Link'' is very janky compared to later games, with extremely easy infinites existing for almost every character, and the ability to attempt Instant Kills any number of times per round meant matches could quickly degrade into coin flips. But the series had to start somewhere, and it's worth respecting it for starting the hardcore, metal fighting game we all know and love, and being the starting point for the {{Animesque}} Air Dasher-styled fighting game subgenre.

* FriendlyFandoms: With ''{{VideoGame/Darkstalkers}}'', a series that very much inspired much of GG's identity and mechanics. Both are colorful, fast paced anime fighting games with over the top characters and animations.