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** Like her sister, Sophitia has two or three of them as well.
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Doubt Jennifer Hale was the VA.
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** Tira [[JenniferHale likes]] [[MetroidPrime science fiction,]] [[MassEffect and she's had enough of your disingenuous assertions]]. *SLICE*
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** Cervantes' [[TheOtherDarrin human]] [[PatrickSeitz form]] is a light-haired {{Badass}} in a red [[BadassLongcoat longcoat]]. [[BlazBlue Sounds familiar]]...
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** Cervantes' [[TheOtherDarrin human]] [[PatrickSeitz form]] is a light-haired {{Badass}} in a red [[BadassLongcoat longcoat]]. [[BlazBlue Sounds familiar]]... Also, [[SengokuBasara he seems to be lacking an eye patch, a gigantic anchor and his jacket isn't pink...]]
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* EpicFail: Admit it, anyone who has played this game was able to ring themselves out by accident at least once.
** [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_TbYZzJ7FE4 Like this guy did!]]
** [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_TbYZzJ7FE4 Like this guy did!]]
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Holy shit. Misplacing one equal sign can do so much...
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* BreakableWeapons: ''Soul Edge'' only, although ''[=SoulCalibur=] IV'' and ''[=SoulCalibur] V '' have breakable ''[[ClothingDamage armour]]''.
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* BreakableWeapons: ''Soul Edge'' only, although ''[=SoulCalibur=] IV'' and ''[=SoulCalibur] ''[=SoulCalibur=] V '' have breakable ''[[ClothingDamage armour]]''.
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Added Soul Calibur V to the list of breakable armor games on the Breakable Weapons trope.
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* BreakableWeapons: ''Soul Edge'' only, although ''[=SoulCalibur=] IV'' has breakable ''[[ClothingDamage armour]]''.
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* BreakableWeapons: ''Soul Edge'' only, although ''[=SoulCalibur=] IV'' has and ''[=SoulCalibur] V '' have breakable ''[[ClothingDamage armour]]''.
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Adding a subversion to Celibate Hero since it\'s official Xiba is Kilik\'s and Xianghua\'s son.
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*** [[spoiler: Too bad he broke that trope by having Xiba with Xinghua prior to SCV.]]
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* WeakButSkilled: Soul of Devil Jin. Players will find themselves outclassed in some form against any other character.
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* DualBoss: Lanbardy and Hobb at the end of the Underground Juno.
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* NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast: Lanbardy, Marauder of Slaughter
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Adding a few more tropes from the Alternate Universe games, alphabetizing a few misplaced entries.
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* LouisCypher: Wonder what Demuth Beel Zebus Halteese could mean...
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* LouisCypher: Wonder what Demuth Beel Zebus Halteese could mean... mean...
* LuckBasedMission:
** Merope Monastery's bonus mission in in ''Weapon Master'' is dependent entirely on if the AI moves the right way, as you have ~15 seconds to defeat each of the 6 foes, only truly possible with a ring out while over 3/4 of the stage is wall.
** In chapter 8 of ''Chronicles of the Sword'', you have to rescue at least 3 of 5 allied units on the field from the enemies. Outside of a NewGamePlus (where you can get through fortresses much quicker with your higher strength units), the AI decides if you can rescue the three named ones that will join you as well as your ability to rescue the two generic ones for bonus points, as if they attack any unit with more than one of theirs, they are going to die.
* LuckBasedMission:
** Merope Monastery's bonus mission in in ''Weapon Master'' is dependent entirely on if the AI moves the right way, as you have ~15 seconds to defeat each of the 6 foes, only truly possible with a ring out while over 3/4 of the stage is wall.
** In chapter 8 of ''Chronicles of the Sword'', you have to rescue at least 3 of 5 allied units on the field from the enemies. Outside of a NewGamePlus (where you can get through fortresses much quicker with your higher strength units), the AI decides if you can rescue the three named ones that will join you as well as your ability to rescue the two generic ones for bonus points, as if they attack any unit with more than one of theirs, they are going to die.
* OneManArmy: ''Chronicles of the Sword''. It's even lampshaded, with generic soldiers thinking your character is a War God(ess).
* PerversePuppet: One appears in Weapon Master that can only be defeated via ring out.
* {{Pirate}}: Alfred, King of Pirates in Weapon Master, as well as his crew.
* PerversePuppet: One appears in Weapon Master that can only be defeated via ring out.
* {{Pirate}}: Alfred, King of Pirates in Weapon Master, as well as his crew.
* SceneryGorn: The Castle of the Dead, as well as anywhere Veral has been once he acquires Soul Edge.
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* LuckBasedMission:
** Merope Monastery's bonus mission in in ''Weapon Master'' is dependent entirely on if the AI moves the right way, as you have ~15 seconds to defeat each of the 6 foes, only truly possible with a ring out while over 3/4 of the stage is wall.
** In chapter 8 of ''Chronicles of the Sword'', you have to rescue at least 3 of 5 allied units on the field from the enemies. Outside of a NewGamePlus (where you can get through fortresses much quicker with your higher strength units), the AI decides if you can rescue the three named ones that will join you as well as your ability to rescue the two generic ones for bonus points, as if they attack any unit with more than one of theirs, they are going to die.
* OneManArmy: ''Chronicles of the Sword''. It's even lampshaded, with generic soldiers thinking your character is a War God(ess).
** Merope Monastery's bonus mission in in ''Weapon Master'' is dependent entirely on if the AI moves the right way, as you have ~15 seconds to defeat each of the 6 foes, only truly possible with a ring out while over 3/4 of the stage is wall.
** In chapter 8 of ''Chronicles of the Sword'', you have to rescue at least 3 of 5 allied units on the field from the enemies. Outside of a NewGamePlus (where you can get through fortresses much quicker with your higher strength units), the AI decides if you can rescue the three named ones that will join you as well as your ability to rescue the two generic ones for bonus points, as if they attack any unit with more than one of theirs, they are going to die.
* OneManArmy: ''Chronicles of the Sword''. It's even lampshaded, with generic soldiers thinking your character is a War God(ess).
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* FiveBadBand: In Weapon Master we have...
** BigBad: [[TinTyrant Veral]]
** TheDragon / DarkChick: [[TheRival Minerva]]
** EvilGenius: [[MadBomber Hobb]]
** TheBrute: [[AnAxeToGrind Lanbardy]]
** BigBad: [[TinTyrant Veral]]
** TheDragon / DarkChick: [[TheRival Minerva]]
** EvilGenius: [[MadBomber Hobb]]
** TheBrute: [[AnAxeToGrind Lanbardy]]
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* ConfusionFu: Voldo, Yoshimitsu, and Dampierre.
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* ConfusionFu: Voldo, Yoshimitsu, and Dampierre. Xianghua and her daughter's movesets also rely on feints to a much lesser extent.
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* EldritchLocation: Astral Chaos, the dimension that Soul Edge retreats into whenever it gets too damaged.
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add Lizardman
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** DualWielding: [[GodOfWar Kratos.]]
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** DualWielding: [[GodOfWar Kratos.]]]] and Lizardman (dual axes) in V
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Adding Meido for Pyrrha it isn\'t even in the game so not really a spoiler
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** Pyrrha worked as a meido until she was implicated in a murder probably the first example for a main character in Soul Calibur.
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* AllThereInTheManual: Japan released an artbook quide for ''V'' that explains what happened to many of the characters that did not make it into the game, and heavily expanded the background for those who did.
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* AllThereInTheManual: Japan released an artbook quide guide for ''V'' that explains what happened to many of the characters that did not make it into the game, and heavily expanded the background for those who did.
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* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: The story mode for ''Soulcalibur V'' focuses, for the first time, on the actions and destinies of only a few characters. As a result, many characters never have their reasons for being in the game stated and some, like Zasalamel and Cassandra (who's the aunt of both the main characters no less), have disappeared entirely without explanation.
** WhatCouldHaveBeen: ''SC V'', whilst praised for its great gameplay and visuals, was met with criticsm (justifiably so) for the fact that the story mode only concentrated on and showcased the fate of a handful of characters. Even arcade mode has no endings for any of the characters, leaving a good deal of storyline elements [[LeaveThePlotThreadsHanging hanging]]. Annoyingly, when this was brought up in an [[http://train2game-news.co.uk/2012/03/27/train2game-interview-soulcalibur-v-game-director-daishi-odashima/ interview]] with game director Daishi, he stated that - "Our first plan on the storyboard was that we had every character's story, and actually we do have it in the studio, but time-wise, man power-wise we weren’t able to do it and only one fourth of what we planned to do is in the game"......GRRR!
** WhatCouldHaveBeen: ''SC V'', whilst praised for its great gameplay and visuals, was met with criticsm (justifiably so) for the fact that the story mode only concentrated on and showcased the fate of a handful of characters. Even arcade mode has no endings for any of the characters, leaving a good deal of storyline elements [[LeaveThePlotThreadsHanging hanging]]. Annoyingly, when this was brought up in an [[http://train2game-news.co.uk/2012/03/27/train2game-interview-soulcalibur-v-game-director-daishi-odashima/ interview]] with game director Daishi, he stated that - "Our first plan on the storyboard was that we had every character's story, and actually we do have it in the studio, but time-wise, man power-wise we weren’t able to do it and only one fourth of what we planned to do is in the game"......GRRR!
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* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: The story mode for ''Soulcalibur V'' focuses, for the first time, on the actions and destinies of only a few characters. As a result, many characters never have their reasons for being in the game stated and some, like Zasalamel and Cassandra (who's the aunt of both the main characters no less), have disappeared entirely without explanation.
** WhatCouldHaveBeen: ''SC V'', whilst praised for its great gameplay and visuals, was met with criticsm (justifiably so) for the fact that the story mode only concentrated on and showcased the fate of a handful of characters. Even arcade mode has no endings for any of the characters, leaving a good deal of storyline elements [[LeaveThePlotThreadsHanging hanging]]. Annoyingly, when this was brought up in an [[http://train2game-news.co.uk/2012/03/27/train2game-interview-soulcalibur-v-game-director-daishi-odashima/ interview]] with game director Daishi, he stated that - "Our first plan on the storyboard was that we had every character's story, and actually we do have it in the studio, but time-wise, man power-wise we weren’t able to do it and only one fourth of what we planned to do is in the game"......GRRR!
** WhatCouldHaveBeen: ''SC V'', whilst praised for its great gameplay and visuals, was met with criticsm (justifiably so) for the fact that the story mode only concentrated on and showcased the fate of a handful of characters. Even arcade mode has no endings for any of the characters, leaving a good deal of storyline elements [[LeaveThePlotThreadsHanging hanging]]. Annoyingly, when this was brought up in an [[http://train2game-news.co.uk/2012/03/27/train2game-interview-soulcalibur-v-game-director-daishi-odashima/ interview]] with game director Daishi, he stated that - "Our first plan on the storyboard was that we had every character's story, and actually we do have it in the studio, but time-wise, man power-wise we weren’t able to do it and only one fourth of what we planned to do is in the game"......GRRR!
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* WhatCouldHaveBeen: ''SC V'', whilst praised for its great gameplay and visuals, was met with criticsm (justifiably so) for the fact that the story mode only concentrated on and showcased the fate of a handful of characters. Even arcade mode has no endings for any of the characters, leaving a good deal of storyline elements [[LeaveThePlotThreadsHanging hanging]]. Annoyingly, when this was brought up in an [[http://train2game-news.co.uk/2012/03/27/train2game-interview-soulcalibur-v-game-director-daishi-odashima/ interview]] with game director Daishi, he stated that - "Our first plan on the storyboard was that we had every character's story, and actually we do have it in the studio, but time-wise, man power-wise we weren’t able to do it and only one fourth of what we planned to do is in the game"......GRRR!
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** WhatCouldHaveBeen: ''SC V'', whilst praised for its great gameplay and visuals, was met with criticsm (justifiably so) for the fact that the story mode only concentrated on and showcased the fate of a handful of characters. Even arcade mode has no endings for any of the characters, leaving a good deal of storyline elements [[LeaveThePlotThreadsHanging hanging]]. Annoyingly, when this was brought up in an [[http://train2game-news.co.uk/2012/03/27/train2game-interview-soulcalibur-v-game-director-daishi-odashima/ interview]] with game director Daishi, he stated that - "Our first plan on the storyboard was that we had every character's story, and actually we do have it in the studio, but time-wise, man power-wise we weren’t able to do it and only one fourth of what we planned to do is in the game"......GRRR!
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* WhatCouldHaveBeen: ''SC V'', whilst praised for its great gameplay and visuals, was met with criticsm (justifiably so) for the fact that the story mode only concentrated on and showcased the fate of a handful of characters. Even arcade mode has no endings for any of the characters, leaving a good deal of storyline elements [[LeaveThePlotThreadsHanging hanging]]. Annoyingly, when this was brought up in an [[http://train2game-news.co.uk/2012/03/27/train2game-interview-soulcalibur-v-game-director-daishi-odashima/ interview]] with game director Daishi, he stated that - "Our first plan on the storyboard was that we had every character's story, and actually we do have it in the studio, but time-wise, man power-wise we weren’t able to do it and only one fourth of what we planned to do is in the game"......GRRR!
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* UnreliableNarrator: When confronting Tira in Soulcalibur V's story mode as Patroklos, the narrator refers to her as [[spoiler: "your mother's murderer"]] seemingly confirming that Tira [[spoiler: killed Sophitia]]. This was later disproven in the [[AllThereInTheManual official sourcebook]].
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** Also, Kilik. By SC4, he returns Xianghua's love, but says it can never be because he plans to throw away his life to become a hermit/the eternal guardian of both swords, and wants Xianghua to continue and live a full life rather than do the same just for him. She ''doesn't care''.
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** Also, Kilik. By SC4, he returns Xianghua's love, but says it can never be because he plans to throw away his life to become a hermit/the eternal guardian of both swords, and wants Xianghua to continue and live a full life rather than do the same just for him. She ''doesn't care''.eventually moves on and has a daughter of her own named [[spoiler: Lexia]].
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** Cervantes' [[TheOtherDarrin human]] [[PatrickSeitz form]] is a light-haired {{Badass}} in a red [[BadassLongcoat longcoat]]. [[BlazBlue Sounds familiar]]...
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* DualWielding: Cervantes, [[GodOfWar Kratos]], [[TalesOfSymphonia Lloyd Irving]], and Shura all dual-wield swords, as well as Talim, who [[DualTonfas dual wields Tonfas]]. Taki and Natsu dual-wield daggers for certain attacks, and Algol's hands transform into Soul Edge and Soul Calibur, as well as double bubble cannons. Maxi can dual-wield nunchaku as an extra kata in ''Soul Calibur''.
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* DualWielding: Cervantes, [[GodOfWar Kratos]], [[TalesOfSymphonia [[VideoGame/TalesOfSymphonia Lloyd Irving]], and Shura all dual-wield swords, as well as Talim, who [[DualTonfas dual wields Tonfas]]. Taki and Natsu dual-wield daggers for certain attacks, and Algol's hands transform into Soul Edge and Soul Calibur, as well as double bubble cannons. Maxi can dual-wield nunchaku as an extra kata in ''Soul Calibur''.
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* GuestFighter: [[{{Tekken}} Heihachi]], [[TheLegendOfZelda Link]], and {{Spawn}}, who were each a console-specific character in one of the versions of ''Soul Calibur II''; [[TalesOfSymphonia Lloyd Irving]] in ''[=SoulCalibur=] Legends''; [[StarWars Darth Vader, Yoda]], and [[TheForceUnleashed The Apprentice]] in ''[=SoulCalibur=] IV''; [[GodOfWar Kratos]] in ''[=SoulCalibur=]: Broken Destiny'', and [[VideoGame/AssassinsCreed Ezio Auditore]] in ''Soul Calibur V''.
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* GuestFighter: [[{{Tekken}} Heihachi]], [[TheLegendOfZelda Link]], and {{Spawn}}, who were each a console-specific character in one of the versions of ''Soul Calibur II''; [[TalesOfSymphonia [[VideoGame/TalesOfSymphonia Lloyd Irving]] in ''[=SoulCalibur=] Legends''; [[StarWars Darth Vader, Yoda]], and [[TheForceUnleashed The Apprentice]] in ''[=SoulCalibur=] IV''; [[GodOfWar Kratos]] in ''[=SoulCalibur=]: Broken Destiny'', and [[VideoGame/AssassinsCreed Ezio Auditore]] in ''Soul Calibur V''.
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** Or why he isn't mentioning [[TalesofSymphonia that ominous light]] [[MemeticMutation that threatens to engulf us...]]
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** Or why he isn't mentioning [[TalesofSymphonia [[VideoGame/TalesofSymphonia that ominous light]] [[MemeticMutation that threatens to engulf us...]]
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* AllThereInTheManual: Japan released an artbook quide for ''V'' that explains what happened to many of the characters that did not make it into the game.
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* AllThereInTheManual: Japan released an artbook quide for ''V'' that explains what happened to many of the characters that did not make it into the game.game, and heavily expanded the background for those who did.
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* DummiedOut: Daishi Odashima, the game's director, [[http://train2game-news.co.uk/2012/03/26/train2game-news-soulcalibur-v-story-mode-one-fourth-of-planned-size-each-character-was-to-have-own-story/ reported]] that ''[=SCV's=]'' Story Mode was supposed to be ''4 times bigger'' than that of the released product, each character would have its own chronicle instead of just focusing on Patrokolos and Pyrrha; time contraints and lack of staff made the plan go down under, they even had full voiced lines ready for the extensive story mode, that in the end weren't used.
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** It's been there since the beginning. In the orignal Soul Edge game, Sophitia appeared naked in the opening (Censored overseas of course) and Taki had JigglePhysics. On the original {{Playstaion}}. Which is hilarious.
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** It's been there since the beginning. In the orignal Soul Edge game, Sophitia appeared naked in the opening (Censored overseas of course) and Taki had JigglePhysics. On the original {{Playstaion}}.{{Playstation}}. Which is hilarious.
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** It's been there since the beginning. In the orignal Soul Edge game, Sophitia appeared naked in the opening (Censored overseas of course) and Taki had JigglePhysics. On the original {{Playstaion}}. Which is hilarious.
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[[quoteright:226:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/SoulEdgeCalibur.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:226:Welcome to the page of history!]]
->''"Transcending history and the world, a tale of souls and swords, eternally retold..."''
The ''Soul'' series is a series of [=3D=] weapon-based fighting games created by Namco, arriving shortly after the success of its other [=3D=] fighter, ''{{Tekken}}''.
All of the games in the series follow an ongoing plot: rumors of a heroic sword of legends known as "Soul Edge" are widespread around 16th century Eurasia. Only a few know the truth; the sword is actually an evil ArtifactOfDoom with an insatiable thirst for human souls. Some fighters seek it without knowing the truth, others seek to destroy it, while still others know the truth but simply don't care.
At first, the sword falls into the hands of a mad pirate named Cervantes, and it possesses him and turns him into a [[WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity bloodthirsty killing machine]]. In later games, the sword is damaged by its "good" counterpart, Soul Calibur, and breaks into fragments, which are spread all over the world, causing misfortune on anyone who found them. By the last game, the sword has recovered all its lost shards and power, and awaits a final confrontation with its equally-powerful rival sword.
The series began in the mid-90s with ''Soul Edge'', one of the first games to feature three-dimensional combat where every character held a weapon. Control was mostly similar to ''Tekken'' and ''VirtuaFighter'', where characters could move along the three-dimensional plane, and could be knocked out of the ring if they were careless. Characters could also deflect each other's weapon attacks, or break them and render them useless if hit enough times.
''Soul Edge'', while mildly successful in arcades (and on the [=PlayStation=] as ''Soul Blade''), was largely overshadowed by ''Soul Calibur'', which revamped many of the original game's aspects, including the three-dimensional movement, character combos and timing, and completely removed the breakable weapon aspect. The Dreamcast port of the game rebalanced the gameplay and overhauled the graphics, becoming its system's KillerApp in the process. It's often placed among many game critics' "favorite games of all time".
''Soul Calibur'' has since spawned four sequels, which have been ported to a number of home systems. A spinoff ActionAdventure title, ''[=SoulCalibur=] Legends'', has been released for the Wii; ''IV'' has also been ported to the PSP as ''[=SoulCalibur=]: Broken Destiny'', which guest stars the God of War himself. No, not Ares; [[GodOfWar the man who killed him]].
As of ''[=SoulCalibur=] III'', the series title seems to be ''[=SoulCalibur=]'' in a reference to Excalibur. Odashima said he wanted ''[=SoulCalibur=] 5'' to be named ''[=Soul Edge 2=]'', but was rejected.
See also [[Characters/SoulSeries the Character Sheet]].
----
!!This series provides examples of:
* ActionMom: the Alexandra sisters; Cassandra's main reason to fight was to spare her older sister Sophitia from doing so since she's a mom, but when her kids are affected Sophitia comes back to fighting against Soul Edge anyway.
** Taken to a more extreme and utterly ''cruel'' angle in Soulcalibur IV when Sophitia's daughter [[MeaningfulName Pyrrha]] [[spoiler:''is'' '''possessed''' by Soul Edge, forcing Sophitia to kill anyone trying to destroy it.]]
** Hilde, as of SCV.
* AgeInappropriateDress: Amy, Talim, and [[spoiler: Leixia]].
* AIBreaker: Anti AI moves in the 3rd game, and Astaroth's Discus Breaker (1AB in community notation) in Soul Calibur IV. Also, lying down facing the edge when fighting Algol on Floor 60. See ArtificialStupidity.
* AlienGeometries: ''V'' has a few infinitely large stages. You can see scenery in the distance, but you can never get any closer to it no matter how far you move.
* AllThereInTheManual: Japan released an artbook quide for ''V'' that explains what happened to many of the characters that did not make it into the game.
* AmazingTechnicolorBattlefield
* AnachronismStew: Supposedly, this game takes place during the mid-to-late Renaissance, but there are certain aspects of the series (mostly the costumes and some SteamPunk elements coming from llluminati-esque underground cults) that never really conform to a single real-world era.
* ApologeticAttacker: Sophitia, and also Talim, to a lesser extent.
** Siegfried tends to go into this when fighting non-possessed enemies, as they usually go after him for his past deeds as Nightmare. He accepts they have a rightful beef, but he can't die until Soul Edge's done for. So he beats them down, and then apologizes.
** Pyrrha. Probably more apologetic than any that came before her.
*** In her case, she has a ''damn'' good reason though.
* AppropriatedTitle: The series was originally called ''SoulBlade'' but is now better known as ''SoulCalibur''.
** More accurately, it was ''SoulEdge'' in Japan and ''SoulBlade'' in internationally. This was due to copyright troll EDGE Games claiming any and all variations of the word "edge" for themselves.
* ArmedLegs: The Grieve Edge moveset for custom characters in ''III''.
* ArtifactOfDoom: ''Soul Edge''.
* ArtificialStupidity: Algol loves to use a certain combo that involves jumping over his opponent's head. He will use this even if his opponent is lying on the ground at the edge of the arena, flinging himself to his doom. Talim also did this a lot with her "Wind Flip" maneuver, particularly in SoulCalibur III.
* AssKicksYou: Cassandra's Critical Finish, where she literally knocks her foe over with her rear end, then proceeds to violently sit on her opponent's face, the second time using her shield. There might be slight lampshading when she calls out "[[{{Fanservice}} You like this kinda stuff]]?" when she's doing it. Not to mention all the pink hearts. She also has an attack that involves flinging herself butt-first at the enemy (which is her longest-range attack).
** Rock [[GroundPound does this too]].
** Even more disturbingly, Voldo does this, although not as a critical finish.
* AwesomeButImpractical: Unblockable attacks look very cool, wreathing your weapon(s) in flames for the duration of the attack and darkening everything on-screen aside from the fighters and the HUD, and usually do a good chunk of damage. However, that duration tends to be a few seconds before the attack is actually pulled off, allowing players who notice the attack to generally dodge it with ease. And then punish the attacker right after with an attack of their own. Some of these attacks (such as Ivy's heel drop) leave the attacker open during the prep stages, too, making it very impractical unless the opponent is on the ground. Though [[GameBreaker one of Sophitia's...]]
** Soul Edge in ''Soul Calibur II'' and ''Soul Calibur III'' often carries elements of this; while generally more powerful than any other weapon, most of its side effects are negative compared to the many more useful abilities offered by Soul Calibur or other weapons. This is notably absent in ''[=SC4=]'', except for certain forms which have the detrimental abilities Slow Feet and Evil Sword Berserk attached.
** In ''Soul Calibur IV'', Algol's 214A+B and 4B+K are awesome when they work, but they never will in a serious match. Nightmare's A+B and his 236A+B are also really cool, but are terrible moves.
** The Critical Finishes from ''Soul Calibur IV'' can only be pulled off in very specific situations: you break your opponent's armor, force them into Soul Crush, then hit all four face buttons while they're reeling back. They're harder to pull off than it would seem.
* AwesomeYetPractical: Guard Break attacks, which coat your weapon in electricity, do boosted damage, and stagger foes if they were guarding. They are barely slower than regular attacks, and plenty are horizontal strikes (which means you can't walk out of the way).
* {{Badass}}: Basically every character in the game.
** BadassAdorable: Many of the younger girls, particularly Talim and Ashlotte.
** BadassLolita: Amy.
** BadassBack: Voldo legitimately; other characters in ''[=SC3=]'' who [[FakeDifficulty shouldn't be allowed to]].
** BadassUnintentional: The fourth game has the rare moments where character taunts match up perfectly, such as...
--> Algol: "Fighting is my all... it is my existence!"
--> Nightmare: "Your existence is meaningless!"
* {{Bishoujo}}: Taki, Seoung-Mina, Xianghua.
* {{Bishonen}}: Kilik, Maxi, and Siegfried are pretty boys, but also [[PlayingWithATrope quite buff]].
* TheBladeAlwaysLandsPointyEndIn: In the intro.
* BloodKnight: Mitsurugi and Algol.
* BloodlessCarnage: You'd think with all the blades flying around, someone would get at least a small cut.
** Worth noting [[GameplayAndStorySegregation that this is a gameplay restriction]], and within the story itself ,the weapons do cause injuries and even death.
* BodyHorror: Soul Edge can twist the human body quite grotesquely, best seen in the number it did to Siegfried's right arm. [[spoiler: The same corruption later happens to poor Pyrrha.]]
* [[BonusLevelOfHell Bonus Mode Of Hell]]: Edge Master Mode, Mission Mode, Weapon Master Mode, Chronicles of the Sword, Tower of Lost Souls, and Legendary Souls, in chronological order.
* BottomlessPits: Some arenas have cliffs, chasms, or are being hoisted into the air by an Egyptian construction crane. These are some of the most common forms of "Ring Out".
* {{Bowdlerise}}: In countries (specifically, Korea) that discouraged references to {{samurai}} due to their histories with WWII-era Japan as well as various invasions from the 1590s, Mitsurugi was replaced twice: first with Hwang in the Korean arcade version of ''Soul Edge'', and then in ''[=SC=]'' with an [[MightyWhitey english-born, japan-raised "samurai"]] named Arthur, who sported an EyepatchOfPower and wielded a [[KatanasAreJustBetter katana]]. The former became a main by the 2nd arcade revision, the later became an unlockable bonus character in ''[=SC3=]'' as well as making cameos in the introduction for Weaponmaster in 2 and The Gauntlet in Broken Destiny.
** Interestingly enough, the backstories of the Korean characters involve those very same 16th-century conflicts, so you'd think the Korean audience would cherish being able to beat up a hardened samurai warrior with their national heroes.
** Also, the PAL release of 'Soul Blade'' changes the weapons of Li Long from Nunchaku into Three-Sectional Staffs because of the legal status of the former in the U.K. and other countries.
* BrainwashedAndCrazy: The majority of [[ArtifactOfDoom Soul Edge's]] victims end up this. Tira is an especially notable example.
* BreakableWeapons: ''Soul Edge'' only, although ''[=SoulCalibur=] IV'' has breakable ''[[ClothingDamage armour]]''.
** in the story mode of SCIII, this becomes the excuse for having a character use Soul Edge or Soul Calibur. Abyss will toss his scythe at you, requiring a [[QuickTimeEvent quicktime event]] to block it. If the character is scripted to end up fighting with one of the Soul weapons, the strike will break the weapon the character is holding no matter what, and then one of the Soul weapons will be launched at the character, which they pick up to finish the fight.
* CanonImmigrant: Sort of... a character named Yoshimitsu appears in all four ''Calibur'' games [[strike:as a secret character]]; he's similar to the Yoshimitsu from ''{{Tekken}}'', but may not be the same person.
** According to his story, "Yoshimitsu" is actually the name of the sword he wields, as well as a ''title'' given to the strongest Ninja in his clan (the Yoshimitsu in ''Soul Calibur'' is the founder and the Yoshimitsu of ''Tekken'' is the current leader); the personality and fighting style are adopted to give the impression that he is immortal (LegacyImmortality, as popularized by ComicStrip/ThePhantom). However, Yoshimitsu is the same guy in the first 4 ''Soul Calibur'' games, as his story makes constant references to his development in past games; he is replaced by a new swordsman in the events leading up to V. The ''Tekken'' games all feature a single Yoshimitsu as well.
** The Tekken 3 booklet's bio of Yoshimitsu says something like "He may have existed since the 18th Century". If this is true (it's nowhere mentioned in the NTSC-U english manual), it's only an addition of the english translator, as no such mention appears in any of the japanese profiles.
** Staying within the confines of the series itself, we have Hwang and Arthur. In both cases, the characters were conceived as alternates to Mitsurugi for the Korean market (who have a high distaste for samurai due to their bad history), Hwang for ''Soul Edge'' and Arthur for ''[=SoulCalibur=]''. Later on, a second revision for ''Soul Edge'' was released and Hwang was canonized as a real character for all regions and given his own story. Likewise, in ''[=SoulCalibur=] III'', Arthur was given some back story and added as a bonus character. Arthur has little relevance to anything in the narrative but Hwang has been a prominent player through the first two titles.
* CanonWelding: Possibly implied with Tekken at the end of [[spoiler:Zasalamel's]] story in IV, which depicts him [[spoiler:reincarnated in modern New York]].
* CelibateHero: Ivy. [[GagBoobs No,]] [[JigglePhysics seriously]]. She knows that she has "cursed blood", thanks to Soul Edge (her blood type is even listed as "Soul Edge"), so she has taken a vow to never have children, lest they too be cursed.
** Also, Kilik. By SC4, he returns Xianghua's love, but says it can never be because he plans to throw away his life to become a hermit/the eternal guardian of both swords, and wants Xianghua to continue and live a full life rather than do the same just for him. She ''doesn't care''.
* CharacterCustomization: The Create-a-Fighter mode in ''[=SC3=]'', ''[=SC4=]'', and ''[=SC5=]''.
* CharacterDevelopment: Siegfried turns from a deluded young man, into the BigBad, and finally into TheAtoner and the arguable protagonist/hero of the games. Similarly, Ivy has moved from NeutralEvil to TrueNeutral, and as of ''[=SoulCalibur=] IV'' may even be headed towards NeutralGood. Most of the characters undergo some level of character development between games.
* CharacterRosterGlobalWarming: ''Soul Calibur'' has four "big" characters (Astaroth, Nightmare, Siegfried, Rock) compared to more than twenty others.
* ChekhovsGunman: As Algol is the hero king who was able to wield Soul Edge and created Soul Calibur, he [[AllThereInTheManual has been mentioned]] [[ChekhovsGunman since the beginning]], they just gave him a name in ''IV''. But to those unfamiliar with the backstory, he would appear to be a GiantSpaceFleaFromNowhere.
* CherryTapping: The Joke Weapons since ''[=SC2=]''. All the joke weapons also make a light squeak sound effect when it makes contact with the opponent. CherryTapping indeed.
* ChivalrousPervert: Raphael and Dampierre both fight over Amy dolls and constantly make {{Double Entendre}}s (in ''Broken Destiny''), while trying to keep their honor.
** Maccoi, in the same game, [[RapeAsComedy makes thinly veiled promises of chikan,]] but still gives you hints and tips when fighting him.
* ClothingDamage: ''[=SC4=]'' has this in spades, for all characters with the exceptions of the bonus characters and the Star Wars exclusives. Kratos in ''Broken Destiny'' is also an exception.
* ComebackMechanic: ''Soul Calibur IV'' allows players to assign skills to custom created characters. Among them are "will power" and "hysterical strength." Both are passive abilities that activate when the player's health dips below a certain point. "Will power" requires the player to be in critical status (low health) and causes the character to glow red, when active. It sharply increases the user's stats for the remainder of the round. "Hysterical strength" - only requires that player's health drop below half and only offers a boost in attack power; noted by a greenish yellow glow when active.
* ComicBookTime: Although a conflict of this nature would take copious amounts of time, ''not a single character'' has celebrated a birthday since ''Soul Calibur II''. In fact, II, III, and IV ''all take place within the same year''.
** Averted in the first three games, which took place in real time, as the passage of years between the plots (3 and 4) coincided with the games' initial releases (1995-1998-2002).
** Also averted with ''[=SoulCalibur=] V'', which takes place [[http://twitpic.com/4w7me6 17 years after]] ''IV''.
* ConfusionFu: Voldo, Yoshimitsu, and Dampierre.
** The rock-paper-scissors-style game mechanics (guards and sidestepping can only null certain types of attacks each) encourage mix-up tactics in general.
* CoolSword: Soul Edge and Soul Calibur.
* CounterAttack: Several characters have these. Some attacks just have frames at the beginning that cause a Guard Impact, which would make the rest of the attack sort of like a Counter Attack, but there are moves that genuinely won't do anything unless the opponent lands an attack at the proper frame of the animation. All attacks do more damage if they hit during the start-up or cool-down frames of an opponent's attack.
* CoversAlwaysLie: Usually in game covers, ads, and merchandise, Ivy is usually shown lined up with the other villainous characters, because of her rather [[MsFanservice interesting]] appearance. Even though at one point she committed murders in the sword's name, she's been trying to destroy it for most of the series.
** ''Soul Edge/Blade's'' cover shows Mitsurugi duel-wielding katanas. He has never done this in any game in the series.
* TheComputerIsACheatingBastard: The ''[=SoulCalibur=] III'' AI blatantly reads your controller inputs, leading to things like a nigh-100% success rate in parrying basic throws (where there should be a 50% chance of failure), the ability to guard impact any attack, and never reacting incorrectly to any mixup or cancelled attack. This makes anti-AI attacks a ''necessity'' to use.
** There is one challenge in ''Soul Calibur II'' where, in order to get to one of the special areas, you have to break your opponent's guard within a certain amount of time. Taki re-guards too fast after breaking her guard.
** Back with a vengeance in ''Soulcalibur V'' (at least in Legendary Souls mode and the harder opponents in Quick Battle). In addition to reading inputs, being immune to mixups, and abusing it's own lack of needing input by executing complex moves faster than a human could ever do it, this AI will also flawlessly space your characters (staying close to long range characters and keeping away from short range ones) and perfectly confound all attempts at horizontal containment.
* CrossOver: [=SC2=] included [[{{Tekken}} Heihachi]], {{Spawn}}, or [[TheLegendOfZelda Link]], depending on which console you were playing.
** [=SC4=] included StarWars characters Darth Vader and Yoda, as well as The Apprentice from The Force Unleashed. [[hottip:*:Yoda was initially exclusive to the Xbox360 version, while Darth Vader was originally exclusive to the PS3 version; both eventually became available as DLC for the other version. Starkiller has always been available in both versions.]]
** [=SC5=] actually includes a character who makes sense within the context of the series' story and time period: Ezio Auditore, from the ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreed'' games.
*** Well, story maybe, but time period, most certainly not; ''[=SCV=]'' takes place over a century after the ''Assassin's Creed'' games (specifically ''II'' and ''Brotherhood'', which star Ezio, who is in about his 30s there; ergo, he should already be dead by the time the game's story rolled by).
* CrystalPrison: Soul Calibur likes to pull this as of ''Soul Calibur IV'' whenever it trumps Soul Edge in certain character endings.
* DamnYouMuscleMemory: Namco LOVES this trope. [[DifficultButAwesome Voldo]] is a particulary {{egregious}} example; from ''Soul Calibur II'' to ''III'' his moveset remained the same but the inputs changed.
* DarkerAndEdgier: ''Soul Calibur IV'' has many formerly-good characters -- not to mention the pure Soul Calibur -- take a swing into the dark side. These include Sophitia (forced to protect Soul Edge, with deadly force if necessary, to save her daughter's life), Maxi (driven to wield Soul Edge to destroy Astaroth by Tira), Taki ([[spoiler:her ending has her murder Siegfried to prevent his attempt to create a utopia going horribly wrong]]), and Siegfried himself (his own storyline presents him as becoming increasingly suicidal, and his ending implies that Soul Calibur may have frozen the entire human population in crystal stasis, not to mention killing him).
** ''[=SoulCalibur=] V'' deals with the massacre and persecution of those who are and are accused of being 'malfested'.
* DifficultButAwesome: Guard Impacts. The requirement (pushing forward and guard right as an opponent's attack is about to hit, plus knowing what height to use) plus the consequence (there is no 'fallback' if you miss, you will take damage) are demanding but execute one and your opponent's only response will be to do one of their own, bound by the same condition.
** Several characters fall into this as well; Ivy and Setsuka are both extremely difficult to learn but utterly devastating when mastered. The Grieve Edge style from ''III'' could be considered this, too, as it was heavily reliant on expert timing for attacks and Guard Impacts but was extremely powerful when executed with proper precision, in addition to looking really awesome.
* DittoFighter: Edge Master, Charade's ''Soul Calibur II'' incarnation, and [[AscendedMeme Olcadan]]. Inferno also acts this way in his appearances, save for his very first one (where he was just a pumped up Cervantes named [=SoulEdge=]). In ''Soul Calibur II'', he switches styles in the ''middle of the fight'' and has a super move regardless of style.
** In ''Soulcalibur V'', Edge Master returns as a mimic character, along with [[spoiler:Kilik and newcomer Elysium]]. The difference between the [[spoiler:three is that Edge Master can mimic all characters (needs confirmation for more special characters like Ezio or Devil Jin) while Kilik and Elysium can only mimic male and female characters respectively.]]
* DivineChessboard: Soul Edge versus Soul Calibur.
* {{Dojikko}}: Talim becomes this when you use her running "kick" attack, which is more of a "trip and fall" attack. One of Xianghua's attacks when she is on the ground has her throw a tantrum. Dampierre is prone to falling in some of his attacks (when intended), and blocking will often get him to fall over in pain. In fact, in The Gauntlet, he's constantly accidentally activating his daggers into his own flesh. In ''Broken Destiny'', the first assassin sent to try and kill you is so clumsy that your character ''starts to get hit out of pity for her.''
* DropTheHammer: Some of Astaroth's weapons, as well as Rock's maces, include hammer-like weapons.
* DroppedABridgeOnHim: [[spoiler:Poor Sophitia. While most of the old cast that don't appear were merely PutOnABus, Sophitia herself was stated to be killed off casually by Tira in the past, thus it's not just on Patroklos' mind that she's dead.]]
* DualWielding: Cervantes, [[GodOfWar Kratos]], [[TalesOfSymphonia Lloyd Irving]], and Shura all dual-wield swords, as well as Talim, who [[DualTonfas dual wields Tonfas]]. Taki and Natsu dual-wield daggers for certain attacks, and Algol's hands transform into Soul Edge and Soul Calibur, as well as double bubble cannons. Maxi can dual-wield nunchaku as an extra kata in ''Soul Calibur''.
** Aeon Calcos (Lizardman), as of SCV, duel wields axes.
* EarlyBirdCameo: The Apprentice/Starkiller/Galen Marek from ''StarWars: TheForceUnleashed'', in ''[=SoulCalibur=] IV''. Amy makes a short cameo in the 2nd game's intro.
* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: ''Soul Blade'' features concepts like the Weapon Break meter and the [[LimitBreak Critical Edge]] combo, stuff that was never revisited in later installments of the series. It also lacked the 8-way Run movement system that would become the trademark of the later games and as a whole, was slower and played closer to ''{{Tekken}} 2''.
** A move called the [[FinishingMove Critical Finish]] showed up in [=SoulCalibur=] IV, but seems to be unrelated. The Critical Edge itself returns in [=SoulCalibur=] V.
*** InNameOnly. The 'Critical Edge' in ''[=SoulCalibur V=]'' is a conventional [[LimitBreak super move]], governed by a gauge, instead of a long string of attacks.
* EasterEgg: Soulcalibur V's Quick Battle mode gives players the chance to fight Katsuhiro Harada, the producer of Tekken. Harada uses a Create-A-Soul exclusive [[{{Tekken}} Devil Jin]] fighting style. Defeating him allows the use of the Devil Jin style for created characters.
** It's also possible to to assemble [[{{Xenosaga}} KOS-MOS]] in Soulcalibur III's character creator.
* ElegantGothicLolita: Amy. And then IV has Setsuka's alternate outfit and Ashlotte, a ''[[RobotGirl robotic]] [[ClockPunk clockwork]]'' gothic lolita.
* EmpathicWeapon: Soul Edge and Soul Calibur. Ivy's Valentine WhipSword is also alive, which is why it can do all those improbable things in battle. Yoshimitsu's katana is shown to have a a level of sentience as well, especially in his ''Soul Calibur II'' ending.
* EnemyWithin: Inferno.
* EnemyWithout: Nightmare to Siegfried, after a point.
* EvilOnlyHasToWinOnce: So far, the Soul Edge (the evil sword) has been shattered or destroyed at least three times (''Soul Edge'', ''Soul Calibur'', ''Soul Calibur II''), twice by the Soul Calibur (the "good" sword). What happens each time? The sword just breaks into pieces (each one every bit as evil as the whole sword) and eventually reforms itself, stronger than before. Now, what happens in ''every'' ending where the Soul Edge wins instead? The world gets '''''hosed''''', that's what. Even worse, in ''[=SoulCalibur=] IV'', we learn that the Soul Calibur is actually just as evil, but with a penchant for order rather than chaos.
* EvilWeapon: Soul Edge. Soul Calibur during the period where it was corrupted by Soul Edge's evil; it's normally a holy sword meant to oppose Soul Edge. [[spoiler:''[=SoulCalibur=] IV'' reveals that the Soul Calibur can actually be considered just as "evil", when it reaches its full power and sentience. Unlike the Edge, which revels in chaos, destruction, death, and torment, the Calibur wants peace, harmony, and safety -- by ''freezing the entire world so that no one can move''.]]
* {{Expy}}: In Soul Calibur V, many characters deemed too old or who are dead are replaced with characters who have the same fighting style. Examples include Natsu for Taki and Xiba for Kilik.
* FanNickname: There are quiet a lot of these made up by the fandom -- "Sieg/Sieggy", "Soph/Sophie", "Cass/Cassie", "Raph", and "Mitsu" are some prominent examples. Xianghua is often just called "X" due to the difficulty in spelling her name.
** In ''V'', fans came up with [[spoiler: "Petsuka" for Alpha Patroklos and "[[TheOprahWinfreyShow Oprah]]" for Pyrrha Omega.]]
* {{Fanservice}}: Most female characters' breasts [[FanServicePack were enlarged]] for ''[=SoulCalibur=] IV'', for no apparent reason other than probably this trope. The only thing keeping ''Soulcalibur IV'' from full-on PantyFighter status is the presence of men.
** The latest advertisement for ''Soulcalibur V'' isn't even subtle. [[http://www.gamefront.com/soul-calibur-v-has-a-ahem-prominent-chest-pic/ Something other than CHESTS will be swelling in anticipation, I'm sure.]]
* FinishingMove: The Critical Finish in ''IV''. Don't expect to pull this one off all the time, it's mostly there to keep people from spamming guard the whole match. The fanciness is lost on Yoda though, who is too short for most of the animations, and thus Critical Finishes on him are simply the character performing an unblockable attack on him.
* FixedFloorFighting
* {{Flynning}}: Can be seen in the attract mode for ''[=SoulCalibur=] III''.
* FragileSpeedster: Taki and Maxi.
* GaidenGame: ''Broken Destiny'''s story mode starts by stating that its plot is based on "obscure fables" and therefore isn't canon. ''Legends'' was also refered as such in the early press releases.
* {{Gainaxing}}: Very much.
* GameBreakingBug: ''[=SoulCalibur=] III''. Save file wipe. If you moved or deleted any other save file on your memory card, it was impossible to save in Chronicles of the Sword (and therefore to play that mode properly).
* GoodScarsEvilScars: Siegfried and Kilik.
* GlassCannon: Possible in ''Soulcalibur IV'' with custom characters. Several characters have weapons with extremely high damage but low health.
* GratuitousGerman: With bad grammar.
* GroinAttack: Sophitia, Kilik, and Seong Mina.
** Note that the Alexandra sisters have a tendency to attack ''using'' their groins.
* GuestFighter: [[{{Tekken}} Heihachi]], [[TheLegendOfZelda Link]], and {{Spawn}}, who were each a console-specific character in one of the versions of ''Soul Calibur II''; [[TalesOfSymphonia Lloyd Irving]] in ''[=SoulCalibur=] Legends''; [[StarWars Darth Vader, Yoda]], and [[TheForceUnleashed The Apprentice]] in ''[=SoulCalibur=] IV''; [[GodOfWar Kratos]] in ''[=SoulCalibur=]: Broken Destiny'', and [[VideoGame/AssassinsCreed Ezio Auditore]] in ''Soul Calibur V''.
** ProductPlacement: Adding The Apprentice from ''StarWars: TheForceUnleashed'', a game that was going to come out a month after IV, was totally this.
** Also, a bunch of anime/manga designers were hired to create an original character -- and by "original character" we mean "they look different". Each of their individual fighting styles are copied from another character. They don't even have their own voice sets (using the ones from Create-a-Character mode instead.)
* GunsAreUseless: The only firearm in the game (Cervantes's "[[MixAndMatchWeapon pistol sword]]"); while the strongest attack that uses it deals decent damage (between a 4th and 3rd of health), it is very telegraphed, and can be dodged by simply moving to the side once. Back in ''Soul Calibur II'', the only attack that involved it was a weak, easy to miss, anti-air attack grab (which is as useless as it sounds).
* HeyItsThatVoice:
** Xianghua [[WendeeLee is]] [[SuzumiyaHaruhi Haruhi]].
** Tira [[JenniferHale likes]] [[MetroidPrime science fiction,]] [[MassEffect and she's had enough of your disingenuous assertions]]. *SLICE*
** Some out there may be wondering why Siegfried doesn't have an attack called [[CodeGeass Storm]] [[CrispinFreeman of Loyalty]] in ''[=SoulCalibur=] III''.
** Or why he isn't mentioning [[TalesofSymphonia that ominous light]] [[MemeticMutation that threatens to engulf us...]]
** Talim [[HyndenWalch is]] [[WesternAnimation/TeenTitans Starfire]].
** Zasalamel is [[{{CastlevaniaJudgment}} Simon Belmont]].
** In Japanese, Sophitia is [[FullMetalPanic Melissa Mao]] and [[FullMetalAlchemist Riza Hawkeye]].
** And I'll be damned if [[NobuyukiHiyama Siegfried or Link]] don't [[{{EndlessFrontier}} GESPENSTUU KICK]] you.
** The Male Voice 1 in Create-A-Character Mode is YuriLowenthal.
** Patroklos and Pyrrha are voiced by YuriLowenthal and LauraBailey respectively. They are also the Male and Female Protagonist from {{Persona 3}}.
** There's no way you'll ever be able to knock [[MatthewMercer Z.W.E.I.]] [[StreetFighterIV out]], while he teaches you to fear the [[FistOfTheNorthStar Nanto]] [[DynastyWarriors Suichoken]]!
** Given time, [[LaurenLanda Leixia]] will grow into a [[BlazBlue Boobie Lady]].
** [[JohnnyYongBosch Xiba]] [[CodeGeass commands you all]]... TO GIVE HIM [[BigEater FOODS]]!
** A male Create-A-Character voice sounds like [[SamRiegel Flynn]] [[TalesofVesperia Scifo]] from both ''IV'' and ''V''
* HitAndRunTactics: Conceivably possible with Spawn's signature fire/acid ball move. Any competent human or AI will be able to sidestep the fireballs, but against the easy and the inexperienced, you may be able to wipe the enemy health gauge clean before the enemy can so much as close for combat. Same goes for Link in the same game (except in the Gamecube version rather than the Xbox version.) Can also be attempted with Ivy's whip and Kilik's staff to a lesser extent.
* HotChickWithASword: Quite a few. In ''[=SoulCalibur=] III'' and ''IV'', you can [[FetishFuel make your own]]!
* HoistHeroOverHead: One of Darth Vader's grappling moves in ''Soul Calibur IV''. Two of Hilde's throws also do this.
* HornyVikings: The Viking Helm in ''Soul Calibur IV'' is an example of this.
* ImpossiblyLowNeckline: Many of the girl's outfits, including Amy and Ivy.
* ImprobableWeaponUser: Plenty, even without counting anyone's JokeWeapon. Tambourines, anyone?!
* InfinityPlusOneSword: Each character has one; also inverted in Soul Edge itself, which may count as an AwesomeButImpractical InfinityMinusOneSword, as it often drains the health of its possessor.
* InstrumentOfMurder: Talim of ''Soul Calibur IV'' uses a pair of ocarinas as her joke weapons.
* JailBait: Talim is 15 years old, and gets more and more sexualized in each game. She is now straddling people with her thighs while wearing translucent pants.
** Amy, who's probably younger than her.
** And then we have Leixia and Natsu in ''V''.
* JigglePhysics:
** Almost all female characters, especially Taki and Ivy (although there are [[{{JailBait}} exceptions]]).
** In ''[=SoulCalibur=] IV'', Cassandra's alternate costume applies this to her ''thighs.''
** ''III'' also has Valeria the shopkeeper, and more of the girls have this in ''IV'', including Sophitia, Setsuka, and pretty much every female create-a-character, [[ClothingDamage especially since they'll end up in their underwear anyway]]. [[{{Golem}} Astaroth]] has chest jiggle physics, and Xianghua has ''ass'' jiggle physics.
** JigglePhysics is even customizable for custom characters, where (reasonably) undergarment choice affects bounce. The strapless bra will have more jiggle than what is essentially a leather sports bra.
* JokeItem: Each character has one.
* KickingAssInAllHerFinery: Several outfits the ladies wear are very fancy and elegant.
* LampshadeHanging: Seong Mi-na + bladed weapon + GroinAttack + "Bye bye" = Not Pleasant[[TradeSnark ™]].
* LargeHam: Nightmare's taunts before a battle and after winning a match. His lines could be very scary, if he didn't sound like he was trying so hard. "Have a taste of my darkness!" Also [[BoldInflation The]] [[ThisIsSPARTA Narrator]] at times.
** Kratos in ''Broken Destiny'', [[BeyondTheImpossible even more]] than in [[{{GodOfWar}} his own series]].
** Cervantes is extremely hammy as well.
** Abyss in ''3'' actually has some pre-battle lines that are so lengthy that they get cut off/run into the other fighter's!
** Everything Astaroth says is incredibly melodramatic.
* LeotardOfPower: Ivy, particularly in ''Soul Calibur II''. Cassandra in ''IV'' has a coat on over one of these.
* LighterAndSofter: ''Broken Destiny'''s Gauntlet mode contains massive amounts of {{Lampshade Hanging}} (ranging from one of the wild creatures asking why their wolf protector is suddenly walking around on two legs, to the characters constantly asking each other, and themselves, why they keep giving hints to the player when they fail a mission), a few personality changes, starting with Cassandra being a GenkiGirl, no one getting killed, asides from the wolf you eat in the beginning, Nightmare becoming a good guy, Anime-style illustrations (including a [[Memes/{{Touhou}} Yukkuri shiteitte ne! cameo]]), with all the standard visual gags.
* LightIsNotGood: The titular blade, Soul Calibur. It was shown in IV that it wants to freeze the world in crystal, thus creating a WorldOfSilence. Soul Calibur's justification is that if nobody can move, there won't be any more war. Granted, [[WellIntentionedExtremist it's still insane]].
** Reinforced in ''Soulcalibur V'' [[spoiler:when its spirit presented itself as Sophitia to manipulate Patroklos into killing Soul Edge's wielder, his sister Pyrrha.]]
* LightningBruiser: Siegfried and Nightmare hit hard and fast naturally. Ashlotte, Astaroth, and other slow-but-strong characters can be modified into this through the Step Speed Up and Run Speed Up abilities. Hilde's movement is among the fastest in the game, and she also has the two most powerful attacks (her 30 second charge attacks), both of which are near [[OneHitKO one hit K.O.s.]]
** Darth Vader in ''IV'', which is rather true to his portrayal in the ''StarWars'' universe.
* LimitBreak: The Critical Edge attacks in the upcoming ''Soul Calibur V'', complete with their super meter.
* MalevolentArchitecture: Abound in ''Legends,'' where even '''Leonardo da Vinci's house''' is full of swinging blades, rolling boulders, and puzzles.
** Considering the role played by Leo in ''[[VideoGame/AssassinsCreedII Assassin's Creed II]]'', this might be intentional...
* ManaMeter: ''Soul Calibur V'' has one (with multiple stocks at that), and it's used to power the Brave Edge and [[LimitBreak Critical Edge]] moves.
* ManipulativeBastard: Zasalamel in ''[=SoulCalibur=] III'' manipulates Nightmare, Siegfried, Ivy, and a bunch of {{Mook}}s as part of his plan to raise both swords' powers back to full. Also, in each character's own story mode, there's one path in which he baits said character into his clock tower, tests him/her in battle, and then either directs him/her to Nightmare (so he gets a chance to feed the sword with a strong soul) or curse him so he'd not become a nuisance later.
** Also, Tira in ''IV'', as she convinces many of the characters to seek out Soul Edge to meet their goals, most notably manipulating Sophitia into working for the side of Nightmare by saying that her daughter was at risk if Soul Edge was destroyed.
** Dampierre in ''Broken Destiny''. To get two men into his service, one of which attempted to shoot him earlier, he reveals his hideout to the police, and later saves them when they are cornered. This act, plus a claim of greatness and his impressive counterfeit collection, are enough to turn them into his lackeys.
** Iska in Legends fits this trope perfectly as [[spoiler:he makes the character do the whole story then attempts to kill them]].
* MeaningfulName: Pyrrha, Sophitia's daughter. You just know there's [[PyrrhicVictory only one way]] for that whole mess to end.
** Doesn't help when her other child is named Patroklos, as in the man who wore Achilles's armor in the Trojan War.
** Also Amy, coming from the old french Amee, means beloved; this is played up with the mission you need to complete to unlock her in 3, named Beloved.
* {{Meido}}: Lynette, one of the three shopkeepers in ''[=SoulCalibur=] III''. In ''IV'', we also have Marienbard and Jacqueline, Raphael's servants.
** You can also create characters with maid costumes in ''III'' and ''IV'', though in the latter case it requires a DLC to do so.
** Pamela in ''Broken Destiny'', who also serves as an assassin. A really bad one.
* MightyGlacier: Astaroth, Rock, and Ashlotte.
* MightyWhitey: Subverted with Setsuka; she's a woman of European heritage, who was orphaned and ended up being raised in Japan. Because of her appearance, however, she was shunned and distrusted by the majority of the native people around her.
** Played a little straighter with Rock, an English boy lost in a shipwreck who grew up in America, who became a fearsome giant. Still mistrusted and feared though, because, y'know, GIANT.
*** Despite this Rock isn't even all that big, Standing at only 175 cm and weighing 85 kg. Cervantes in SCV is both taller and heavier.
** Arthur as well: an orphan who ended up in the care of a Japanese merchant and was raised in Japan. He was despised by his peers, which made him the prefered target for projectiles in the battlefield.
* MiniDressOfPower: Sophitia, Cassandra, and Amy.
* MismatchedEyes: Zasalamel's golden eye.
* MorphWeapon: Soul Edge and Soul Calibur. Normally, they take the shape of a [[{{BFS}} really big sword]] and a jian, respectively, but they can morph to fit just about any weapon shape. In ''Soul Calibur II'', three characters (Xianghua, Nightmare, and Talim) could use Soul Calibur, and ''every'' character had a Soul Edge version of their weapon (Nightmare had ''three'': Soul Edge, Soul Edge [Growth], and Soul Edge [Complete]). By ''[=SoulCalibur=] III'', Siegfried has Soul Calibur, and it too becomes a {{BFS}}.
* MortalityEnsues: In the best ending of ''[=SoulCaliber=] III'', Zasalamel succeeds in becoming mortal and spends the rest of his life as a scholar, chronicling everything he experienced.
* {{Ninja}}: Taki and Yoshimitsu; Yoshimitsu's fighting style is classified as that of a Samurai, but his backstory indicates that he was part of a Ninja clan.
* NoSidePathsNoExplorationNoFreedom: Granted, we don't expect those things from the main fighting games, but it seems like a cop-out in ''Legends.''
* OminousPipeOrgan: Hellfire begins with one. Also, Forsaken Sanctuary is full of it.
* OneHandedZweihander: Nightmare uses his sword like this. Averted by Siegfried, who uses both hands to swing his {{BFS}}. Most of the time.
* OneManArmy: Mitsurugi in his backstory and certain endings, Nightmare in the introduction to ''[=SoulCalibur=] III'' as well as a character with a discipline with a good anti AI move in ''Chronicles of the Sword''.
* OneSteveLimit: Averted, ''[=SoulCalibur=] III'' contains both "Eurydice Shrine" (a stage) and Eurydice, a character in the ''Chronicles of the Sword'' subgame.
* OnlyAFleshWound: Siegfried sometimes makes the claim "I avoided your vitals. You'll live" after winning a fight. Apparently the ''brain'' isn't a vital area.
* OperaGloves
* OrderVersusChaos: If Soul Calibur's own ambition to freeze the world in crystal is its actual motivation, then the battle between Soul Calibur and Soul Edge is more this than Good vs. Evil. Both will do bad things to the world, it all comes down to how they bring it about (Edge wants violence and terror, Calibur wants order and serenity through nothingness).
* PaintedOnPants: Very possible in Character Creation, and is pretty much your only alternative to fighting in underwear after ClothingDamage in ''[=SoulCalibur=] IV''.
* PantyShot: EVERY female character who isn't wearing pants, shorts, or full armor. One of Cassandra's outfit's in ''IV'' is even lacking a lower half entirely to begin with.
* PatrioticFervor: Figures into the backstory for all of the Korean characters in the Soul Series. Hwang is a soldier in the Imperial Navy seeking Soul Edge in order to stop Japan's invasion of his country. Seong Mi-Na is trying to prove that females can be as capable soldiers as male recruits, and Yun-seong's out to prove his worth to Hwang and his country. In later games, they realize that the sword is evil and instead fight to destroy it, with the side goal of proving the nation's strength.
** Yun-seong, in his ''[=SoulCalibur=] III'' pre-boss fight (the one where you fight someone who has to do with the character's backstory), has him walking into the room, taking one look at Mitsurugi, whom he has never seen before, and yelling something along the lines of "Enemy of my homeland, prepare to die!"
** Ivy also exhibits this, but visually. In her ''[=SoulCalibur=] IV'' costume, her shoulder pauldron and the various metal clasps on her costume incorporate the Tudor Rose of England motif, which is a traditional symbol of her native England and also probably serves as a medieval example of WearingAFlagOnYourHead.
* PersonalityBloodTypes: Blood types are listed in the character profiles.
* PimpedOutDress: Quite a few of the outfits.
* {{Pirate}}: [[NinjaPirateRobotZombie Zombie pirate Cervantes]]. Maxi may not look the part, but he's a pirate from Ryukyu.
* PrettyInMink: A few outfits with fur trim. Amy's outfit in ''IV'' has a fur neckline.
* PrincessCurls: Amy and Ashlotte. Also, for some reason, Abelia.
* PublisherChosenTitle: Supposedly what transpired after producer Daishi Odashima tried to name ''[=SoulCalibur=] V'' "''Soul Edge II''".
* RainbowPimpGear: To get the best possible statistics in IV's [=CAS=] mode, your fighter ''will'' be horribly mismatched. Just go with it.
** To be fair, you can still color-change most of the clothing, so you can make it less horrible.
* RecurringRiff: "Path of Destiny," titled "Recollection" in its first appearance, is the ending theme to all four ''Calibur'' games.
* RevenueEnhancingDevices: Incredibly, Namco managed to restrain themselves in this regard. ''[=SoulCalibur=] IV'' has costume packs and the ''Soul Calibur'' soundtrack available for DLC, plus PS3 owners can download Yoda and Xbox owners can download Vader. [[WhatCouldHaveBeen Now, why couldn't they have offered the custom weapon disciplines from ''III'' and some more characters...]]
* RoadCone: Every character's ending inevitably ends with them doing something with Soul Edge and/or Soul Calibur. ''Soul Calibur'' takes elements from a handful of the endings of ''Soul Edge'', Sophitia gets her ending where she breaks one of Cervantes's Soul Edge swords, but becomes injured in the process, leaving Taki to come in and finish Cervantes off, at which point Sigfried shows up and gets his ending where he becomes Nightmare. ''II'' takes mainly from Xianghua, with elements from Kilik (he fights Nightmare and his mirror breaks) and Nightmare (Siegfried recovers his senses after facing his dad in a dream). ''III'' takes the basic setup from Nightmare's ending (Siegfried recovers his mind, but seals Soul Edge with Soul Calibur instead of throwing it down a dark pit); as well as a bit of Raphael's ending (he pierced Soul Edge's eye).
* {{Samurai}}: Mitsurugi. Arthur is an interesting case: being an England-born orphan, he was raised and trained to serve as a samurai by his Japanese master (who previously bought him).
* {{Scenery Porn}}: A lot of the stages.
* SculptedPhysique
* SeriesContinuityError: During a flashback in ''[=SCV=]'' of Tira kidnapping Pyrrha, Pyrrha is shown as a baby when she should have been three years old.
* ShipSinking: When Leixia's profile was released, many a Kilik/Xianghua fan panicked that Project Soul was doing this, due to the news that Xianghua had married a general of the Ming Empire and had two children with him. Possibly averted by later information which implied that she was forced into the marriage and that she still loved Kilik; [[spoiler:later it was truthfuly averted with the japanese official artbook, which revealed Xiba as being their son, so by proxy Kilik and Xianghua had upgraded their relationship, even for a bried moment]].
** ''[=SoulCalibur=] V'' may have done this to the Nightmare/Tira pairing. [[spoiler:Tira views Nightmare as having become a 'coward' since acquiring a new host and now plots to replace him with Pyrrha as Soul Edge's host.]]
* ShipTease: Someone on the team noticed that the fans ''really'' dug on [[FanPreferredCouple LinkxTalim.]] So much so that in ''IV'', Talim's joke weapon is a pair of [[TheLegendOfZelda ocarinas.]]
* ShockwaveStomp: Night Terror when he stabs the ground. A few other characters have ground stabbing moves that make one, and Xianghua has an actual stomp.
* ShooTheDog: Kilik tries several times to keep Xianghua from following him, because he doesn't plan for his quest to end well. This is also the case for Hwang in ''Soul Edge'' and the first Calibur, who keeps sending Seong Mi-Na home when she follows him out.
* ShoutOut: Gameplay-wise, most of the new additions and systems in ''Soul Calibur V'' come from Daishi Odashima being a fan of ''[[VideoGame/StreetFighterIII Street Fighter 3: 3rd Strike]]''.
** The ''Just Guard'' system, however, is more or less the ''Just Defend'' system from ''[[FatalFury Garou: Mark of the Wolves]]''.
*** The whole TimeSkip setting of ''V'' seems to be a ShoutOut to both games.
** Several characters in ''SCII'' have costumes that reference characters from other video games:
*** Mitsurugi's 2P costume makes him strongly resemble [[SamuraiShodown Haohmaru]].
*** Sophitia's bonus costume is a shout-out to [[TheTowerOfDruaga Princess Ki]].
*** Cassandra's bonus costume is a shout-out to the eponymous heroine of yet another Namco game, ''The Legend of Valkyrie''.
*** Voldo's bonus costume looks a lot like an {{alien}}.
*** Ivy's bonus costume is a shout-out to [[{{Tekken}} Anna Williams]].
*** Raphael's ''SCIV'' 1P costume resembles [[{{Castlevania}} Alucard]].
** Iska in Legends mentions learning/using alchemy in some of the dialouge sequences; he's even [[HeyItsThatVoice voiced by]] [[FullMetalAlchemist Edward Elric]].
** In ''SCV'', there's a Quick Battle opponent named Diego Umeharez, as in Daigo Umehara.
*** More specifically, it's the screen name used by a Daigo impersonator.
* SkillGateCharacter: For the most part, averted; a number of the easy-to-learn characters like Talim, Kilik, and Mitsurugi are so deadly because they're even ''worse'' to fight against when mastered. Those that don't consider [[TheScrappy Necrid]] completely broken argue he falls more into this category, since the majority of people play him for his stupidly cheap spam attacks without regard for how poorly this fares against players that know what they're doing.
* SNKBoss: Night Terror, Algol, The Apprentice in Arcade Mode.
* SoulCuttingBlade: The Soul Edge.
* SpellMyNameWithAnS: Seung Mina, and Yunsung? You mean Seong Mi-Na and Yun-Seong, right? Of course you do.
* SplitPersonality: Tira in ''IV'' switches between [[SlasherSmile Slasher Smiling]] psycho to [[KubrickStare Kubrick Staring]] psycho when her health is half-depleted (or by using Gestalt Madness -A + K-), as a side-effect of prolonged exposure to SoulEdge.
** She was also a lot like Harley Quinn in her first appearance, except oddly, switching between grinning and not at random.
** Also, oddly enough, Soul Calibur is like a split personality of Soul Edge, since it was created from Soul Edge -- one's a KnightTemplar and one is TheHeartless.
* StoryBreadcrumbs: Single-player modes do spill some of the story, but it's hard to separate the canon from the "we needed a few more scenarios for Character A, so we put him in Character B's role" scenarios, and almost every character's ending contradicts the bulk of the cast's. Practically all of the story information comes from [[AllThereInTheManual story, weapon, and stage profiles and the official site]], and those still require some context work to piece together.
* TheStarscream: Astaroth, in ''[=SoulCalibur=] IV'', as detailed in his Story Mode profile. This started as far back as the first Calibur game, where he joined Nightmare to help him restore the sword just so he could claim it in perfect shape for his true master.
* SteamPunk: Most specifically "Clock Punk." Clockwork cogs are theme in many arenas. The character Yoshimitsu has a clockwork cybernetic arm, while the character Ashlotte in ''[=SoulCalibur=] IV'' is a clockwork robot.
* {{Stripperiffic}}: Women wear everything from skirts that flip up at the slightest provocation, to battle thongs, to ornate dental floss, with heels being standard. Men tend to go shirtless but are otherwise adequately dressed.
* SuddenSequelHeelSyndrome: This happens to Sophitia Alexandra in ''[=SoulCalibur=] IV'', where she's made to defend Soul Edge in order to save her daughter's life.
* SurroundedByIdiots: Hilde (and you) in ''Broken Destiny''.
* TakeThat: Dampierre's reactions to Sophitia's married status in The Gauntlet mode of ''Broken Destiny'' could be seen as this to those who refuse to accept that she has a husband.
* TheyChangedItNowItSucks: In-universe: Tira's reaction in ''V'' to the new Nightmare being a manipulative warmonger instead of the sociopath OneManArmy it previously was.
* ThongOfShielding: Several of Ivy's costumes.
* TimeSkip: A major feature of ''[=SoulCalibur=] V'''s story, which is 17 years forward of the events of the last canon installment.
* TitleScream: A random character or the announcer will do this.
* [[WritingAroundTrademarks Titling Around Trademarks]]: The reason ''Soul Edge'' was renamed ''Soul Blade'' -- and the reason the series eventually became ''Soul Calibur'' -- was Tim Langdell's questionable (and now invalidated) trademark on the word "Edge" in relation to video games. After the trademark was invalidated, ''Soul Calibur V's'' director wanted to rename the game to ''Soul Edge 2''; Namco executives wouldn't let him.
* TogetherInDeath: Kilik is determined to destroy Soul Edge even if it costs him his life. Xianghua makes it clear that if he succeeds, he won't be alone.
* TookALevelInJerkass: Taki becomes a ''bitch'' between ''[=SoulCalibur=] III'' and ''IV''. Her treatment of Ivy and Siegfried, who have both become TheAtoner by this point, is particularly grating.
-->[[KickTheDog "You're your father's daughter after all."]]
** Though worth noting, Taki has no reason to know that they become atoners. Ivy and Taki especially have a history of not getting along very well.
* [[{{Irony}} Tragic Irony]]: Siegfried frees himself from the control of Soul Edge, cleansing himself of his sins. Then he takes Soul Calibur, believing it to be a holy weapon of pure good to counter Soul Edge's evil. Unbeknownst to him, Soul Calibur is a KnightTemplar that intends not only to freeze him and Nightmare into crystal, but the rest of the world as well, and Siegfried's adamant claim "never again will I bend to anyone's will" has been subverted without him realizing it.
* UnderwearOfPower: Though none of the main characters use this (even Ivy just wears a very, very skimpy leotard), this can be done in character creation, and is a must in [=SoulCalibur=] 4, where clothing damage often reverts characters to their underwear anyway.
* UnexpectedGameplayChange: ''The Gauntlet'', ''Broken Destiny'''s campaign mode, is pretty much a memory/timing puzzle, except with fighting. It's strangely addicting.
* UnusualEars: ''[=SoulCalibur=] IV'' bonus characters Kamikirimusi and Scheherazade.
* VariableLengthChain
* VirtualPaperDoll
* WalkingTheEarth: Every characters travels all over Europe and Asia in search of the Soul Edge for their personal reasons.
* WhatCouldHaveBeen: [[DevilMayCry Dante]] was supposed to be a guest fighter in ''[=SoulCalibur=] 3''.
* WellIntentionedExtremist: Raphael Sorel's life was saved by a little girl named Amy. After they appear to get [[OurVampiresAreDifferent vampiric symptoms]], he attempts to change the world by spreading it since it doesn't accept them, as opposed to attempting to cure themselves.
** Zasalamel can be seen as this in ''IV'', since in order to attain his goal of "leading humanity into a bright future", he's more than willing to torture, murder, or destroy the life of anyone, either for obstructing him or because it helps move his plan along.
** The Soul Calibur itself is a holy weapon created by Algol to keep the evil Soul Edge sword in check. However, the sentience granted to the Soul Calibur has allowed it to come to the conclusion that the world is full of chaos and violence and the only way to save humanity from itself is to crystallize the world and all its inhabitants.
* WhoWantsToLiveForever: The whole reason why Zasalamel brings the two swords together -- he's tired of living forever. Reversed in ''[=SoulCalibur=] IV'', when Zasalamel decides he does want to live forever after seeing humanity's future, which apparently is so awesome that he also performs a HeelFaceTurn. He's still a {{Jerkass}}, however. There's a odd kind of MoralDissonance to his speeches on human potential versus his HeroicSociopath comments before fights. He also has a tendency to make people fight those who were important to them [[spoiler:before they died, like Siegfried's father Friederich, Kilik's adoptive sister Xianglian, and Algol's son, THEN fight completely-dead versions of them]].
* WeaponOfChoice: Every character has his/her own trademark weapon:
** AnAxeToGrind: Astaroth, Rock (formerly), Lizardman, Ashlotte, {{Spawn}}
** {{BFS}}: Siegfried, Nightmare, Strife.
** BladeOnAStick: Seong Mi-na, Hilde, Girardot.
** CarryABigStick: Rock.
** DropTheHammer: None as a main, but Astaroth and Rock have a few hammers in their arsenal.
** DualTonfas: Talim.
** DualWielding: [[GodOfWar Kratos.]]
** FightingWithChucks: Li Long, Maxi.
** GoodOldFisticuffs: [[{{Tekken}} Heihachi and anyone with the Soul of Devil Jin.]]
** HotChickWithASword: Sophitia, Xianghua, Cassandra, Hilde, Abelia, Pyrrha. Patroklos is a male example. To some extent, [[TheLegendOfZelda Link]] as well.
** KatanasAreJustBetter: Mitsurugi, Yoshimitsu, Arthur.
** KnifeNut: Taki, Chester.
** LaserBlade: Darth Vader, Yoda and The Apprentice [[StarWars (for obvious reasons)]].
** MultiMeleeMaster: Edgemaster, Olcadan (both are proficient with ''any'' weapon) and [[VideoGame/AssassinsCreedBrotherhood Ezio]].
** ParasolOfPain: Setsuka.
** RingsOfDeath: Tira.
** RoyalRapier: Raphael, Amy, Scheherezada.
** SimpleStaff: Kilik, Hualin (also a MorphWeapon).
** SinisterScythe: Zasalamel.
** SwordAndGun: Cervantes (A gun-slash-sword actually).
** WhipSword: Ivy.
* WorldOfHam
* WrestlerInAllOfUs: Astaroth's powerbomb and Nightmare's dropkick.
* YetAnotherStupidDeath: [[SNKBoss If]] you beat the Colossus in ''III'', do '''not''' just stand there!
* YinYangBomb: The Soul Embrace (which is what happens when Soul Calibur and Soul Edge merge) in ''[=SoulCalibur=] III'' and ''IV'', and Kilik's weapon Kali-Yuga which absorbs both good and evil energies.
* YouGoGirl: Seong Mina.
* YouKilledMyFather: Siegfried's original motivation. [[spoiler:Although in this case it's more like [[YouKilledMyFather I Killed My Father.]]]]
** In SCV, Patroklos seeks revenge on the malfested for his mother's death.
----
The alternate universe single player modes, Weapon Master and Chronicles of the Sword, have examples not found in the main games:
* AllThereInTheManual: The Japanese website gives (gave) a good deal of backstory for Chronicles of the Sword.
* BonusBoss: Weapon Master has a bonus chapter gained by fighting enough battles to reach the rank of Edgemaster, with 4 very difficult opponents to fight. Chronicles of The Sword has the main universe characters appear at a rate of 1-3 a chapter, and do not require the player to fight them to finish the level.
* BossDissonance: The Chronicles of The Sword mode in ''[=SoulCalibur=] III'' is a Kirby Type.
* DefeatMeansFriendship: How do you get your old friends back from [[spoiler:Soul Edge induced mind control]] post time skip in Chronicles of the Sword? [[MagicalGirlLyricalNanoha Befriend]] [[MemeticMutation them]].
** Also, there are 2 sets of 2 possible party members, the one who you beat first joins you. The other waits for NewGamePlus.
* GaidenGame: Neither Weapon Master or Chronicles of the Sword take place in the same world (seeing as how the Soul Series take place on an alternate Earth), but share a few similarities (the presence of Soul Edge and Soul Calibur, for example)
* GenreShift: The "Chronicles of the Sword" sub-game in ''[=SC3=]'' mashed strategy and fighting together.
** That is, unless you're strong enough to crush multiple enemies outright. There is perhaps one chronicle in which strategy is needed: a rescue mission. It's often impossible to do anything else in some levels, as the enemies favor rushing you (while it ''is'' their best option, as this forces you to face everyone at once and you can't recover between them, it tends to make the rest of the map fairly boring).
* GiantSpaceFleaFromNowhere: In ''Chronicles of the Sword'', on the second-to-last level, the stronghold right next to your main stronghold is guarded by a '''level 99 BossInMookClothing''' named Ende. He is never referenced prior to this, is the first enemy to have a purple health meter (the highest [=CotS=] goes), and has exactly one line of dialog when you bring his stronghold down, apparently referencing the fact that he is just a mercenary. He also has a unique weapon for the Katana discipline of CharacterCustomization, the Kokuenra. Beating him allows you to use it as well... too bad his stronghold has the habit of slowing your falls, allowing him to juggle you mercilessly with his sword.
* GodSaveUsFromTheQueen: Aurelia is the final boss of the first half of ''Chronicles of the Sword'', has tried to TakeOverTheWorld, and wields "BlackWidow".
* HeroicMime: In both modes, your character will think to themselves between chapters, but never actually say anything.
* InstantWinCondition: Averted in ''Chronicles of the Sword'', a ring-out will only take a large chunk of a combatant's HP.
** Played straight on one occasion. There is one stronghold in the game where falling to the floor means instant death. And your opponent is a level 60 character. Thank your lucky stars that he isn't immune to the stage's effect, unlike other occasions in the game.
* LethalJokeCharacter: The Dancer class in ''Chronicles of the Sword'' fights with a pair of tambourines as its first weapon. Did we mention the most basic attack from these tambourines utterly breaks the AI? Or that their fast attack rate is paired with a weapon that regenerates health with every swing? Swordmaster using tambourines is better because of much higher stats, but impossible to unlikely to use for a first playthough.
* LouisCypher: Wonder what Demuth Beel Zebus Halteese could mean...
* ManipulativeBastard: Chester [[spoiler:has three out of the four kingdoms under his strings]] around the end of the first half, part of his EvilPlan to [[spoiler:become king himself]].
* MyCountryRightOrWrong: [[spoiler:Abelia]] in Chronicles of the Sword. You befriend this out of her.
* NewGamePlus: Chronicles of the Sword; either this or a fresh game is required to get all of the create a character parts (as at least one part will be unlocked by picking one OptionalPartyMember over the other).
** Weapon Master Mode has [[PlayableEpilogue special chapters]] unlocked after defeating the BigBad, which offered a SideQuest set after the plot's end.
* NominalImportance: Averted in ''Chronicles of the Sword''; most named characters are merely elite mooks (opposed to the {{Red Shirt}}s who are named for their affiliation).
* PlayerMooks: An option for ''Chronicles of the Sword'' over preset characters. They are stupidly broken due to the ability to put them into a strong class and use any "reliable" weapon of your choice, plus you don't lose them during the TimeSkip.
* PuttingTheBandBackTogether: You do this [[MagicalGirlLyricalNanoha Nanoha]] [[DefeatMeansFriendship style]] post-timeskip in Chronicles of the Sword (see above).
** Kilik, Xianghua, and Maxi form an ass-kicking trio in the first Soul Calibur, but they're all separated by the end of that game. Xianghua and Kilik have found each other and split apart again since then, but Maxi lost his memory and has rebuked the offer to join them several times.
* QuirkyMinibossSquad: Luna and her subordinates in ''Chronicles of the Sword'' (named "The Klessirpemdo"). Their quirks only go as far as elemental theming due to a lack of development.
** AmazonBrigade: All 5 of them are women.
** DegradedBoss: For a single chapter, all 5 are fought at once, rather then the 4 minibosses and 1 boss fashion they use in their other appearances. They are back to normal in a few chapters.
** {{Nakama}}
* RecoveryAttack: generally averted, but present with Heihachi's guest appearance, since he comes from a series that ''does'' have a recovery attack.
* RiskStyleMap: Weapon Master.
* TheRival: Abelia in ''Chronicles of the Sword''.
* RivalTurnedEvil: Quite a few in Weapon Master. Justified; they were seeking Soul Edge, a sword that has a tendency to turn people evil.
* SceneryPorn: ''Chronicles of the Sword'''s levels are rather well detailed.
* SideQuest: A few optional chapters in Weapon Master.
* LuckBasedMission:
** Merope Monastery's bonus mission in in ''Weapon Master'' is dependent entirely on if the AI moves the right way, as you have ~15 seconds to defeat each of the 6 foes, only truly possible with a ring out while over 3/4 of the stage is wall.
** In chapter 8 of ''Chronicles of the Sword'', you have to rescue at least 3 of 5 allied units on the field from the enemies. Outside of a NewGamePlus (where you can get through fortresses much quicker with your higher strength units), the AI decides if you can rescue the three named ones that will join you as well as your ability to rescue the two generic ones for bonus points, as if they attack any unit with more than one of theirs, they are going to die.
* OneManArmy: ''Chronicles of the Sword''. It's even lampshaded, with generic soldiers thinking your character is a War God(ess).
* TheGreatestStoryNeverTold: The end of Weapon Master tells you that whatever your choice was when confronted with Soul Edge, it was never put into history. Indeed, the BigBad of Weapon Master is said to have only been a footnote in the Soul Edge's long and colored history, and you're completely forgotten.
* ThisLooksLikeAJobForAquaman: Link, for a few of the Weapon Master levels due to his proficiency with ringouts (and for 1 stage, ability to get a high number of hits) he excels, even though he is placed on the bottom of the tier list. ([[DemotedToExtra That happens to]] [[SuperSmashBros him a lot.]])
** Obviously, these stages aren't as easily gotten around in the Xbox and PS2 versions.
* TimeSkip: Chronicles of the Sword
* TrainingBoss: The first level of Weapon Master. The first two chapters of ''Chronicles of The Sword''.
* TwinkleToesSamurai: Taki has a couple moves like this.
* WakeUpCallBoss: Luna's first appearance in in ''Chronicles of the Sword'' (chapter 3). Before this chapter, the AI is passive and fairly weak. Now they will rush you on multiple fronts with overleveled troops ''and'' there is a "main universe" character on the field for the first time (They are level 60 when you are 5 at best, learn to avoid them).
** Beating them all makes you feel bad-ass. But, if you have enough skill, then you can overcome the level gap and defeat all of them, even without the use of AI breakers, because despite being competent, they don't use any of the A.I. special tactics too much, meaning that they are as defeatable as an average human player.
* WarGod: One chapter of ''Chronicles of the Sword'' has your character note they overheard someone call them this once.
* WeaponsKitchenSink: Chronicles of the Sword has Katana wielders fighting side by side with people who wield claymores, chinese swords, rapiers, and nunchucks.
* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: The story mode for ''Soulcalibur V'' focuses, for the first time, on the actions and destinies of only a few characters. As a result, many characters never have their reasons for being in the game stated and some, like Zasalamel and Cassandra (who's the aunt of both the main characters no less), have disappeared entirely without explanation.
* WorthyOpponent: Luna says you are this during the first fight with her, and her dialog throughout the rest of the game supports it.
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[[caption-width-right:226:Welcome to the page of history!]]
->''"Transcending history and the world, a tale of souls and swords, eternally retold..."''
The ''Soul'' series is a series of [=3D=] weapon-based fighting games created by Namco, arriving shortly after the success of its other [=3D=] fighter, ''{{Tekken}}''.
All of the games in the series follow an ongoing plot: rumors of a heroic sword of legends known as "Soul Edge" are widespread around 16th century Eurasia. Only a few know the truth; the sword is actually an evil ArtifactOfDoom with an insatiable thirst for human souls. Some fighters seek it without knowing the truth, others seek to destroy it, while still others know the truth but simply don't care.
At first, the sword falls into the hands of a mad pirate named Cervantes, and it possesses him and turns him into a [[WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity bloodthirsty killing machine]]. In later games, the sword is damaged by its "good" counterpart, Soul Calibur, and breaks into fragments, which are spread all over the world, causing misfortune on anyone who found them. By the last game, the sword has recovered all its lost shards and power, and awaits a final confrontation with its equally-powerful rival sword.
The series began in the mid-90s with ''Soul Edge'', one of the first games to feature three-dimensional combat where every character held a weapon. Control was mostly similar to ''Tekken'' and ''VirtuaFighter'', where characters could move along the three-dimensional plane, and could be knocked out of the ring if they were careless. Characters could also deflect each other's weapon attacks, or break them and render them useless if hit enough times.
''Soul Edge'', while mildly successful in arcades (and on the [=PlayStation=] as ''Soul Blade''), was largely overshadowed by ''Soul Calibur'', which revamped many of the original game's aspects, including the three-dimensional movement, character combos and timing, and completely removed the breakable weapon aspect. The Dreamcast port of the game rebalanced the gameplay and overhauled the graphics, becoming its system's KillerApp in the process. It's often placed among many game critics' "favorite games of all time".
''Soul Calibur'' has since spawned four sequels, which have been ported to a number of home systems. A spinoff ActionAdventure title, ''[=SoulCalibur=] Legends'', has been released for the Wii; ''IV'' has also been ported to the PSP as ''[=SoulCalibur=]: Broken Destiny'', which guest stars the God of War himself. No, not Ares; [[GodOfWar the man who killed him]].
As of ''[=SoulCalibur=] III'', the series title seems to be ''[=SoulCalibur=]'' in a reference to Excalibur. Odashima said he wanted ''[=SoulCalibur=] 5'' to be named ''[=Soul Edge 2=]'', but was rejected.
See also [[Characters/SoulSeries the Character Sheet]].
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!!This series provides examples of:
* ActionMom: the Alexandra sisters; Cassandra's main reason to fight was to spare her older sister Sophitia from doing so since she's a mom, but when her kids are affected Sophitia comes back to fighting against Soul Edge anyway.
** Taken to a more extreme and utterly ''cruel'' angle in Soulcalibur IV when Sophitia's daughter [[MeaningfulName Pyrrha]] [[spoiler:''is'' '''possessed''' by Soul Edge, forcing Sophitia to kill anyone trying to destroy it.]]
** Hilde, as of SCV.
* AgeInappropriateDress: Amy, Talim, and [[spoiler: Leixia]].
* AIBreaker: Anti AI moves in the 3rd game, and Astaroth's Discus Breaker (1AB in community notation) in Soul Calibur IV. Also, lying down facing the edge when fighting Algol on Floor 60. See ArtificialStupidity.
* AlienGeometries: ''V'' has a few infinitely large stages. You can see scenery in the distance, but you can never get any closer to it no matter how far you move.
* AllThereInTheManual: Japan released an artbook quide for ''V'' that explains what happened to many of the characters that did not make it into the game.
* AmazingTechnicolorBattlefield
* AnachronismStew: Supposedly, this game takes place during the mid-to-late Renaissance, but there are certain aspects of the series (mostly the costumes and some SteamPunk elements coming from llluminati-esque underground cults) that never really conform to a single real-world era.
* ApologeticAttacker: Sophitia, and also Talim, to a lesser extent.
** Siegfried tends to go into this when fighting non-possessed enemies, as they usually go after him for his past deeds as Nightmare. He accepts they have a rightful beef, but he can't die until Soul Edge's done for. So he beats them down, and then apologizes.
** Pyrrha. Probably more apologetic than any that came before her.
*** In her case, she has a ''damn'' good reason though.
* AppropriatedTitle: The series was originally called ''SoulBlade'' but is now better known as ''SoulCalibur''.
** More accurately, it was ''SoulEdge'' in Japan and ''SoulBlade'' in internationally. This was due to copyright troll EDGE Games claiming any and all variations of the word "edge" for themselves.
* ArmedLegs: The Grieve Edge moveset for custom characters in ''III''.
* ArtifactOfDoom: ''Soul Edge''.
* ArtificialStupidity: Algol loves to use a certain combo that involves jumping over his opponent's head. He will use this even if his opponent is lying on the ground at the edge of the arena, flinging himself to his doom. Talim also did this a lot with her "Wind Flip" maneuver, particularly in SoulCalibur III.
* AssKicksYou: Cassandra's Critical Finish, where she literally knocks her foe over with her rear end, then proceeds to violently sit on her opponent's face, the second time using her shield. There might be slight lampshading when she calls out "[[{{Fanservice}} You like this kinda stuff]]?" when she's doing it. Not to mention all the pink hearts. She also has an attack that involves flinging herself butt-first at the enemy (which is her longest-range attack).
** Rock [[GroundPound does this too]].
** Even more disturbingly, Voldo does this, although not as a critical finish.
* AwesomeButImpractical: Unblockable attacks look very cool, wreathing your weapon(s) in flames for the duration of the attack and darkening everything on-screen aside from the fighters and the HUD, and usually do a good chunk of damage. However, that duration tends to be a few seconds before the attack is actually pulled off, allowing players who notice the attack to generally dodge it with ease. And then punish the attacker right after with an attack of their own. Some of these attacks (such as Ivy's heel drop) leave the attacker open during the prep stages, too, making it very impractical unless the opponent is on the ground. Though [[GameBreaker one of Sophitia's...]]
** Soul Edge in ''Soul Calibur II'' and ''Soul Calibur III'' often carries elements of this; while generally more powerful than any other weapon, most of its side effects are negative compared to the many more useful abilities offered by Soul Calibur or other weapons. This is notably absent in ''[=SC4=]'', except for certain forms which have the detrimental abilities Slow Feet and Evil Sword Berserk attached.
** In ''Soul Calibur IV'', Algol's 214A+B and 4B+K are awesome when they work, but they never will in a serious match. Nightmare's A+B and his 236A+B are also really cool, but are terrible moves.
** The Critical Finishes from ''Soul Calibur IV'' can only be pulled off in very specific situations: you break your opponent's armor, force them into Soul Crush, then hit all four face buttons while they're reeling back. They're harder to pull off than it would seem.
* AwesomeYetPractical: Guard Break attacks, which coat your weapon in electricity, do boosted damage, and stagger foes if they were guarding. They are barely slower than regular attacks, and plenty are horizontal strikes (which means you can't walk out of the way).
* {{Badass}}: Basically every character in the game.
** BadassAdorable: Many of the younger girls, particularly Talim and Ashlotte.
** BadassLolita: Amy.
** BadassBack: Voldo legitimately; other characters in ''[=SC3=]'' who [[FakeDifficulty shouldn't be allowed to]].
** BadassUnintentional: The fourth game has the rare moments where character taunts match up perfectly, such as...
--> Algol: "Fighting is my all... it is my existence!"
--> Nightmare: "Your existence is meaningless!"
* {{Bishoujo}}: Taki, Seoung-Mina, Xianghua.
* {{Bishonen}}: Kilik, Maxi, and Siegfried are pretty boys, but also [[PlayingWithATrope quite buff]].
* TheBladeAlwaysLandsPointyEndIn: In the intro.
* BloodKnight: Mitsurugi and Algol.
* BloodlessCarnage: You'd think with all the blades flying around, someone would get at least a small cut.
** Worth noting [[GameplayAndStorySegregation that this is a gameplay restriction]], and within the story itself ,the weapons do cause injuries and even death.
* BodyHorror: Soul Edge can twist the human body quite grotesquely, best seen in the number it did to Siegfried's right arm. [[spoiler: The same corruption later happens to poor Pyrrha.]]
* [[BonusLevelOfHell Bonus Mode Of Hell]]: Edge Master Mode, Mission Mode, Weapon Master Mode, Chronicles of the Sword, Tower of Lost Souls, and Legendary Souls, in chronological order.
* BottomlessPits: Some arenas have cliffs, chasms, or are being hoisted into the air by an Egyptian construction crane. These are some of the most common forms of "Ring Out".
* {{Bowdlerise}}: In countries (specifically, Korea) that discouraged references to {{samurai}} due to their histories with WWII-era Japan as well as various invasions from the 1590s, Mitsurugi was replaced twice: first with Hwang in the Korean arcade version of ''Soul Edge'', and then in ''[=SC=]'' with an [[MightyWhitey english-born, japan-raised "samurai"]] named Arthur, who sported an EyepatchOfPower and wielded a [[KatanasAreJustBetter katana]]. The former became a main by the 2nd arcade revision, the later became an unlockable bonus character in ''[=SC3=]'' as well as making cameos in the introduction for Weaponmaster in 2 and The Gauntlet in Broken Destiny.
** Interestingly enough, the backstories of the Korean characters involve those very same 16th-century conflicts, so you'd think the Korean audience would cherish being able to beat up a hardened samurai warrior with their national heroes.
** Also, the PAL release of 'Soul Blade'' changes the weapons of Li Long from Nunchaku into Three-Sectional Staffs because of the legal status of the former in the U.K. and other countries.
* BrainwashedAndCrazy: The majority of [[ArtifactOfDoom Soul Edge's]] victims end up this. Tira is an especially notable example.
* BreakableWeapons: ''Soul Edge'' only, although ''[=SoulCalibur=] IV'' has breakable ''[[ClothingDamage armour]]''.
** in the story mode of SCIII, this becomes the excuse for having a character use Soul Edge or Soul Calibur. Abyss will toss his scythe at you, requiring a [[QuickTimeEvent quicktime event]] to block it. If the character is scripted to end up fighting with one of the Soul weapons, the strike will break the weapon the character is holding no matter what, and then one of the Soul weapons will be launched at the character, which they pick up to finish the fight.
* CanonImmigrant: Sort of... a character named Yoshimitsu appears in all four ''Calibur'' games [[strike:as a secret character]]; he's similar to the Yoshimitsu from ''{{Tekken}}'', but may not be the same person.
** According to his story, "Yoshimitsu" is actually the name of the sword he wields, as well as a ''title'' given to the strongest Ninja in his clan (the Yoshimitsu in ''Soul Calibur'' is the founder and the Yoshimitsu of ''Tekken'' is the current leader); the personality and fighting style are adopted to give the impression that he is immortal (LegacyImmortality, as popularized by ComicStrip/ThePhantom). However, Yoshimitsu is the same guy in the first 4 ''Soul Calibur'' games, as his story makes constant references to his development in past games; he is replaced by a new swordsman in the events leading up to V. The ''Tekken'' games all feature a single Yoshimitsu as well.
** The Tekken 3 booklet's bio of Yoshimitsu says something like "He may have existed since the 18th Century". If this is true (it's nowhere mentioned in the NTSC-U english manual), it's only an addition of the english translator, as no such mention appears in any of the japanese profiles.
** Staying within the confines of the series itself, we have Hwang and Arthur. In both cases, the characters were conceived as alternates to Mitsurugi for the Korean market (who have a high distaste for samurai due to their bad history), Hwang for ''Soul Edge'' and Arthur for ''[=SoulCalibur=]''. Later on, a second revision for ''Soul Edge'' was released and Hwang was canonized as a real character for all regions and given his own story. Likewise, in ''[=SoulCalibur=] III'', Arthur was given some back story and added as a bonus character. Arthur has little relevance to anything in the narrative but Hwang has been a prominent player through the first two titles.
* CanonWelding: Possibly implied with Tekken at the end of [[spoiler:Zasalamel's]] story in IV, which depicts him [[spoiler:reincarnated in modern New York]].
* CelibateHero: Ivy. [[GagBoobs No,]] [[JigglePhysics seriously]]. She knows that she has "cursed blood", thanks to Soul Edge (her blood type is even listed as "Soul Edge"), so she has taken a vow to never have children, lest they too be cursed.
** Also, Kilik. By SC4, he returns Xianghua's love, but says it can never be because he plans to throw away his life to become a hermit/the eternal guardian of both swords, and wants Xianghua to continue and live a full life rather than do the same just for him. She ''doesn't care''.
* CharacterCustomization: The Create-a-Fighter mode in ''[=SC3=]'', ''[=SC4=]'', and ''[=SC5=]''.
* CharacterDevelopment: Siegfried turns from a deluded young man, into the BigBad, and finally into TheAtoner and the arguable protagonist/hero of the games. Similarly, Ivy has moved from NeutralEvil to TrueNeutral, and as of ''[=SoulCalibur=] IV'' may even be headed towards NeutralGood. Most of the characters undergo some level of character development between games.
* CharacterRosterGlobalWarming: ''Soul Calibur'' has four "big" characters (Astaroth, Nightmare, Siegfried, Rock) compared to more than twenty others.
* ChekhovsGunman: As Algol is the hero king who was able to wield Soul Edge and created Soul Calibur, he [[AllThereInTheManual has been mentioned]] [[ChekhovsGunman since the beginning]], they just gave him a name in ''IV''. But to those unfamiliar with the backstory, he would appear to be a GiantSpaceFleaFromNowhere.
* CherryTapping: The Joke Weapons since ''[=SC2=]''. All the joke weapons also make a light squeak sound effect when it makes contact with the opponent. CherryTapping indeed.
* ChivalrousPervert: Raphael and Dampierre both fight over Amy dolls and constantly make {{Double Entendre}}s (in ''Broken Destiny''), while trying to keep their honor.
** Maccoi, in the same game, [[RapeAsComedy makes thinly veiled promises of chikan,]] but still gives you hints and tips when fighting him.
* ClothingDamage: ''[=SC4=]'' has this in spades, for all characters with the exceptions of the bonus characters and the Star Wars exclusives. Kratos in ''Broken Destiny'' is also an exception.
* ComebackMechanic: ''Soul Calibur IV'' allows players to assign skills to custom created characters. Among them are "will power" and "hysterical strength." Both are passive abilities that activate when the player's health dips below a certain point. "Will power" requires the player to be in critical status (low health) and causes the character to glow red, when active. It sharply increases the user's stats for the remainder of the round. "Hysterical strength" - only requires that player's health drop below half and only offers a boost in attack power; noted by a greenish yellow glow when active.
* ComicBookTime: Although a conflict of this nature would take copious amounts of time, ''not a single character'' has celebrated a birthday since ''Soul Calibur II''. In fact, II, III, and IV ''all take place within the same year''.
** Averted in the first three games, which took place in real time, as the passage of years between the plots (3 and 4) coincided with the games' initial releases (1995-1998-2002).
** Also averted with ''[=SoulCalibur=] V'', which takes place [[http://twitpic.com/4w7me6 17 years after]] ''IV''.
* ConfusionFu: Voldo, Yoshimitsu, and Dampierre.
** The rock-paper-scissors-style game mechanics (guards and sidestepping can only null certain types of attacks each) encourage mix-up tactics in general.
* CoolSword: Soul Edge and Soul Calibur.
* CounterAttack: Several characters have these. Some attacks just have frames at the beginning that cause a Guard Impact, which would make the rest of the attack sort of like a Counter Attack, but there are moves that genuinely won't do anything unless the opponent lands an attack at the proper frame of the animation. All attacks do more damage if they hit during the start-up or cool-down frames of an opponent's attack.
* CoversAlwaysLie: Usually in game covers, ads, and merchandise, Ivy is usually shown lined up with the other villainous characters, because of her rather [[MsFanservice interesting]] appearance. Even though at one point she committed murders in the sword's name, she's been trying to destroy it for most of the series.
** ''Soul Edge/Blade's'' cover shows Mitsurugi duel-wielding katanas. He has never done this in any game in the series.
* TheComputerIsACheatingBastard: The ''[=SoulCalibur=] III'' AI blatantly reads your controller inputs, leading to things like a nigh-100% success rate in parrying basic throws (where there should be a 50% chance of failure), the ability to guard impact any attack, and never reacting incorrectly to any mixup or cancelled attack. This makes anti-AI attacks a ''necessity'' to use.
** There is one challenge in ''Soul Calibur II'' where, in order to get to one of the special areas, you have to break your opponent's guard within a certain amount of time. Taki re-guards too fast after breaking her guard.
** Back with a vengeance in ''Soulcalibur V'' (at least in Legendary Souls mode and the harder opponents in Quick Battle). In addition to reading inputs, being immune to mixups, and abusing it's own lack of needing input by executing complex moves faster than a human could ever do it, this AI will also flawlessly space your characters (staying close to long range characters and keeping away from short range ones) and perfectly confound all attempts at horizontal containment.
* CrossOver: [=SC2=] included [[{{Tekken}} Heihachi]], {{Spawn}}, or [[TheLegendOfZelda Link]], depending on which console you were playing.
** [=SC4=] included StarWars characters Darth Vader and Yoda, as well as The Apprentice from The Force Unleashed. [[hottip:*:Yoda was initially exclusive to the Xbox360 version, while Darth Vader was originally exclusive to the PS3 version; both eventually became available as DLC for the other version. Starkiller has always been available in both versions.]]
** [=SC5=] actually includes a character who makes sense within the context of the series' story and time period: Ezio Auditore, from the ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreed'' games.
*** Well, story maybe, but time period, most certainly not; ''[=SCV=]'' takes place over a century after the ''Assassin's Creed'' games (specifically ''II'' and ''Brotherhood'', which star Ezio, who is in about his 30s there; ergo, he should already be dead by the time the game's story rolled by).
* CrystalPrison: Soul Calibur likes to pull this as of ''Soul Calibur IV'' whenever it trumps Soul Edge in certain character endings.
* DamnYouMuscleMemory: Namco LOVES this trope. [[DifficultButAwesome Voldo]] is a particulary {{egregious}} example; from ''Soul Calibur II'' to ''III'' his moveset remained the same but the inputs changed.
* DarkerAndEdgier: ''Soul Calibur IV'' has many formerly-good characters -- not to mention the pure Soul Calibur -- take a swing into the dark side. These include Sophitia (forced to protect Soul Edge, with deadly force if necessary, to save her daughter's life), Maxi (driven to wield Soul Edge to destroy Astaroth by Tira), Taki ([[spoiler:her ending has her murder Siegfried to prevent his attempt to create a utopia going horribly wrong]]), and Siegfried himself (his own storyline presents him as becoming increasingly suicidal, and his ending implies that Soul Calibur may have frozen the entire human population in crystal stasis, not to mention killing him).
** ''[=SoulCalibur=] V'' deals with the massacre and persecution of those who are and are accused of being 'malfested'.
* DifficultButAwesome: Guard Impacts. The requirement (pushing forward and guard right as an opponent's attack is about to hit, plus knowing what height to use) plus the consequence (there is no 'fallback' if you miss, you will take damage) are demanding but execute one and your opponent's only response will be to do one of their own, bound by the same condition.
** Several characters fall into this as well; Ivy and Setsuka are both extremely difficult to learn but utterly devastating when mastered. The Grieve Edge style from ''III'' could be considered this, too, as it was heavily reliant on expert timing for attacks and Guard Impacts but was extremely powerful when executed with proper precision, in addition to looking really awesome.
* DittoFighter: Edge Master, Charade's ''Soul Calibur II'' incarnation, and [[AscendedMeme Olcadan]]. Inferno also acts this way in his appearances, save for his very first one (where he was just a pumped up Cervantes named [=SoulEdge=]). In ''Soul Calibur II'', he switches styles in the ''middle of the fight'' and has a super move regardless of style.
** In ''Soulcalibur V'', Edge Master returns as a mimic character, along with [[spoiler:Kilik and newcomer Elysium]]. The difference between the [[spoiler:three is that Edge Master can mimic all characters (needs confirmation for more special characters like Ezio or Devil Jin) while Kilik and Elysium can only mimic male and female characters respectively.]]
* DivineChessboard: Soul Edge versus Soul Calibur.
* {{Dojikko}}: Talim becomes this when you use her running "kick" attack, which is more of a "trip and fall" attack. One of Xianghua's attacks when she is on the ground has her throw a tantrum. Dampierre is prone to falling in some of his attacks (when intended), and blocking will often get him to fall over in pain. In fact, in The Gauntlet, he's constantly accidentally activating his daggers into his own flesh. In ''Broken Destiny'', the first assassin sent to try and kill you is so clumsy that your character ''starts to get hit out of pity for her.''
* DropTheHammer: Some of Astaroth's weapons, as well as Rock's maces, include hammer-like weapons.
* DroppedABridgeOnHim: [[spoiler:Poor Sophitia. While most of the old cast that don't appear were merely PutOnABus, Sophitia herself was stated to be killed off casually by Tira in the past, thus it's not just on Patroklos' mind that she's dead.]]
* DualWielding: Cervantes, [[GodOfWar Kratos]], [[TalesOfSymphonia Lloyd Irving]], and Shura all dual-wield swords, as well as Talim, who [[DualTonfas dual wields Tonfas]]. Taki and Natsu dual-wield daggers for certain attacks, and Algol's hands transform into Soul Edge and Soul Calibur, as well as double bubble cannons. Maxi can dual-wield nunchaku as an extra kata in ''Soul Calibur''.
** Aeon Calcos (Lizardman), as of SCV, duel wields axes.
* EarlyBirdCameo: The Apprentice/Starkiller/Galen Marek from ''StarWars: TheForceUnleashed'', in ''[=SoulCalibur=] IV''. Amy makes a short cameo in the 2nd game's intro.
* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: ''Soul Blade'' features concepts like the Weapon Break meter and the [[LimitBreak Critical Edge]] combo, stuff that was never revisited in later installments of the series. It also lacked the 8-way Run movement system that would become the trademark of the later games and as a whole, was slower and played closer to ''{{Tekken}} 2''.
** A move called the [[FinishingMove Critical Finish]] showed up in [=SoulCalibur=] IV, but seems to be unrelated. The Critical Edge itself returns in [=SoulCalibur=] V.
*** InNameOnly. The 'Critical Edge' in ''[=SoulCalibur V=]'' is a conventional [[LimitBreak super move]], governed by a gauge, instead of a long string of attacks.
* EasterEgg: Soulcalibur V's Quick Battle mode gives players the chance to fight Katsuhiro Harada, the producer of Tekken. Harada uses a Create-A-Soul exclusive [[{{Tekken}} Devil Jin]] fighting style. Defeating him allows the use of the Devil Jin style for created characters.
** It's also possible to to assemble [[{{Xenosaga}} KOS-MOS]] in Soulcalibur III's character creator.
* ElegantGothicLolita: Amy. And then IV has Setsuka's alternate outfit and Ashlotte, a ''[[RobotGirl robotic]] [[ClockPunk clockwork]]'' gothic lolita.
* EmpathicWeapon: Soul Edge and Soul Calibur. Ivy's Valentine WhipSword is also alive, which is why it can do all those improbable things in battle. Yoshimitsu's katana is shown to have a a level of sentience as well, especially in his ''Soul Calibur II'' ending.
* EnemyWithin: Inferno.
* EnemyWithout: Nightmare to Siegfried, after a point.
* EvilOnlyHasToWinOnce: So far, the Soul Edge (the evil sword) has been shattered or destroyed at least three times (''Soul Edge'', ''Soul Calibur'', ''Soul Calibur II''), twice by the Soul Calibur (the "good" sword). What happens each time? The sword just breaks into pieces (each one every bit as evil as the whole sword) and eventually reforms itself, stronger than before. Now, what happens in ''every'' ending where the Soul Edge wins instead? The world gets '''''hosed''''', that's what. Even worse, in ''[=SoulCalibur=] IV'', we learn that the Soul Calibur is actually just as evil, but with a penchant for order rather than chaos.
* EvilWeapon: Soul Edge. Soul Calibur during the period where it was corrupted by Soul Edge's evil; it's normally a holy sword meant to oppose Soul Edge. [[spoiler:''[=SoulCalibur=] IV'' reveals that the Soul Calibur can actually be considered just as "evil", when it reaches its full power and sentience. Unlike the Edge, which revels in chaos, destruction, death, and torment, the Calibur wants peace, harmony, and safety -- by ''freezing the entire world so that no one can move''.]]
* {{Expy}}: In Soul Calibur V, many characters deemed too old or who are dead are replaced with characters who have the same fighting style. Examples include Natsu for Taki and Xiba for Kilik.
* FanNickname: There are quiet a lot of these made up by the fandom -- "Sieg/Sieggy", "Soph/Sophie", "Cass/Cassie", "Raph", and "Mitsu" are some prominent examples. Xianghua is often just called "X" due to the difficulty in spelling her name.
** In ''V'', fans came up with [[spoiler: "Petsuka" for Alpha Patroklos and "[[TheOprahWinfreyShow Oprah]]" for Pyrrha Omega.]]
* {{Fanservice}}: Most female characters' breasts [[FanServicePack were enlarged]] for ''[=SoulCalibur=] IV'', for no apparent reason other than probably this trope. The only thing keeping ''Soulcalibur IV'' from full-on PantyFighter status is the presence of men.
** The latest advertisement for ''Soulcalibur V'' isn't even subtle. [[http://www.gamefront.com/soul-calibur-v-has-a-ahem-prominent-chest-pic/ Something other than CHESTS will be swelling in anticipation, I'm sure.]]
* FinishingMove: The Critical Finish in ''IV''. Don't expect to pull this one off all the time, it's mostly there to keep people from spamming guard the whole match. The fanciness is lost on Yoda though, who is too short for most of the animations, and thus Critical Finishes on him are simply the character performing an unblockable attack on him.
* FixedFloorFighting
* {{Flynning}}: Can be seen in the attract mode for ''[=SoulCalibur=] III''.
* FragileSpeedster: Taki and Maxi.
* GaidenGame: ''Broken Destiny'''s story mode starts by stating that its plot is based on "obscure fables" and therefore isn't canon. ''Legends'' was also refered as such in the early press releases.
* {{Gainaxing}}: Very much.
* GameBreakingBug: ''[=SoulCalibur=] III''. Save file wipe. If you moved or deleted any other save file on your memory card, it was impossible to save in Chronicles of the Sword (and therefore to play that mode properly).
* GoodScarsEvilScars: Siegfried and Kilik.
* GlassCannon: Possible in ''Soulcalibur IV'' with custom characters. Several characters have weapons with extremely high damage but low health.
* GratuitousGerman: With bad grammar.
* GroinAttack: Sophitia, Kilik, and Seong Mina.
** Note that the Alexandra sisters have a tendency to attack ''using'' their groins.
* GuestFighter: [[{{Tekken}} Heihachi]], [[TheLegendOfZelda Link]], and {{Spawn}}, who were each a console-specific character in one of the versions of ''Soul Calibur II''; [[TalesOfSymphonia Lloyd Irving]] in ''[=SoulCalibur=] Legends''; [[StarWars Darth Vader, Yoda]], and [[TheForceUnleashed The Apprentice]] in ''[=SoulCalibur=] IV''; [[GodOfWar Kratos]] in ''[=SoulCalibur=]: Broken Destiny'', and [[VideoGame/AssassinsCreed Ezio Auditore]] in ''Soul Calibur V''.
** ProductPlacement: Adding The Apprentice from ''StarWars: TheForceUnleashed'', a game that was going to come out a month after IV, was totally this.
** Also, a bunch of anime/manga designers were hired to create an original character -- and by "original character" we mean "they look different". Each of their individual fighting styles are copied from another character. They don't even have their own voice sets (using the ones from Create-a-Character mode instead.)
* GunsAreUseless: The only firearm in the game (Cervantes's "[[MixAndMatchWeapon pistol sword]]"); while the strongest attack that uses it deals decent damage (between a 4th and 3rd of health), it is very telegraphed, and can be dodged by simply moving to the side once. Back in ''Soul Calibur II'', the only attack that involved it was a weak, easy to miss, anti-air attack grab (which is as useless as it sounds).
* HeyItsThatVoice:
** Xianghua [[WendeeLee is]] [[SuzumiyaHaruhi Haruhi]].
** Tira [[JenniferHale likes]] [[MetroidPrime science fiction,]] [[MassEffect and she's had enough of your disingenuous assertions]]. *SLICE*
** Some out there may be wondering why Siegfried doesn't have an attack called [[CodeGeass Storm]] [[CrispinFreeman of Loyalty]] in ''[=SoulCalibur=] III''.
** Or why he isn't mentioning [[TalesofSymphonia that ominous light]] [[MemeticMutation that threatens to engulf us...]]
** Talim [[HyndenWalch is]] [[WesternAnimation/TeenTitans Starfire]].
** Zasalamel is [[{{CastlevaniaJudgment}} Simon Belmont]].
** In Japanese, Sophitia is [[FullMetalPanic Melissa Mao]] and [[FullMetalAlchemist Riza Hawkeye]].
** And I'll be damned if [[NobuyukiHiyama Siegfried or Link]] don't [[{{EndlessFrontier}} GESPENSTUU KICK]] you.
** The Male Voice 1 in Create-A-Character Mode is YuriLowenthal.
** Patroklos and Pyrrha are voiced by YuriLowenthal and LauraBailey respectively. They are also the Male and Female Protagonist from {{Persona 3}}.
** There's no way you'll ever be able to knock [[MatthewMercer Z.W.E.I.]] [[StreetFighterIV out]], while he teaches you to fear the [[FistOfTheNorthStar Nanto]] [[DynastyWarriors Suichoken]]!
** Given time, [[LaurenLanda Leixia]] will grow into a [[BlazBlue Boobie Lady]].
** [[JohnnyYongBosch Xiba]] [[CodeGeass commands you all]]... TO GIVE HIM [[BigEater FOODS]]!
** A male Create-A-Character voice sounds like [[SamRiegel Flynn]] [[TalesofVesperia Scifo]] from both ''IV'' and ''V''
* HitAndRunTactics: Conceivably possible with Spawn's signature fire/acid ball move. Any competent human or AI will be able to sidestep the fireballs, but against the easy and the inexperienced, you may be able to wipe the enemy health gauge clean before the enemy can so much as close for combat. Same goes for Link in the same game (except in the Gamecube version rather than the Xbox version.) Can also be attempted with Ivy's whip and Kilik's staff to a lesser extent.
* HotChickWithASword: Quite a few. In ''[=SoulCalibur=] III'' and ''IV'', you can [[FetishFuel make your own]]!
* HoistHeroOverHead: One of Darth Vader's grappling moves in ''Soul Calibur IV''. Two of Hilde's throws also do this.
* HornyVikings: The Viking Helm in ''Soul Calibur IV'' is an example of this.
* ImpossiblyLowNeckline: Many of the girl's outfits, including Amy and Ivy.
* ImprobableWeaponUser: Plenty, even without counting anyone's JokeWeapon. Tambourines, anyone?!
* InfinityPlusOneSword: Each character has one; also inverted in Soul Edge itself, which may count as an AwesomeButImpractical InfinityMinusOneSword, as it often drains the health of its possessor.
* InstrumentOfMurder: Talim of ''Soul Calibur IV'' uses a pair of ocarinas as her joke weapons.
* JailBait: Talim is 15 years old, and gets more and more sexualized in each game. She is now straddling people with her thighs while wearing translucent pants.
** Amy, who's probably younger than her.
** And then we have Leixia and Natsu in ''V''.
* JigglePhysics:
** Almost all female characters, especially Taki and Ivy (although there are [[{{JailBait}} exceptions]]).
** In ''[=SoulCalibur=] IV'', Cassandra's alternate costume applies this to her ''thighs.''
** ''III'' also has Valeria the shopkeeper, and more of the girls have this in ''IV'', including Sophitia, Setsuka, and pretty much every female create-a-character, [[ClothingDamage especially since they'll end up in their underwear anyway]]. [[{{Golem}} Astaroth]] has chest jiggle physics, and Xianghua has ''ass'' jiggle physics.
** JigglePhysics is even customizable for custom characters, where (reasonably) undergarment choice affects bounce. The strapless bra will have more jiggle than what is essentially a leather sports bra.
* JokeItem: Each character has one.
* KickingAssInAllHerFinery: Several outfits the ladies wear are very fancy and elegant.
* LampshadeHanging: Seong Mi-na + bladed weapon + GroinAttack + "Bye bye" = Not Pleasant[[TradeSnark ™]].
* LargeHam: Nightmare's taunts before a battle and after winning a match. His lines could be very scary, if he didn't sound like he was trying so hard. "Have a taste of my darkness!" Also [[BoldInflation The]] [[ThisIsSPARTA Narrator]] at times.
** Kratos in ''Broken Destiny'', [[BeyondTheImpossible even more]] than in [[{{GodOfWar}} his own series]].
** Cervantes is extremely hammy as well.
** Abyss in ''3'' actually has some pre-battle lines that are so lengthy that they get cut off/run into the other fighter's!
** Everything Astaroth says is incredibly melodramatic.
* LeotardOfPower: Ivy, particularly in ''Soul Calibur II''. Cassandra in ''IV'' has a coat on over one of these.
* LighterAndSofter: ''Broken Destiny'''s Gauntlet mode contains massive amounts of {{Lampshade Hanging}} (ranging from one of the wild creatures asking why their wolf protector is suddenly walking around on two legs, to the characters constantly asking each other, and themselves, why they keep giving hints to the player when they fail a mission), a few personality changes, starting with Cassandra being a GenkiGirl, no one getting killed, asides from the wolf you eat in the beginning, Nightmare becoming a good guy, Anime-style illustrations (including a [[Memes/{{Touhou}} Yukkuri shiteitte ne! cameo]]), with all the standard visual gags.
* LightIsNotGood: The titular blade, Soul Calibur. It was shown in IV that it wants to freeze the world in crystal, thus creating a WorldOfSilence. Soul Calibur's justification is that if nobody can move, there won't be any more war. Granted, [[WellIntentionedExtremist it's still insane]].
** Reinforced in ''Soulcalibur V'' [[spoiler:when its spirit presented itself as Sophitia to manipulate Patroklos into killing Soul Edge's wielder, his sister Pyrrha.]]
* LightningBruiser: Siegfried and Nightmare hit hard and fast naturally. Ashlotte, Astaroth, and other slow-but-strong characters can be modified into this through the Step Speed Up and Run Speed Up abilities. Hilde's movement is among the fastest in the game, and she also has the two most powerful attacks (her 30 second charge attacks), both of which are near [[OneHitKO one hit K.O.s.]]
** Darth Vader in ''IV'', which is rather true to his portrayal in the ''StarWars'' universe.
* LimitBreak: The Critical Edge attacks in the upcoming ''Soul Calibur V'', complete with their super meter.
* MalevolentArchitecture: Abound in ''Legends,'' where even '''Leonardo da Vinci's house''' is full of swinging blades, rolling boulders, and puzzles.
** Considering the role played by Leo in ''[[VideoGame/AssassinsCreedII Assassin's Creed II]]'', this might be intentional...
* ManaMeter: ''Soul Calibur V'' has one (with multiple stocks at that), and it's used to power the Brave Edge and [[LimitBreak Critical Edge]] moves.
* ManipulativeBastard: Zasalamel in ''[=SoulCalibur=] III'' manipulates Nightmare, Siegfried, Ivy, and a bunch of {{Mook}}s as part of his plan to raise both swords' powers back to full. Also, in each character's own story mode, there's one path in which he baits said character into his clock tower, tests him/her in battle, and then either directs him/her to Nightmare (so he gets a chance to feed the sword with a strong soul) or curse him so he'd not become a nuisance later.
** Also, Tira in ''IV'', as she convinces many of the characters to seek out Soul Edge to meet their goals, most notably manipulating Sophitia into working for the side of Nightmare by saying that her daughter was at risk if Soul Edge was destroyed.
** Dampierre in ''Broken Destiny''. To get two men into his service, one of which attempted to shoot him earlier, he reveals his hideout to the police, and later saves them when they are cornered. This act, plus a claim of greatness and his impressive counterfeit collection, are enough to turn them into his lackeys.
** Iska in Legends fits this trope perfectly as [[spoiler:he makes the character do the whole story then attempts to kill them]].
* MeaningfulName: Pyrrha, Sophitia's daughter. You just know there's [[PyrrhicVictory only one way]] for that whole mess to end.
** Doesn't help when her other child is named Patroklos, as in the man who wore Achilles's armor in the Trojan War.
** Also Amy, coming from the old french Amee, means beloved; this is played up with the mission you need to complete to unlock her in 3, named Beloved.
* {{Meido}}: Lynette, one of the three shopkeepers in ''[=SoulCalibur=] III''. In ''IV'', we also have Marienbard and Jacqueline, Raphael's servants.
** You can also create characters with maid costumes in ''III'' and ''IV'', though in the latter case it requires a DLC to do so.
** Pamela in ''Broken Destiny'', who also serves as an assassin. A really bad one.
* MightyGlacier: Astaroth, Rock, and Ashlotte.
* MightyWhitey: Subverted with Setsuka; she's a woman of European heritage, who was orphaned and ended up being raised in Japan. Because of her appearance, however, she was shunned and distrusted by the majority of the native people around her.
** Played a little straighter with Rock, an English boy lost in a shipwreck who grew up in America, who became a fearsome giant. Still mistrusted and feared though, because, y'know, GIANT.
*** Despite this Rock isn't even all that big, Standing at only 175 cm and weighing 85 kg. Cervantes in SCV is both taller and heavier.
** Arthur as well: an orphan who ended up in the care of a Japanese merchant and was raised in Japan. He was despised by his peers, which made him the prefered target for projectiles in the battlefield.
* MiniDressOfPower: Sophitia, Cassandra, and Amy.
* MismatchedEyes: Zasalamel's golden eye.
* MorphWeapon: Soul Edge and Soul Calibur. Normally, they take the shape of a [[{{BFS}} really big sword]] and a jian, respectively, but they can morph to fit just about any weapon shape. In ''Soul Calibur II'', three characters (Xianghua, Nightmare, and Talim) could use Soul Calibur, and ''every'' character had a Soul Edge version of their weapon (Nightmare had ''three'': Soul Edge, Soul Edge [Growth], and Soul Edge [Complete]). By ''[=SoulCalibur=] III'', Siegfried has Soul Calibur, and it too becomes a {{BFS}}.
* MortalityEnsues: In the best ending of ''[=SoulCaliber=] III'', Zasalamel succeeds in becoming mortal and spends the rest of his life as a scholar, chronicling everything he experienced.
* {{Ninja}}: Taki and Yoshimitsu; Yoshimitsu's fighting style is classified as that of a Samurai, but his backstory indicates that he was part of a Ninja clan.
* NoSidePathsNoExplorationNoFreedom: Granted, we don't expect those things from the main fighting games, but it seems like a cop-out in ''Legends.''
* OminousPipeOrgan: Hellfire begins with one. Also, Forsaken Sanctuary is full of it.
* OneHandedZweihander: Nightmare uses his sword like this. Averted by Siegfried, who uses both hands to swing his {{BFS}}. Most of the time.
* OneManArmy: Mitsurugi in his backstory and certain endings, Nightmare in the introduction to ''[=SoulCalibur=] III'' as well as a character with a discipline with a good anti AI move in ''Chronicles of the Sword''.
* OneSteveLimit: Averted, ''[=SoulCalibur=] III'' contains both "Eurydice Shrine" (a stage) and Eurydice, a character in the ''Chronicles of the Sword'' subgame.
* OnlyAFleshWound: Siegfried sometimes makes the claim "I avoided your vitals. You'll live" after winning a fight. Apparently the ''brain'' isn't a vital area.
* OperaGloves
* OrderVersusChaos: If Soul Calibur's own ambition to freeze the world in crystal is its actual motivation, then the battle between Soul Calibur and Soul Edge is more this than Good vs. Evil. Both will do bad things to the world, it all comes down to how they bring it about (Edge wants violence and terror, Calibur wants order and serenity through nothingness).
* PaintedOnPants: Very possible in Character Creation, and is pretty much your only alternative to fighting in underwear after ClothingDamage in ''[=SoulCalibur=] IV''.
* PantyShot: EVERY female character who isn't wearing pants, shorts, or full armor. One of Cassandra's outfit's in ''IV'' is even lacking a lower half entirely to begin with.
* PatrioticFervor: Figures into the backstory for all of the Korean characters in the Soul Series. Hwang is a soldier in the Imperial Navy seeking Soul Edge in order to stop Japan's invasion of his country. Seong Mi-Na is trying to prove that females can be as capable soldiers as male recruits, and Yun-seong's out to prove his worth to Hwang and his country. In later games, they realize that the sword is evil and instead fight to destroy it, with the side goal of proving the nation's strength.
** Yun-seong, in his ''[=SoulCalibur=] III'' pre-boss fight (the one where you fight someone who has to do with the character's backstory), has him walking into the room, taking one look at Mitsurugi, whom he has never seen before, and yelling something along the lines of "Enemy of my homeland, prepare to die!"
** Ivy also exhibits this, but visually. In her ''[=SoulCalibur=] IV'' costume, her shoulder pauldron and the various metal clasps on her costume incorporate the Tudor Rose of England motif, which is a traditional symbol of her native England and also probably serves as a medieval example of WearingAFlagOnYourHead.
* PersonalityBloodTypes: Blood types are listed in the character profiles.
* PimpedOutDress: Quite a few of the outfits.
* {{Pirate}}: [[NinjaPirateRobotZombie Zombie pirate Cervantes]]. Maxi may not look the part, but he's a pirate from Ryukyu.
* PrettyInMink: A few outfits with fur trim. Amy's outfit in ''IV'' has a fur neckline.
* PrincessCurls: Amy and Ashlotte. Also, for some reason, Abelia.
* PublisherChosenTitle: Supposedly what transpired after producer Daishi Odashima tried to name ''[=SoulCalibur=] V'' "''Soul Edge II''".
* RainbowPimpGear: To get the best possible statistics in IV's [=CAS=] mode, your fighter ''will'' be horribly mismatched. Just go with it.
** To be fair, you can still color-change most of the clothing, so you can make it less horrible.
* RecurringRiff: "Path of Destiny," titled "Recollection" in its first appearance, is the ending theme to all four ''Calibur'' games.
* RevenueEnhancingDevices: Incredibly, Namco managed to restrain themselves in this regard. ''[=SoulCalibur=] IV'' has costume packs and the ''Soul Calibur'' soundtrack available for DLC, plus PS3 owners can download Yoda and Xbox owners can download Vader. [[WhatCouldHaveBeen Now, why couldn't they have offered the custom weapon disciplines from ''III'' and some more characters...]]
* RoadCone: Every character's ending inevitably ends with them doing something with Soul Edge and/or Soul Calibur. ''Soul Calibur'' takes elements from a handful of the endings of ''Soul Edge'', Sophitia gets her ending where she breaks one of Cervantes's Soul Edge swords, but becomes injured in the process, leaving Taki to come in and finish Cervantes off, at which point Sigfried shows up and gets his ending where he becomes Nightmare. ''II'' takes mainly from Xianghua, with elements from Kilik (he fights Nightmare and his mirror breaks) and Nightmare (Siegfried recovers his senses after facing his dad in a dream). ''III'' takes the basic setup from Nightmare's ending (Siegfried recovers his mind, but seals Soul Edge with Soul Calibur instead of throwing it down a dark pit); as well as a bit of Raphael's ending (he pierced Soul Edge's eye).
* {{Samurai}}: Mitsurugi. Arthur is an interesting case: being an England-born orphan, he was raised and trained to serve as a samurai by his Japanese master (who previously bought him).
* {{Scenery Porn}}: A lot of the stages.
* SculptedPhysique
* SeriesContinuityError: During a flashback in ''[=SCV=]'' of Tira kidnapping Pyrrha, Pyrrha is shown as a baby when she should have been three years old.
* ShipSinking: When Leixia's profile was released, many a Kilik/Xianghua fan panicked that Project Soul was doing this, due to the news that Xianghua had married a general of the Ming Empire and had two children with him. Possibly averted by later information which implied that she was forced into the marriage and that she still loved Kilik; [[spoiler:later it was truthfuly averted with the japanese official artbook, which revealed Xiba as being their son, so by proxy Kilik and Xianghua had upgraded their relationship, even for a bried moment]].
** ''[=SoulCalibur=] V'' may have done this to the Nightmare/Tira pairing. [[spoiler:Tira views Nightmare as having become a 'coward' since acquiring a new host and now plots to replace him with Pyrrha as Soul Edge's host.]]
* ShipTease: Someone on the team noticed that the fans ''really'' dug on [[FanPreferredCouple LinkxTalim.]] So much so that in ''IV'', Talim's joke weapon is a pair of [[TheLegendOfZelda ocarinas.]]
* ShockwaveStomp: Night Terror when he stabs the ground. A few other characters have ground stabbing moves that make one, and Xianghua has an actual stomp.
* ShooTheDog: Kilik tries several times to keep Xianghua from following him, because he doesn't plan for his quest to end well. This is also the case for Hwang in ''Soul Edge'' and the first Calibur, who keeps sending Seong Mi-Na home when she follows him out.
* ShoutOut: Gameplay-wise, most of the new additions and systems in ''Soul Calibur V'' come from Daishi Odashima being a fan of ''[[VideoGame/StreetFighterIII Street Fighter 3: 3rd Strike]]''.
** The ''Just Guard'' system, however, is more or less the ''Just Defend'' system from ''[[FatalFury Garou: Mark of the Wolves]]''.
*** The whole TimeSkip setting of ''V'' seems to be a ShoutOut to both games.
** Several characters in ''SCII'' have costumes that reference characters from other video games:
*** Mitsurugi's 2P costume makes him strongly resemble [[SamuraiShodown Haohmaru]].
*** Sophitia's bonus costume is a shout-out to [[TheTowerOfDruaga Princess Ki]].
*** Cassandra's bonus costume is a shout-out to the eponymous heroine of yet another Namco game, ''The Legend of Valkyrie''.
*** Voldo's bonus costume looks a lot like an {{alien}}.
*** Ivy's bonus costume is a shout-out to [[{{Tekken}} Anna Williams]].
*** Raphael's ''SCIV'' 1P costume resembles [[{{Castlevania}} Alucard]].
** Iska in Legends mentions learning/using alchemy in some of the dialouge sequences; he's even [[HeyItsThatVoice voiced by]] [[FullMetalAlchemist Edward Elric]].
** In ''SCV'', there's a Quick Battle opponent named Diego Umeharez, as in Daigo Umehara.
*** More specifically, it's the screen name used by a Daigo impersonator.
* SkillGateCharacter: For the most part, averted; a number of the easy-to-learn characters like Talim, Kilik, and Mitsurugi are so deadly because they're even ''worse'' to fight against when mastered. Those that don't consider [[TheScrappy Necrid]] completely broken argue he falls more into this category, since the majority of people play him for his stupidly cheap spam attacks without regard for how poorly this fares against players that know what they're doing.
* SNKBoss: Night Terror, Algol, The Apprentice in Arcade Mode.
* SoulCuttingBlade: The Soul Edge.
* SpellMyNameWithAnS: Seung Mina, and Yunsung? You mean Seong Mi-Na and Yun-Seong, right? Of course you do.
* SplitPersonality: Tira in ''IV'' switches between [[SlasherSmile Slasher Smiling]] psycho to [[KubrickStare Kubrick Staring]] psycho when her health is half-depleted (or by using Gestalt Madness -A + K-), as a side-effect of prolonged exposure to SoulEdge.
** She was also a lot like Harley Quinn in her first appearance, except oddly, switching between grinning and not at random.
** Also, oddly enough, Soul Calibur is like a split personality of Soul Edge, since it was created from Soul Edge -- one's a KnightTemplar and one is TheHeartless.
* StoryBreadcrumbs: Single-player modes do spill some of the story, but it's hard to separate the canon from the "we needed a few more scenarios for Character A, so we put him in Character B's role" scenarios, and almost every character's ending contradicts the bulk of the cast's. Practically all of the story information comes from [[AllThereInTheManual story, weapon, and stage profiles and the official site]], and those still require some context work to piece together.
* TheStarscream: Astaroth, in ''[=SoulCalibur=] IV'', as detailed in his Story Mode profile. This started as far back as the first Calibur game, where he joined Nightmare to help him restore the sword just so he could claim it in perfect shape for his true master.
* SteamPunk: Most specifically "Clock Punk." Clockwork cogs are theme in many arenas. The character Yoshimitsu has a clockwork cybernetic arm, while the character Ashlotte in ''[=SoulCalibur=] IV'' is a clockwork robot.
* {{Stripperiffic}}: Women wear everything from skirts that flip up at the slightest provocation, to battle thongs, to ornate dental floss, with heels being standard. Men tend to go shirtless but are otherwise adequately dressed.
* SuddenSequelHeelSyndrome: This happens to Sophitia Alexandra in ''[=SoulCalibur=] IV'', where she's made to defend Soul Edge in order to save her daughter's life.
* SurroundedByIdiots: Hilde (and you) in ''Broken Destiny''.
* TakeThat: Dampierre's reactions to Sophitia's married status in The Gauntlet mode of ''Broken Destiny'' could be seen as this to those who refuse to accept that she has a husband.
* TheyChangedItNowItSucks: In-universe: Tira's reaction in ''V'' to the new Nightmare being a manipulative warmonger instead of the sociopath OneManArmy it previously was.
* ThongOfShielding: Several of Ivy's costumes.
* TimeSkip: A major feature of ''[=SoulCalibur=] V'''s story, which is 17 years forward of the events of the last canon installment.
* TitleScream: A random character or the announcer will do this.
* [[WritingAroundTrademarks Titling Around Trademarks]]: The reason ''Soul Edge'' was renamed ''Soul Blade'' -- and the reason the series eventually became ''Soul Calibur'' -- was Tim Langdell's questionable (and now invalidated) trademark on the word "Edge" in relation to video games. After the trademark was invalidated, ''Soul Calibur V's'' director wanted to rename the game to ''Soul Edge 2''; Namco executives wouldn't let him.
* TogetherInDeath: Kilik is determined to destroy Soul Edge even if it costs him his life. Xianghua makes it clear that if he succeeds, he won't be alone.
* TookALevelInJerkass: Taki becomes a ''bitch'' between ''[=SoulCalibur=] III'' and ''IV''. Her treatment of Ivy and Siegfried, who have both become TheAtoner by this point, is particularly grating.
-->[[KickTheDog "You're your father's daughter after all."]]
** Though worth noting, Taki has no reason to know that they become atoners. Ivy and Taki especially have a history of not getting along very well.
* [[{{Irony}} Tragic Irony]]: Siegfried frees himself from the control of Soul Edge, cleansing himself of his sins. Then he takes Soul Calibur, believing it to be a holy weapon of pure good to counter Soul Edge's evil. Unbeknownst to him, Soul Calibur is a KnightTemplar that intends not only to freeze him and Nightmare into crystal, but the rest of the world as well, and Siegfried's adamant claim "never again will I bend to anyone's will" has been subverted without him realizing it.
* UnderwearOfPower: Though none of the main characters use this (even Ivy just wears a very, very skimpy leotard), this can be done in character creation, and is a must in [=SoulCalibur=] 4, where clothing damage often reverts characters to their underwear anyway.
* UnexpectedGameplayChange: ''The Gauntlet'', ''Broken Destiny'''s campaign mode, is pretty much a memory/timing puzzle, except with fighting. It's strangely addicting.
* UnusualEars: ''[=SoulCalibur=] IV'' bonus characters Kamikirimusi and Scheherazade.
* VariableLengthChain
* VirtualPaperDoll
* WalkingTheEarth: Every characters travels all over Europe and Asia in search of the Soul Edge for their personal reasons.
* WhatCouldHaveBeen: [[DevilMayCry Dante]] was supposed to be a guest fighter in ''[=SoulCalibur=] 3''.
* WellIntentionedExtremist: Raphael Sorel's life was saved by a little girl named Amy. After they appear to get [[OurVampiresAreDifferent vampiric symptoms]], he attempts to change the world by spreading it since it doesn't accept them, as opposed to attempting to cure themselves.
** Zasalamel can be seen as this in ''IV'', since in order to attain his goal of "leading humanity into a bright future", he's more than willing to torture, murder, or destroy the life of anyone, either for obstructing him or because it helps move his plan along.
** The Soul Calibur itself is a holy weapon created by Algol to keep the evil Soul Edge sword in check. However, the sentience granted to the Soul Calibur has allowed it to come to the conclusion that the world is full of chaos and violence and the only way to save humanity from itself is to crystallize the world and all its inhabitants.
* WhoWantsToLiveForever: The whole reason why Zasalamel brings the two swords together -- he's tired of living forever. Reversed in ''[=SoulCalibur=] IV'', when Zasalamel decides he does want to live forever after seeing humanity's future, which apparently is so awesome that he also performs a HeelFaceTurn. He's still a {{Jerkass}}, however. There's a odd kind of MoralDissonance to his speeches on human potential versus his HeroicSociopath comments before fights. He also has a tendency to make people fight those who were important to them [[spoiler:before they died, like Siegfried's father Friederich, Kilik's adoptive sister Xianglian, and Algol's son, THEN fight completely-dead versions of them]].
* WeaponOfChoice: Every character has his/her own trademark weapon:
** AnAxeToGrind: Astaroth, Rock (formerly), Lizardman, Ashlotte, {{Spawn}}
** {{BFS}}: Siegfried, Nightmare, Strife.
** BladeOnAStick: Seong Mi-na, Hilde, Girardot.
** CarryABigStick: Rock.
** DropTheHammer: None as a main, but Astaroth and Rock have a few hammers in their arsenal.
** DualTonfas: Talim.
** DualWielding: [[GodOfWar Kratos.]]
** FightingWithChucks: Li Long, Maxi.
** GoodOldFisticuffs: [[{{Tekken}} Heihachi and anyone with the Soul of Devil Jin.]]
** HotChickWithASword: Sophitia, Xianghua, Cassandra, Hilde, Abelia, Pyrrha. Patroklos is a male example. To some extent, [[TheLegendOfZelda Link]] as well.
** KatanasAreJustBetter: Mitsurugi, Yoshimitsu, Arthur.
** KnifeNut: Taki, Chester.
** LaserBlade: Darth Vader, Yoda and The Apprentice [[StarWars (for obvious reasons)]].
** MultiMeleeMaster: Edgemaster, Olcadan (both are proficient with ''any'' weapon) and [[VideoGame/AssassinsCreedBrotherhood Ezio]].
** ParasolOfPain: Setsuka.
** RingsOfDeath: Tira.
** RoyalRapier: Raphael, Amy, Scheherezada.
** SimpleStaff: Kilik, Hualin (also a MorphWeapon).
** SinisterScythe: Zasalamel.
** SwordAndGun: Cervantes (A gun-slash-sword actually).
** WhipSword: Ivy.
* WorldOfHam
* WrestlerInAllOfUs: Astaroth's powerbomb and Nightmare's dropkick.
* YetAnotherStupidDeath: [[SNKBoss If]] you beat the Colossus in ''III'', do '''not''' just stand there!
* YinYangBomb: The Soul Embrace (which is what happens when Soul Calibur and Soul Edge merge) in ''[=SoulCalibur=] III'' and ''IV'', and Kilik's weapon Kali-Yuga which absorbs both good and evil energies.
* YouGoGirl: Seong Mina.
* YouKilledMyFather: Siegfried's original motivation. [[spoiler:Although in this case it's more like [[YouKilledMyFather I Killed My Father.]]]]
** In SCV, Patroklos seeks revenge on the malfested for his mother's death.
----
The alternate universe single player modes, Weapon Master and Chronicles of the Sword, have examples not found in the main games:
* AllThereInTheManual: The Japanese website gives (gave) a good deal of backstory for Chronicles of the Sword.
* BonusBoss: Weapon Master has a bonus chapter gained by fighting enough battles to reach the rank of Edgemaster, with 4 very difficult opponents to fight. Chronicles of The Sword has the main universe characters appear at a rate of 1-3 a chapter, and do not require the player to fight them to finish the level.
* BossDissonance: The Chronicles of The Sword mode in ''[=SoulCalibur=] III'' is a Kirby Type.
* DefeatMeansFriendship: How do you get your old friends back from [[spoiler:Soul Edge induced mind control]] post time skip in Chronicles of the Sword? [[MagicalGirlLyricalNanoha Befriend]] [[MemeticMutation them]].
** Also, there are 2 sets of 2 possible party members, the one who you beat first joins you. The other waits for NewGamePlus.
* GaidenGame: Neither Weapon Master or Chronicles of the Sword take place in the same world (seeing as how the Soul Series take place on an alternate Earth), but share a few similarities (the presence of Soul Edge and Soul Calibur, for example)
* GenreShift: The "Chronicles of the Sword" sub-game in ''[=SC3=]'' mashed strategy and fighting together.
** That is, unless you're strong enough to crush multiple enemies outright. There is perhaps one chronicle in which strategy is needed: a rescue mission. It's often impossible to do anything else in some levels, as the enemies favor rushing you (while it ''is'' their best option, as this forces you to face everyone at once and you can't recover between them, it tends to make the rest of the map fairly boring).
* GiantSpaceFleaFromNowhere: In ''Chronicles of the Sword'', on the second-to-last level, the stronghold right next to your main stronghold is guarded by a '''level 99 BossInMookClothing''' named Ende. He is never referenced prior to this, is the first enemy to have a purple health meter (the highest [=CotS=] goes), and has exactly one line of dialog when you bring his stronghold down, apparently referencing the fact that he is just a mercenary. He also has a unique weapon for the Katana discipline of CharacterCustomization, the Kokuenra. Beating him allows you to use it as well... too bad his stronghold has the habit of slowing your falls, allowing him to juggle you mercilessly with his sword.
* GodSaveUsFromTheQueen: Aurelia is the final boss of the first half of ''Chronicles of the Sword'', has tried to TakeOverTheWorld, and wields "BlackWidow".
* HeroicMime: In both modes, your character will think to themselves between chapters, but never actually say anything.
* InstantWinCondition: Averted in ''Chronicles of the Sword'', a ring-out will only take a large chunk of a combatant's HP.
** Played straight on one occasion. There is one stronghold in the game where falling to the floor means instant death. And your opponent is a level 60 character. Thank your lucky stars that he isn't immune to the stage's effect, unlike other occasions in the game.
* LethalJokeCharacter: The Dancer class in ''Chronicles of the Sword'' fights with a pair of tambourines as its first weapon. Did we mention the most basic attack from these tambourines utterly breaks the AI? Or that their fast attack rate is paired with a weapon that regenerates health with every swing? Swordmaster using tambourines is better because of much higher stats, but impossible to unlikely to use for a first playthough.
* LouisCypher: Wonder what Demuth Beel Zebus Halteese could mean...
* ManipulativeBastard: Chester [[spoiler:has three out of the four kingdoms under his strings]] around the end of the first half, part of his EvilPlan to [[spoiler:become king himself]].
* MyCountryRightOrWrong: [[spoiler:Abelia]] in Chronicles of the Sword. You befriend this out of her.
* NewGamePlus: Chronicles of the Sword; either this or a fresh game is required to get all of the create a character parts (as at least one part will be unlocked by picking one OptionalPartyMember over the other).
** Weapon Master Mode has [[PlayableEpilogue special chapters]] unlocked after defeating the BigBad, which offered a SideQuest set after the plot's end.
* NominalImportance: Averted in ''Chronicles of the Sword''; most named characters are merely elite mooks (opposed to the {{Red Shirt}}s who are named for their affiliation).
* PlayerMooks: An option for ''Chronicles of the Sword'' over preset characters. They are stupidly broken due to the ability to put them into a strong class and use any "reliable" weapon of your choice, plus you don't lose them during the TimeSkip.
* PuttingTheBandBackTogether: You do this [[MagicalGirlLyricalNanoha Nanoha]] [[DefeatMeansFriendship style]] post-timeskip in Chronicles of the Sword (see above).
** Kilik, Xianghua, and Maxi form an ass-kicking trio in the first Soul Calibur, but they're all separated by the end of that game. Xianghua and Kilik have found each other and split apart again since then, but Maxi lost his memory and has rebuked the offer to join them several times.
* QuirkyMinibossSquad: Luna and her subordinates in ''Chronicles of the Sword'' (named "The Klessirpemdo"). Their quirks only go as far as elemental theming due to a lack of development.
** AmazonBrigade: All 5 of them are women.
** DegradedBoss: For a single chapter, all 5 are fought at once, rather then the 4 minibosses and 1 boss fashion they use in their other appearances. They are back to normal in a few chapters.
** {{Nakama}}
* RecoveryAttack: generally averted, but present with Heihachi's guest appearance, since he comes from a series that ''does'' have a recovery attack.
* RiskStyleMap: Weapon Master.
* TheRival: Abelia in ''Chronicles of the Sword''.
* RivalTurnedEvil: Quite a few in Weapon Master. Justified; they were seeking Soul Edge, a sword that has a tendency to turn people evil.
* SceneryPorn: ''Chronicles of the Sword'''s levels are rather well detailed.
* SideQuest: A few optional chapters in Weapon Master.
* LuckBasedMission:
** Merope Monastery's bonus mission in in ''Weapon Master'' is dependent entirely on if the AI moves the right way, as you have ~15 seconds to defeat each of the 6 foes, only truly possible with a ring out while over 3/4 of the stage is wall.
** In chapter 8 of ''Chronicles of the Sword'', you have to rescue at least 3 of 5 allied units on the field from the enemies. Outside of a NewGamePlus (where you can get through fortresses much quicker with your higher strength units), the AI decides if you can rescue the three named ones that will join you as well as your ability to rescue the two generic ones for bonus points, as if they attack any unit with more than one of theirs, they are going to die.
* OneManArmy: ''Chronicles of the Sword''. It's even lampshaded, with generic soldiers thinking your character is a War God(ess).
* TheGreatestStoryNeverTold: The end of Weapon Master tells you that whatever your choice was when confronted with Soul Edge, it was never put into history. Indeed, the BigBad of Weapon Master is said to have only been a footnote in the Soul Edge's long and colored history, and you're completely forgotten.
* ThisLooksLikeAJobForAquaman: Link, for a few of the Weapon Master levels due to his proficiency with ringouts (and for 1 stage, ability to get a high number of hits) he excels, even though he is placed on the bottom of the tier list. ([[DemotedToExtra That happens to]] [[SuperSmashBros him a lot.]])
** Obviously, these stages aren't as easily gotten around in the Xbox and PS2 versions.
* TimeSkip: Chronicles of the Sword
* TrainingBoss: The first level of Weapon Master. The first two chapters of ''Chronicles of The Sword''.
* TwinkleToesSamurai: Taki has a couple moves like this.
* WakeUpCallBoss: Luna's first appearance in in ''Chronicles of the Sword'' (chapter 3). Before this chapter, the AI is passive and fairly weak. Now they will rush you on multiple fronts with overleveled troops ''and'' there is a "main universe" character on the field for the first time (They are level 60 when you are 5 at best, learn to avoid them).
** Beating them all makes you feel bad-ass. But, if you have enough skill, then you can overcome the level gap and defeat all of them, even without the use of AI breakers, because despite being competent, they don't use any of the A.I. special tactics too much, meaning that they are as defeatable as an average human player.
* WarGod: One chapter of ''Chronicles of the Sword'' has your character note they overheard someone call them this once.
* WeaponsKitchenSink: Chronicles of the Sword has Katana wielders fighting side by side with people who wield claymores, chinese swords, rapiers, and nunchucks.
* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: The story mode for ''Soulcalibur V'' focuses, for the first time, on the actions and destinies of only a few characters. As a result, many characters never have their reasons for being in the game stated and some, like Zasalamel and Cassandra (who's the aunt of both the main characters no less), have disappeared entirely without explanation.
* WorthyOpponent: Luna says you are this during the first fight with her, and her dialog throughout the rest of the game supports it.
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