History YMMV / SoulcaliburVI

* DracoInLeatherPants: Raphael is given an AdaptationalHeroism treatment where he has quite a few PetTheDog moments, both with Amy and for others, and can be quite affable to those who are on his side (such as the instructor), and although he regained his wealth via dark pretenses, the man he got it from [[KickTheSonOfABitch had it coming]]. That said, a lot of people might forget that Raphael is still at large a villain -- he was described as the cold and cruel head of the Sorel family, likely stabbed many in the back to get his family to the top, and [[PayEvilUntoEvil was only betrayed by people with the same intentions as him]]. There's also the fact that outside of his PetTheDog moments and UndyingLoyalty to Amy, he still views everyone else as beneath him and expendable. Oh, and it only gets worse from there, considering his title is "[[{{Foreshadowing}} Prelude to Madness]]", which means trying to TakeOverTheWorld with Soul Edge for Amy's sake.

** Azwel having an AdaptationOriginConnection to Amy becoming Viola. A theory is that Viola isn't actually Amy in this timeline, but rather she is Amy's ''[[CloningBlues clone]]''. The reasons being that Azwel knows both alchemy and sorcery, his lines referring to Amy could easily be applied to a clone, and beforehand Azwel not only didn't exist, but since ''V''[='=]s TimeSkip was intended by Odashima to be the status quo, he would've been nigh-impossible to introduce. That, and it would allow Viola to be rebooted in the new timeline without replacing Amy or doing a TimeSkip -- Viola being easily the most popular of ''V'''s newcomers.

** Talim is as adorable as ever, especially due to [[{{Keigo}} her politeness]] and young age.

* [[TierInducedScrappy/SoulcaliburVI Tier-Induced Scrappy]]

** Initially a BreakoutCharacter to end all {{Breakout Character}}s in fighting games, Ivy's standing among the fandom became incredibly divisive here largely thanks to her TierInducedScrappy status and the rise of arrogant, toxic attitudes among more vocal members of her playebase. Even those who don't hate her entirely for gameplay reasons were not amused by her actions in the story (even though ''VI'' is predominantly a retelling of the period where Ivy was an out-and-out villain and shows Ivy [[CharacterDevelopment making strides]] towards her more familiar AntiHero characterization). Of course, older fans still enjoy her status as a clear villain ([[TimeyWimeyBall at this point in time]]) and are more than happy to point out weaknesses in battle to help newer players.

** Because of her status as a [[TierInducedScrappy bottom-tier character]] this time around, everyone loves to exaggerate how useless Tira is.

** Seong Mi-na had always been fairly popular as a character (even with the longstanding misconception about her "clone" status), [[TierInducedScrappy but was almost never used due to being perpetually low-tier]]. ''VI'' goes out of its way to give her some much needed buffs and make her a viable pick. Unfortunately, as the metagame developed, it became apparent that Project Soul might've done ''[[GoneHorriblyRight too]]'' [[GoneHorriblyRight well]] a job at addressing Mi-na's weaknesses, [[TierInducedScrappy/SoulcaliburVI ironically landing her in "too high-tier" territory]].

** Ivy's Vile Condemnation, performed with down or down-forward A+G (or 2A+G and 3A+G), is a brand new move introduced in this game where she stabs her [[WhipSword sword]] into the ground and [[InstantRunes summons a]] [[ThinkingUpPortals glyph]] to catch the opponent with. If successful, she suspends the opponent in midair by her sword before thrusting it at them. Under normal circumstances, this is a difficult move to react to, dealing solid damage and posing good Ring Out potential. This move is one of many reasons why Ivy is considered [[TierInducedScrappy an uphill battle]], as it makes her already terrifying long-range combat all the scarier by providing her a simple yet potent mix-up from a distance.

** Seong Mi-na's Lightning Fang, done with 1B (down-backwards B) is a much-hated move and is one of many reasons a good Mi-na player is [[TierInducedScrappy fairly unpopular to fight against]]. On its own, it looks like just another low-hitting move. However, it hits hard, especially with the sweet-spot activated, has decent tracking for a vertical, comes out fast for how slow she generally is in comparison, and has a solid ring-out potential. Whenever Mi-na goes into [[SuperMode Soul Charge]], however, is when this attack becomes a true example, as the attack not only gets a huge damage boost, it now becomes a break attack, making well-timed Guard Impacts and Reversal Edges, two of the best things that could counter it, worthless.

* TierInducedScrappy: [[TierInducedScrappy/SoulcaliburVI Has its own page here.]]

** Nightmare, as always. He's a fearsome knight wielding a powerful, demonic zweihander [[OneHandedZweihander singlehandedly]], a brings about death to his victims while speaking with a [[VoiceOfTheLegion enhanced]] [[BadassBaritone baritone]].

* SugarWiki/HeReallyCanAct: While never outright ''panned'', Mitch Urban as Yoshimitsu (who has portrayed the character all the way since ''III'' in 2005) had been derided by some for his [[LargeHam melodramatic]], high-pitched YeOldeButcheredeEnglishe portrayal that has even garnered comparisons to WesternAnimation/MickeyMouse. Here, while he does embody much of the NarmCharm in combat, his portrayal in Soul Chronicle, where he almost loses himself to the ways of evil, [[CerebusSyndrome is a surprisingly dark story for a normally lighthearted character]]. His performance in said story, where Urban gets to demonstrate the ''other'' side of the character through his venomous, twisted BadassBaritone, sounds outright ''creepy''. Players are likely to be as creeped out by his presence as the other characters in the story. It shows that Urban can fully capture the wide range of a character, if said character allows it.

* DracoInLeatherPants:
** Raphael is given an AdaptationalHeroism treatment where he has quite a few PetTheDog moments, both with Amy and for others, and can be quite affable to those who are on his side (such as the instructor), and although he regained his wealth via dark pretenses, the man he got it from [[KickTheSonOfABitch had it coming]]. That said, a lot of people might forget that Raphael is still at large a villain -- he was described as the cold and cruel head of the Sorel family, likely stabbed many in the back to get his family to the top, and [[PayEvilUntoEvil was only betrayed by people with the same intentions as him]]. There's also the fact that outside of his PetTheDog moments and UndyingLoyalty to Amy, he still views everyone else as beneath him and expendable. Oh, and it only gets worse from there, considering his title is "[[{{Foreshadowing}} Prelude to Madness]]", which means trying to TakeOverTheWorld with Soul Edge for Amy's sake.
** Though it was rare to see her get this treatment in the original continuity, Project Soul, "continuing" off from ''V'' in a sense, seems to be adamant on making sure Tira ''[[AvertedTrope isn't]]'' labeled as such, likely because there were enough sympathetic aspects in her life's story (at least from her childhood up to ''IV'') that she could be seen as a JerkassWoobie. In contrast to Raphael, Tira is reinterpreted as [[AdaptationalVillainy a far more morally corrupt character than she was before]], namely by having her be so mentally unstable she's already developed her SplitPersonality; turning the traumatic DuelToTheDeath against [[ParentalSubstitute her Mother Bird]] she was forced to partake in into something Tira willingly and ''eagerly'' did (along with killing numerous other assassins she grew up alongside); showing Tira to be utterly gleeful when [[BloodbathVillainOrigin she kills her foster family in a fit of anger]] (instead of being [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone implicitly remorseful]] to some degree); and generally [[CharacterExaggeration ramping up]] her cruelty, sadism, and bloodthirsty nature.

** Sophitia's Cutlass Europa (4AAA, backwards triple A) can be a headache for newer players; the string does HLM (High, Low, Middle) damage, which means all three hitzones are covered by this attack. Being able to predict and guard low is a harder task for said newbies, not helping is that even if they catch on, the last hit will bypass the lower guard due to being middle damage. This is averted in higher level gameplay however, where many Sophitia pros consider it one of her weakest moves.

** [[DownplayedTrope While the reaction isn't all that loud or negative]], there remains a moderate amount of displeasure with how limited the selection of stages in ''VI'' currently is, not just in quantity but also in variety. For the many, ''many'' complaints lobbied at ''V'', the wide and diverse array of arenas was not one of those grievances; the game boasted a whopping 27 stages, the highest total in the series to date [[labelnote:(By comparison...)]]''Soul Edge'': 13 stages; ''Soulcalibur'': 19 stages; ''Soulcalibur II'': 16 stages; ''Soulcalibur III'': 25 stages; ''Soulcalibur IV'': 21 stages; ''Soulcalibur: Broken Destiny'': 18 stages[[/labelnote]], and many of them managed to feel distinct from one another in spite of several stages having some sort of variant or parallel elsewhere. In addition to completely open venues (some of which were deliberate throwbacks to the simpler arenas found in ''Soul Edge'', ''Soulcalibur'', and--to a slight degree--''Soulcalibur II''), battlegrounds with low/breakable walls, walled/caged stages that could be expanded if a character was slammed into a partition and knocked it down, and completely enclosed areas, ''V'' introduced stages with infinite boundaries in the vein of ''VideoGame/{{Tekken}}''. Beyond these and a few interesting spins on the other templates, several stages were multi-tiered, either [[FreeFloorFighting sending fighters to a new area after a Ring Out]] or undergoing some sort of change in scenery when one combatant was at match point. In one case (Utopia of the Blessed), the stage even "reverts" from an infinite stage to a much smaller one with Ring Out opportunities on all sides of the arena--a novelty among the 3D fighting market. While ''VI'' otherwise sticks to the tried-and-true stage design found in the post-''Calibur'' entries, its eschewing of the innovations brought in by ''V'' coupled with the low number of stages by default (a meager '''11''') is seen, ironically enough, as something of a misstep. Season 2, likely as a response to these complaints, slowly began to add more stages alongside the DLC characters, though the structure of said stages themselves still largely fall in line with the pre-''V'' template.

** Astaroth's vertical Reversal Edge attack becomes this in a map where there are little to no walls. The reason? It immediately becomes a one-hit KO attack since he swings you off the map, making any progress to beat him [[ShaggyDogStory all for nothing]]. [[FunnyAneurysmMoment Not so funny for the player on the receiving end...]]

* CompleteMonster: [[NotSoWellIntentionedExtremist Azwel]], the [[BigBad main villain]] of the "Libra of Soul" story, was formerly a high-ranking member of the Aval Organisation. While a member, [[EvilutionaryBiologist Azwel]] performed terrible experiments that turned people violent and murderous, and at one point during his tenure, Azwel forced a group of ruffians to fight to the death and questioned the survivor, relishing the man's guilt, anguish and conflicting emotions. Eventually leaving Aval, Azwel stole a fragment of both Soul Calibur and Soul Edge and formed the Qualifiers, naming himself the [[DarkMessiah Leader of Humanity]]. Azwel continued his experiments while searching for Astral Fissures to absorb and strengthen his fragments and create full duplicates of the two swords. His final goal was to use the swords to sacrifice [[PlayerCharacter The Conduit]] and create an "Ultimate Seed" that would wipe out much of humanity while the survivors would ascend with himself in charge. Driven by his fanatical "love" of humanity, Azwel was a madman who saw people as playthings that exist for his amusement.

* AuthorsSavingThrow: AKA the entire point of this reboot.
** After ''[[VideoGame/SoulcaliburV V]]'''s infamous SoftReboot TimeSkip that replaced fan-favorite characters with less-than-stellarly received newcomers, ''VI'' dials things back to the original setting with the old favorites back starting with Sophitia, just as many had wanted from Day 1.
** Speaking of Sophitia, having her be one of the first characters revealed alongside Mitsurugi may have been an attempt to repair the damage caused by the last game. ''V'' was where she was cut from the roster for the first time in series history, replaced by [[TheScrappy the most hated character in the series]] both gameplay- and narrative-wise (but ''especially'' narrative-wise), and ultimately KilledOffscreen to provide the aforementioned DesignatedHero Patroklos something to {{angst}} about. To say the least, this was considered an extreme mistreatment of one of the most beloved icons of ''Soulcalibur'', so Sophitia being front and center for ''VI'' was welcomed with open arms.
*** Additionally, after both Taki and Talim topped the popularity poll following their absence in ''V'' (Talim [[WhatHappenedToTheMouse disappearing without any explanation]], Taki getting replaced with [[ReplacementScrappy Natsu]]), ''VI'' made sure that they're a part of the roster and have a role to play in the story as well (even if Talim's role is ultimately minor due to her story taking place right before the events of her ''Soulcalibur II'' debut).
** The gameplay changes in ''V'' were [[BrokenBase controversial]] for taking its cues from ''Franchise/StreetFighter'', on top of "trimming" movelists and making Guard Impact require a meter. Here, while {{Limit Break}}s do return, it's also clear that the ''Street Fighter'' influence isn't nearly as prominent, while the cut moves return and GI no longer needs a meter to pull off, just like the pre-''V'' installments. One particular factor that fans have universally praised is the movement speed, which is much faster than any previous game in the series and has been noted as feeling more fluid and rewarding compared to ''V''.
** On top of the [[ReplacementScrappy Replacement Scrappies]], ''V'' got a lot of crap for overtly trying to be YoungerAndHipper by filling what felt like half the roster with teenagers, and even characters that were technically adults like Pyrrha still behaved like children. In the originals, the cast were almost all adults with experience and the young fighters were treated as special exceptions, so ''V'' trying to cram in a new generation wasn't something many appreciated. Here, much of the roster consists of adults who behave as such just like the old games, barring [[GenkiGirl Xianghua]], [[TokenMiniMoe Talim]], [[IceQueen Amy]], and [[TomboyPrincess Hilde]] of course--and even so, with the exception of Xianghua, all of them are remarkably mature for their age.
** Going further, there was a general sense that {{anime}} became an all-too-prominent influence with the new cast of ''V'' drawing heavily from anime appearance tropes and archetypes, even having some WrongContextMagic abilities in the case of Z.W.E.I. and Viola. This was regarded as an unwelcome departure from the styles of the previous games, which drew from history and fantasy more than anime. For ''VI'', they've largely brought back this feel alongside the old cast, as the styles are more of a western-eastern mix and it feels more like HighFantasy mixed with HistoricalFiction and MagicRealism rather than {{Shonen}}. Granted, Okubo and the team did indulge themselves ''once'' with the anime-type character with newcomer Grøh, who does embody much of the shonen-like characteristics you would find in various anime. But since he's the ''only'' character of this kind this time around, fans are more willing to tolerate it, especially since it helps make him more unique from the others in this sense. Furthermore, the story itself (specifically Libra of Soul) offers an explanation for some of the stylistic choices picked for Grøh's design. [[labelnote:In short...]]The Aval Organization is [[MultinationalTeam a fairly multiethnic organization]] that appears to recruit and accept members from various corners of the globe, with Grøh's attire being [[NonuniformUniform a variant]] of the standard Aval combat garb.[[/labelnote]]
** One of the biggest criticisms of ''V'' among many others was just how bare bones it was in terms of content (the fact that [[ChristmasRushed it was rushed]] was a huge factor). There wasn't much to do besides fights, other than take part in a [[PlayTheGameSkipTheStory widely hated storyline]] or use the Creation feature (the latter being widely seen as the best part of the game). For ''VI'', Okubo stressed that the game will be absolutely filled to the brim with content to keep players busy. On top of online play and Creation making a return, there's a more in-depth story focusing on characters that are actually liked (i.e. everyone that got dropped by the Story Mode of ''V'') and retells an iconic game, and that mode also has branching paths to explore and visit further lore. On top of that, there's a ''second'' story mode that's described as a "different" way to play the game. Okubo also stated that this was just the tip of the iceberg, and that ''VI'' will have the most content out of ''any'' game to date. Though, some were a little skeptical on that statement given just how jampacked ''III'' was and paid for it by having horribly unbalanced gameplay (which wasn't corrected until ''[[UpdatedRerelease Arcade Edition]]''), while later games focused on gameplay at the expense of content.
** The story in ''V'' in general was lambasted for being too bleak to enjoy, as it was very hard to get invested in the world when the protagonist was so hateable, the characters besides him and his sister were OutOfFocus, and the potential for good stories were being shafted by newcomers no one asked for. Even those willing to put up with said newcomers were left disappointed that none of the possibly interesting plot threads alluded to in pre-release materials were followed up on, and later revelations that three-fourths of ''V''[='s=] story had be left on the cutting room floor due to ExecutiveMeddling did not help matters. In the Soul Chronicle of this game, not only is there a more even dispersal of story and the characters focused on are actually liked, but the characters are written with ''far'' more depth than compared to ''V'', while using the established lore to better flesh out the world itself, and averting the trope altogether.
** Much like, ironically, ''IV'', this game offers absolutely no [[DittoFighter mimic characters]] at all, not even Edge Master, who was the series' original mimic in the first ''Calibur'' yet only appears as an NPC in the Story Mode of ''VI''. This is after ''V'' provided the most blatant DittoFighter oversaturation with 3 such characters (Edge Master, Kilik, Elysium), which was considered a damning point in ''V'''s roster choice.
** 2B and Haohmaru both being as customizable as the rest of the main cast seems to be a response to how fans were disappointed with the lack of customizability with Geralt (and before him, the ''Franchise/StarWars'' characters in ''IV'' and [[Franchise/AssassinsCreed Ezio]] in ''V'').
** Not only is this a ContinuityReboot, but the game [[spoiler:uses ArcWelding to establish the new timeline itself as being a plot point. Zasalamel and Cassandra are given vital information from the old timeline courtesy of their original incarnations. This in turn sets the stage for a [[ForWantOfANail massive divergence from previous events]] with the very heavy implication that ''V'' will be [[CanonDiscontinuity written out of canon completely]]. For those worried that the series would return to the ''V'' era, the narrative makes it clear that ''V'' is a BadFuture that the world needs to be ''saved from''. It also means that Sophitia most likely [[SparedByTheAdaptation won't be dying this time around]].]]
** Despite being unveiled after Haohmaru, Hilde--the TokenWholesome of the ''VideoGame/SoulSeries''--is the first addition to the second wave of DLC. Though she ''is'' one of the more popular additions from the post-''Soulcalibur II'' era and was one of a handful of veterans to survive the cast shakeup seen in ''V'', one has to wonder if the release order for S2's DLC was decided upon so as to mitigate the complaints from certain sectors of the fanbase about ''VI'' taking the HotterAndSexier route with its depiction of the female combatants.

* AcceptableTargets: People who [[https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=soul+calibur+6+inferno+hack hack]] [[SNKBoss Inferno]] into [[https://www.reddit.com/r/SoulCalibur/search?q=inferno&restrict_sr=1 online matches]] fall into this trope, pulling double duty for 1.) hacking in the first place and 2.) [[CheatersNeverProsper being almost invariably terrible at the game despite having an utterly unbalanced move set]] by virtue of having no knowledge of playing Nightmare (or, in some cases, fighting games in general). One could probably make a drinking game out of Point 2 solely based on how many rounds [[EpicFail an Inferno player loses via]] [[FlawlessVictory a Perfect]].

** Because of his [[NonStandardCharacterDesign overly anime design]] that clashes with the feel of the rest of the game, his personality and demeanor being very brooding and edgy, him often having [[BornUnlucky bad luck]] that gets him into trouble, and his weapon looking more like something you'd see in a [[EasternRPG JRPG]] rather than a fighting game, jokes at the expense of Grøh are common. [[spoiler:The fact that he ends up dying during the climax of Libra of Soul ([[MultipleEndings if your soul is aligned with the darkness instead of the light]]) doesn't exactly help, though the circumstances leading to [[MercyKill that event]] are often looked upon solemnly by players.]]

[[folder:#-C]]
* EightPointEight: Despite being praised from just about every outlet as a true comeback for the series, Adam Rorke of Fandom rated ''VI'' a 3/5 for very petty/minor reasons like "the game feels too familiar", "not enough has been changed", "the story is lacking", "the tutorial is not good enough", and "the designs are too sexy" (kind of a hot button topic for a minority of the fandom). This despite just about everyone else noting that the game is an ''improvement'' over ''V'', which had been released almost '''seven years prior''', and in all aspects is a return to form that proves the series isn't dead. Fans who saw this were '''not''' pleased.

** Unusual to a character, Maxi's Critical Edge does not activate when it hits too far away.

** If Raphael is matched against Amy in a battle, his usually [[TrashTalk haughty and caustic battle dialogue]] is all rewritten to be encouraging and complimentary instead; the entire fight is framed as a training session between father and daughter. She's also the only character in the game whose clothes he won't divest after landing a successful Death Throes attack -- he's not a sicko, you know?
** Amy is very vocal of how protective she is of Raphael in this game. When she's in battle, she'll sometimes say phrases like "Don't you dare hurt him."
** If Amy defeats Raphael in a match, she'll ask Raphael for some hot chocolate. Whether she asks in a joking manner or not is debatable, but it's still a very sweet interaction between Amy and Raphael. She also [[WhenSheSmiles gives a little smile during her victory animation, which makes the moment all the more sweeter]].

* UncannyValley:
** [[http://soulcalibur.wikia.com/wiki/File:SC6_Seong_Mi-Na_01.jpg Seong Mi-na's official artwork]] has her eyes [[WideEyesAndShrunkenIrises unnaturally widened]], giving her a bit of a dead stare that makes her look off. Jokes about Mi-na being [[MemeticPsychopath not quite right in the head]] were soon to follow.
** That's nothing compared to how models appear in Libra of Soul. While most people agree that they look okay in gameplay, the text screens make them... off-putting, to say the least.

* CompleteMonster: [[NotSoWellIntentionedExtremist Azwel]], the [[BigBad main villain]] of the "Libra of Soul" story, was formerly a high-ranking member of the Aval Organisation. While a member, [[EvilutionaryBiologist Azwel]] performed terrible experiments that turned people violent and murderous, and at one point during his tenure, Azwel forced a group of ruffians to fight to the death and questioned the survivor, relishing the man's guilt, anguish and conflicting emotions. Eventually leaving Aval, Azwel stole a fragment of both Soul Calibur and Soul Edge and formed the Qualifiers, naming himself the [[DarkMessiah Leader of Humanity]]. Azwel Continued his experiments while searching for Astral Fissures to absorb and strengthen his fragments and create full duplicates of the two swords. His final goal was to use the swords to sacrifice [[PlayerCharacter The Conduit]] and create an "Ultimate Seed" that would wipe out much of humanity while the survivors would ascend with himself in charge. Driven by his fanatical "love" of humanity, Azwel was a madman who saw people as playthings that exist for his amusement.

* CompleteMonster: [[NotSoWellIntentionedExtremist Azwel]], the [[BigBad main villain]] of Libra of Soul, was formerly a high-ranking member of the Aval Organization. [[TokenEvilTeammate While a member]], [[EvilutionaryBiologist Azwel]] performed terrible experiments that turned people violent and murderous, and at one point during his tenure, Azwel forced a group of ruffians to fight to the death and questioned the survivor, relishing the man's guilt, anguish and conflicting emotions. Eventually leaving Aval, Azwel stole a fragment of both Soul Calibur and Soul Edge and formed the Qualifiers, naming himself the [[DarkMessiah Leader of Humanity]]. Azwel continued his experiments while searching for Astral Fissures to absorb and strengthen his fragments and create full duplicates of the two swords. His final goal was to use the swords to sacrifice [[PlayerCharacter the Conduit]] and create an "Ultimate Seed" that would wipe out much of humanity while the survivors would ascend with himself in charge. Driven by his fanatical "love" of humanity, Azwel was a madman who saw people as playthings that exist for his amusement.

** Raphael's new costume includes what is supposed to be SexySpectacles. [[note]]Well, SexySpectacles mixed in with a {{masquerade|Ball}} [[DominoMask mask]].[[/note]] While many agree they look just fine in the artwork, it doesn't fare nearly as well on his in-game model due to it being ported from ''V''. A criticism about the design as a whole is that, while the Raphael in this game is meant to be a depiction of him right before the fall of the Sorel family (and thus it'd make sense for the family head to dress more lavishly, even if CharacterizationMarchesOn may come into play where Raph's showiness and pomposity are concerned), there's too much going on in terms of colors and details similar to Astaroth. This partially stems from an issue Raphael has had to deal with for years, as several fans have felt he underwent an identity crisis following his sudden vampirism-via-Soul Edge infection in ''III'' and tend to prefer [[ModestRoyalty simpler looks]] like his NobleFugitive clothing from ''II'' or his ''Literature/TheThreeMusketeers''-inspired garb from ''V'' compared to more flamboyantly aristocratic looks.

* {{Jossed}}:
** The person that leaked/revealed the game's existence prior to the game's official announcement was told ''VI'' would be heading to the UsefulNotes/NintendoSwitch and skipping the UsefulNotes/XboxOne. When it was announced, the opposite happened. When asked in an interview if a Switch version of ''VI'' would be released, Motohiro Okubo replied "No" only to later state that a Switch version ''could'' be possible only after the initial release if there was interest from the fanbase and the developers.
** The same leaker above claimed that Roronoa Zoro from ''Franchise/OnePiece'' was going to be the guest character for ''Soulcalibur VI''. The third official trailer shows that it's not him, but Geralt of Rivia.
** It was also indicated by several leakers that Seong Mi-na would not be returning in the game, at least not in the base roster, due to this being a reboot and Kilik filling the "rod user" role that could be used as justification for cleaning out the roster of [[MovesetClone "clones"]]. Cue the announcement at Evo in August 2018, where Seong Mi-na was indeed announced for the game ([[DivergentCharacterEvolution and made much more distinct from Kilik to boot]]).
** It was reported that Maxi would be [[AdaptationalSexuality made gay]] this time around and have a lover named "Jack", in an attempt to give the series more representation. In the actual game, Maxi's sexuality isn't portrayed as anything other than being straight as an arrow -- not only does he flirt with a woman named Lyla, but it's mentioned that he has a ''weakness'' for them by his first mate Kyam.
** While Azwel was predicted due to a leak, it was also reported that he would be Grøh's ''father''. The two do indeed have a connection as part of the Aval Organization, and are arch-enemies, they are '''not''' related by blood. Azwel would only think of Grøh as his son in the same way he thinks [[AGodAmI everyone is his children]].
** Many believed the Aval Organization was founded by Algol, due to it being mentioned that the group was formed by a king who used Soul Calibur to defeat Soul Edge, making it easy to mistake the Hero King for this character. In reality, it was a different king -- Myth/KingArthur, that is. [[note]]Who, to Project Soul's credit, was already established in previous lore to be one of the earliest known wielders of Soul Calibur. To distinguish King Arthur from Algol, he's referred to as the "Knight King" in Museum files when not mentioned by name.[[/note]]
** Zig-zagged in regards to how the game is rebooting the franchise. In general, it was widely assumed that the story would be akin to ''VideoGame/MortalKombat9'' in that it would feature [[ForWantOfANail major deviations of the plot as we know]], creating an explicitly new timeline. In truth, the story is largely the same, but [[AdaptationalExpansion expanded upon]], made better connected, and with lore from all over the series being integrated [[{{Retcon}} as if it were there from the beginning]]. That being said, [[spoiler:Zasalamel's hidden chapter in his story implies that he is indeed receiving visions from his future self]] and then [[spoiler:Cassandra's current incarnation meets her original timeline counterpart, who advises her on how to avoid the BadFuture the original canon led to]], implying that it might go in that direction in a sequel.
** Though IKnewIt is a common response, it was still held that 2B had been ruled out due to Okubo [[GodNeverSaidThat supposedly]] hating the idea of adding her to the roster. She would be the first DLC character announced post-launch.
** It was believed that Amy's Soul Chronicle would have her turn into Viola earlier. [[spoiler:While the crystal ball that Viola used as a weapon did appear and turned violet as a reference to the Amy is Viola theory and there was indeed a deviation from what Amy did in ''Soulcalibur II'', she instead realizes that Raphael might be in danger and is trying to stop him from becoming malfested like what happened to him in the original timeline.]]
** While Hwang being the final DLC character for Season 2 was already seen coming by many due to [[http://www.avoidingthepuddle.com/news/2020/3/31/rumor-modders-potentially-discover-the-next-two-dlc-characte.html a leak,]] detractors claimed that he would be the exact same generic CAS from Libra of Soul and that his moveset would either be [[MovesetClone very similar to Mitsurugi/Xianghua/Yun-seong's]] (as was the case in his previous appearances [[note]]even his DivergentCharacterEvolution in ''Soulcalibur III: Arcade Edition'' didn't fully de-clone Hwang from his contemporaries or Yun-seong[[/note]]) or [[AllYourPowersCombined an amalgamation of several characters']]. Hwang's official unveiling shows this clearly is not the case: he has a unique model, new outfit, and [[DivergentCharacterEvolution fully unique moveset of his own]] for the first time.
** Shortly after Hilde's release, theories immediately cropped up claiming Wilhelm was likely [[VideoGame/SoulcaliburV Z.W.E.I.]] due to similarities in their designs and the sword the Aval Organization gave him resembling Z.W.E.I.'s. This was shot down with the 2.30 update made available in December 2020, which revealed [[spoiler:Z.W.E.I. is indeed another character... and is the attendant of Johan Durer!]]

** The fact that the game's story is not a ''complete'' reboot. as the story is set after the events of the [[SequelDisplacement fairly obscure]] first game ''Soul Edge'' (currently referred as [[MarketBasedTitle its overseas title]] ''Soul Blade'' due to copyright issues over word "edge") where Cervantes was the main antagonist and was killed by Taki with Sophitia destroying Soul Edge. When the story starts, almost the entire cast is aware of each other (with the exceptions of the characters introduced in the original ''Soulcalibur'' and its sequels) and are already looking for Soul Edge, while the Malfested (people corrupted by Soul Edge's energy; note that the term "malfested" wasn't even used in the localization until ''V'', with previous installments instead calling them Evils) have been rampaging across Europe and Asia for some time.

** The story in ''V'' in general was lambasted for having DarknessInducedAudienceApathy, as it was very hard to get invested in the world when the protagonist was so hateable, the characters besides him and his sister were OutOfFocus, and the potential for good stories were being shafted by newcomers no one asked for. Even those willing to put up with said newcomers were left disappointed that none of the possibly interesting plot threads alluded to in pre-release materials were followed up on, and later revelations that three-fourths of ''V''[='s=] story had be left on the cutting room floor due to ExecutiveMeddling did not help matters. In the Soul Chronicle of this game, not only is there a more even dispersal of story and the characters focused on are actually liked, but the characters are written with ''far'' more depth than compared to ''V'', while using the established lore to better flesh out the world itself, and averting the trope altogether.

* TaintedByThePreview: [[TaintedByThePreview/SoulcaliburVI Has its own page here.]]

** After [[VideoGame/NierAutomata 2B]]'s announcement, it was claimed by many (most notably, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7CBoUHmTU78 Aris]]) that this was a result of fan demand with there initially being no plans to bring her in until they saw how popular she was. In actuality, Project Soul was in talks to bring 2B in the game that (according to [[BigNameFan Kayane]]) was confirmed in ''January 2018'', just a month after the game's announcement, but they didn't go public with it until October. It's safe to say that she was ''always'' on the cards.

* [[TaintedByThePreview/SoulcaliburVI Tainted by the Preview]]

** Setsuka's final chapter has a mysterious female figure taking a shard of Soul Edge from [[spoiler:Gyobu's body]]. Many people speculate from this that there will be a Season 3 DLC coming up with said mysterious figure being introduced as a brand new character that will be playable.

** Season 2's new Soul Chronicle episodes for Setsuka and new interludes for Mitsurugi and Nightmare has managed to top [[spoiler:Original!Cassandra]] as the most unexpected character yet. In the episodes, a new villain is introduced named Acht, a girl who has heterochromia, silver hair, is described to have androgynous features, and proves to be very manipulative. The unexpected part comes with TheReveal that her first name, according to her lifebar during her fight with Mitsurugi, is [[spoiler: Iska. As in, '''Iska Farkas''' from ''Soulcalibur Legends'', which is notable for being a ''non-canon spinoff game''. Given plot details as well as heavy allusions made by Acht herself in the game, it's entirely possible that the two could be one and the same, and ''no one'' saw it coming.]]