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126-473: The game includes new modes such as Tales of Souls, an interactive story-driven mode comparable to Edge Master Mode from Soul Edge ; Character Creation, in which players can create custom characters from 13 total occupations, with multiple weapons and fighting styles; and Chronicles of the Sword, a real-time-play mode that allows players to take their created souls through adventures of their own. The game also has

252-690: A German legend, in which the protagonist makes a deal with the devil (in-universe, Siegfried and Soul Edge have a Faustian bargain ). Arthur ( アーサー , Āsā ) is a playable character introduced in the first Soulcalibur , where he replaced Mitsurugi in Korea due to the local sensibilities regarding the subject of the samurai. Arthur is an orphaned European who has become a swordsman in Japan. In his first appearance, he looks exactly like Mitsurugi except with blond hair and an eye patch, and his weapon, movelist and ending are identical to Mitsurugi's. Arthur returned as

378-519: A background character and weapon shop owner for Soul Edge Official Guidebook – Densetsu Buki Tankyū no Sho . Out of appreciation, Namco later introduced him as a playable character in Soulcalibur and a recurring series element. His age is intended to reflect his experience and strength. Kilik ( キリク , Kiriku ) as an infant was left on the steps of a temple in China. He grew up with Xianglian,

504-426: A block of corrupted data on the memory card that can't be deleted. This will force players to start the game all over again. The only way to prevent this is to have a Soulcalibur III save file as the first saved on the player's memory card. The game has generally positive reviews with an aggregate score of 86/100 on Metacritic . IGN lauded it for its "stunning environment" and "charming characters" but thought that

630-554: A bonus character in all versions of Soulcalibur III , representing the "Katana" Create-a-Fighter discipline. In this game he is given unique facial characteristics and a weapon of his own, with his outfit based on that of Mitsurugi in Soulcalibur II . Arthur's Destined Battle enemy in Soulcalibur is against Taki (the same as Mitsurugi's), while in Soulcalibur III it is Mitsurugi. Astaroth ( アスタロス , Asutarosu )

756-515: A comeback". Edge Master ( エッジマスター , Ejji Masutā ) has a mysterious past; renowned for his skill with various weapons, his past and real name are known only to himself. He served as advisor and teacher at the Ling-Sheng Su Temple, before it was destroyed by the "Evil Seed" event. Taking in the only survivor of the event, Kilik, he taught him to suppress the evil within himself and sent him to destroy Soul Edge, before departing on

882-517: A corrupted city where Kilik was knocked unconscious by him. He awoke a month later in Edge Master's home and began to train his skills again, determined to search Soul Edge with Xianghua again. While traveling with Xianghua, he realized that he had feelings for her, but he cannot confess it as she reminded him of the late Xianglian, so he planned to leave her when the time is right. During the seventeen-year gap of Soulcalibur IV and Soulcalibur V ,

1008-681: A deal between the two; Siegfried would help the blade to restore itself gathering souls, and Soul Edge would resurrect his father Frederick. But Siegfried finally succumbed to the sword's power - transforming into the Azure Knight, Nightmare. He claimed refuge in Ostrheinsburg Castle. During the following three years, he gathered together a group of followers: the golem Astaroth , Lizardman (Aeon Calcos) , and Ivy . Each of them aided him in Soul Edge's quest to devour souls for

1134-400: A fellow monk whom Kilik had seen as his own sister. He was trained in the art of staff-fighting and inherited one of the temple's treasure Kali-Yuga. However, during the night of the "Evil Seed", Kilik and other monks were possessed and fought each other. Xianglian used her inheritance Dvapara-Yuga to stop Kilik, but ended up possessed which forced Kilik to kill her. Sane once more, he came under

1260-564: A fixed version, labeled Soul Edge Ver. II. Hwang (initially a palette swap of Mitsurugi for the Korean version of the game) was introduced to Japanese players with a new move list, Cervantes became playable, Guard Impacts and Air Combos were implemented, all the characters received upgraded move lists, and new stages were added. The overseas PlayStation version was renamed Soul Blade to avoid potential complications due to EDGE Games ' earlier "EDGE" trademark. On December 20, 1996, Soul Edge

1386-443: A main story character's moves. The created fighter's personality can be altered, which influences their quotes and their actions during battle. However, the personality is chosen by the equipment the character wears, and not directly by the player. The Soul Arena is a mode that allows both the eight-match Quick Play (the standard Arcade Mode of the game), which is light on story and allows a speedy confrontation with Abyss , as well as

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1512-500: A minimum of four months has already passed (one month needed to carry Kilik and Xianghua back to his master's hermit, three months that took Kilik to surpass his master's training). The wicked Soul Edge survived its fated encounter with the wielder of Soulcalibur, Xianghua, and restored its control over the body of Siegfried Schtauffen , turning him back into the Azure Knight Nightmare. Four years later, Nightmare

1638-577: A new resolve in the now-conscious Siegfried, albeit temporary - shards of the weakened Soul Edge were still present within his body. He eventually assumed the azure armor for a second time, becoming Nightmare all over again, desperately pursuing fragments of the Soul Edge so that he might fully restore it. Raphael Sorel appeared in search of Soul Edge and Nightmare stood victorious after a fierce battle. As he stepped forward to finish Raphael, he muttered something incoherently. Following this, an internal struggle began between Siegfried and Inferno (spirit of

1764-411: A pirate. Receiving an order from a wealthy merchant to find the cursed sword Soul Edge, Cervantes voyaged through the sea and eventually found the sword in the possession of an English dealer. However, the sword gradually corrupted him until his soul was devoured by it. Having murdered all of his crew, Cervantes boarded his ghost ship on a reign of terror for twenty years until he was defeated and killed by

1890-599: A playable character along with Taki, with whom he makes a temporary alliance there. He also appears as a limited card in Outcast Odyssey . Yuri Lowell from the Tales series can wear Mitsurugi's costume as his alternate outfit. He is also referenced in Ridge Racer 6 with the car named Mitsurugi Meltfire. Former Fanbyte editor-in-chief John Warren described him as "arguably the most recognizable character from

2016-407: A potion for character Hilde and her party to cure her father. Though they attempted to renegotiate, they were forced to find and take Cervantes' soul by force. Hwang Seong-gyeong ( ファン・ソンギョン , Fan Songyon , Korean :  황성경 ; Hanja :  黄星京 ) , a man with a strong sense of justice, joined Korea 's coast guard and was sent to find the "Sword of Salvation", which in reality

2142-456: A punch, but lost his katana Shishi-Oh in the battle. In Soulcalibur V , after the warring period of Japan had ended, Mitsurugi has settled a quiet life as a farmer for seventeen years. He regains his fighting spirit when he heard about Soul Calibur and goes on a journey to once again continue the battle with Algol that was left unfinished years before. A young Mitsurugi returns in the reboot/altered timeline-themed game Soulcalibur VI . It

2268-463: A quest of his own. After Soul Edge is shattered by Kilik's companion, Xianghua, he gave her an unnamed Jian and returned to training Kilik in hermitage until Kilik went on his second quest to destroy Soul Edge. Later, he returned to training him when he is carried unconscious by Xianghua (after their fight with Zasalamel) for three months, until he left on his own after receiving a purifying blow from Edge Master and Xianghua's letter. Around this time, he

2394-616: A rejuvenation ceremony to be performed in his chosen stronghold, Ostrheinsburg Castle. But as the ceremony was about to take place, the clan was quickly laid to waste. Both Aeon Calcos and Astaroth were defeated; and Ivy left the clan after learning the shocking truth of her past from the Fu-Ma ninja , Taki . Two young warriors confronted Nightmare: Kilik , owner of both the sacred staff Kali-Yuga and sacred mirror Dvapara-Yuga; and Xianghua , owner of Krita-Yuga, which revealed itself as Soul Calibur. Nightmare and Soul Edge were defeated, initiating

2520-500: A ring out by themselves upon performing a certain special attack, as long as they are near the edge of the arena. Soul Edge ' s events take place in the year 1583. The game tells the tale of warriors searching for the ultimate sword, "Soul Edge". It has been given many names throughout history, such as "The Sword of Salvation", "The Sword of Heroes", and "The Ultimate Sword", among others. Many strong warriors searched for years, but very few actually found it. The sword, currently in

2646-414: A scar of a gunshot wound on his right shoulder and forcing him to depart in shame on a second quest to perfect his swordsmanship so that he might eventually defeat the gun. It was during this quest that he learned of the Azure Knight, Nightmare , who terrorized Europe with a sword deemed invincible, and set out after him in order to find what he considered a worthy challenge (this being his motivation through

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2772-471: A separate body of his own. Eventually, he fell victim to Zasalamel 's plot to reunite Soul Edge and Soul Calibur at the Lost Cathedral. Siegfried took up Soul Calibur and fought a ferocious battle against the now-independent Nightmare, who in turn regained Soul Edge. Though victorious for the time being, the combination of the energy released from Soul Edge and Soul Calibur as well as his injuries from

2898-470: A siege on his castle in Ostrheinsburg (he did so in an effort to claim - what he thought was - Soul Edge), he finally managed to come across the legendary weapon Soul Edge, lying beside the corpse of the defeated Cervantes de Leon which transformed into Inferno . Siegfried defeated Inferno, earning the right to wield Soul Edge himself. However, Soul Edge telepathically spoke to Siegfried, arranging

3024-412: A stronger weapon for himself: the magic sword of legend, Soul Edge. Mitsurugi encountered the female ninja Taki during this time, but was unable to find any trace of the legendary "Hero's Sword". In his frustration at finding no signs of Soul Edge, he returned home and challenged Teppou Hei, a man wielding the tanegashima , to a duel. However, Mitsurugi suffered an embarrassing defeat, leaving him with

3150-476: A sub boss character (Stage 8). The only difference is Inferno will now only use a move set similar to Cervantes instead of randomly doing the moves of any character. If the player moves, deletes or does anything to any piece of data on a memory card that was created before a Chronicles of the Sword save file , the save file will become corrupt and unreadable, and sometimes has the potential of also corrupting all of Soulcalibur III' s save data. This could also leave

3276-416: A village and nearly gets killed. But Mi-na is saved by Hwang and the villagers, who were inspired by her bravery. She then reluctantly allows Hwang to take her home. Due to her infiltration at a base of Soul Edge's servants, she was targeted by the evil sword's servant Won Gabok, but was saved by Hwang and learned the true nature of Soul Edge. Her distaste towards Soul Edge and its evil nature has since becoming

3402-512: A village that had given him shelter. Captured by a cult, they transformed him and others into Lizardmen, however the destruction of Soul Edge at the end of Soulcalibur restored his sanity. Despite this his humanity and memories deteriorated, and after being taken in by a group of lizardmen like himself, he now pursues the restored Soul Edge seeking to reclaim his soul. By the time of Soulcalibur V his body has changed further due to battle, now having grown wings and able to breathe fire. Lizardman

3528-399: Is a golem created by a cult of Ares to retrieve the cursed sword known as Soul Edge. Upon finding the blade, Astaroth realizes that it is damaged and allies himself with its wielder Nightmare to harvest living souls necessary to restore the blade, planning to steal the blade once completed. However, before he can complete this task, he is confronted by a survivor of his attacks, Maxi, and

3654-403: Is a benevolent sword, crave its support. Others, knowing of its evil nature, seek its destruction. Nothing is known for certain about the sword, except for one thing: it brings misfortune to those seeking it. What many do not know is that the sword's power is evil, feeding upon the souls of not only its victims but its wielder as well. Soul Edge was developed as an experiment by Namco to explore

3780-416: Is a recurring enemy type in the Soulcalibur series, resembling bipedal anthropomorphic lizards that communicate through growls and grunts while wielding a short sword and shield. The most notable of which is Aeon Calcos ( アイオーン・カルコス , Aiōn Karukosu ) , one of the warriors sent by the god Hephaestus to destroy Soul Edge. However he was driven insane when exposed to Soul Edge's energies, and massacred

3906-466: Is a table of all the notable characters and their appearances throughout the series, as either playable characters or bosses . Cervantes de Leon ( セルバンテス・デ・レオン , Serubantesu de Reon ) was a privateer who was sent on a mission by the King of Spain to loot in the name of Spain. Following a disastrous attack on an English warship that killed Philip, Cervantes forsook his allegiance to his king and became

Soulcalibur III - Misplaced Pages Continue

4032-471: Is a young Korean woman, excelling at weapon usage but regarded as simply a girl by her peers. Barred from joining the coast guard due to her gender, she sought out the rumored "Sword of Salvation", which in actuality was Soul Edge, to prove herself. Hwang eventually caught up with her and dragged her back home, but she set out again after her father's efforts to marry her to him became unbearable. Encountering another female warrior named Ivy, she challenged her but

4158-411: Is also challenged by Seong Mi-na, who is swiftly defeated, and trained her for some time upon her request. In the seventeen-year gap between Soulcalibur IV and V , he taught another of Kilik's companion, Maxi to control the Soul Edge's shard in his body and warned him to bequeath Kali-Yuga to Xiba, as Kilik's life is in great danger. Leaving his hermitage a second time, he entered Astral Chaos to prevent

4284-406: Is banned from online matches and official tournaments. In the backstory of Soul Edge , Heishiro Mitsurugi ( 御剣 平四郎 , Mitsurugi Heishirō ) is an orphaned son of a Japanese farmer, who after suffering years of witnessing his homeland being ravaged by bandits and war, decided to take up swordsmanship. At the age of 14, having picked up a sword and the last name Mitsurugi, he went to train under

4410-484: Is deemed a national hero and begins training in the new generation alongside Mi-Na and Yun-seong. In a new timeline depicted in Soulcalibur VI , Hwang was forcefully being implanted with the evil seed and almost transformed into a malfested by Won Gabok, a servant of Soul Edge. He managed to injure himself and was thought to have committed suicide. However, Hwang survived and was saved by Woo Soo-yun, an ally of

4536-471: Is expanded in future Soul series games. The game uses the ring out system, which is a forcible maneuver that ejects the opponent from the arena and gains an automatic victory for the round. To achieve a ring out, a character must be knocked outside the ring by an enemy (the player cannot accidentally or deliberately get a ring out by hopping out of the ring). The only exception to this rule is Cervantes and Inferno (known in this game as SoulEdge), who can get

4662-416: Is finally reunited with Yun-seong after the destruction of Soul Edge and the two go back home. Upon returning she is deemed as a national hero and begins training the younger generation with Hwang. The new timeline reiterates Mi-na's adventures as she runs away from home to avoid marriage, loses to Ivy and Xiuqiang, and trains under the latter. She then goes on a dangerous mission to stop a cult from targeting

4788-410: Is slain. Revived by Ares in Soulcalibur II , Astaroth continues after the sword. However, the cult that created him regards this as a betrayal, and places a curse on the golem to dominate him. Astaroth resists and counterattacks the cult, learning in the process his design is not original but instead modeled after a human being, Rock . To assert himself as unique, Astaroth finds and nearly kills Rock at

4914-1065: Is still the slight control delay, but character movement is still fluid and seamless, and the trailing slashes of light in the wake of weapon movement is as gorgeous as ever." The PlayStation conversion, Soul Blade , was a bestseller in the UK. Due to its popularity, the game has been re-released as part of the PlayStation Greatest Hits , the PlayStation Platinum range, and the PlayStation The Best series. The PlayStation game received very positive reviews. It holds aggregated scores of 91% on GameRankings and 89/100 on Metacritic , including high ratings by IGN ("extremely fun, and has just enough new elements to make it worth playing multiple times"), and GameSpot ("a great fighting game with its share of flaws"). Next Generation praised it for "filling in all

5040-461: Is the cursed sword Soul Edge, in order to protect his country. However he returned after learning of an impending Japanese invasion of his homeland, bringing his friend's daughter, Seong Mi-Na, back with him. When he set out after her again, he discovered the true nature of the sword and informed his superiors of it. They dismissed him as a result, but upon learning that the Japanese were also after

5166-515: Is the father of Seong Mi-na and the owner of the Seong dojo. He only appeared as a secret character in the console version of Soul Edge , utilizing a Chinese sword akin to Hwang. After his wife and son both died of illness, he trained his daughter in martial arts but wished her to stay home, despite her rebellious nature. He became interested in a student of his, Hwang Seong-gyeong, and tried to adopt him as his successor, although Hwang politely rejected

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5292-525: Is the son of an English dealer who specialized in rare weapons. His father managed to bid Soul Edge at one auction and was about to take it home, only for the ship to be attacked by pirate Cervantes who killed everyone except Rock, who washed up in the shores of America with his memories gone. The Native Americans were unwilling to help Rock due to his size and only a boy named Bangoo was unafraid to befriend him. Rock eventually recovered his memories over time and left America in search of Soul Edge, which may become

5418-543: Is wearing an underboob-baring top that offers her breasts no support whatsoever, and which is made all the creepier by the fact that she's only 16 when the story starts." She further criticized the character's portrayal, noting she complains about being seen as a child while being pursued by a man nine years her senior, adding "If this storyline gave Seong Mi-Na any agency, then maybe the decision to put this insecure teenager in this outfit would feel less tragic." Siegfried Schtauffen ( ジークフリート・シュタウフェン , Jīkufurīto Shutaufen )

5544-457: The Assassin's Creed franchises for Soulcalibur V . Devil Jin from Tekken was also added to Soulcalibur V as a non-playable character and his moveset can only be accessed by creating a character that uses his style of fighting. Soulcalibur VI added Geralt of Rivia from The Witcher , 2B from Nier: Automata and Haohmaru from Samurai Shodown as guest characters. Below

5670-680: The GameCube version, comic book character Spawn for the Xbox , and Tekken ' s Heihachi Mishima for the PlayStation 2 . Despite rumors of Devil May Cry ' s Dante 's inclusion in Soulcalibur III , developers confirmed no plans for the inclusion of guest characters for the title, with series producer Hiroaki Yotoriyama stating "It's my policy to never do the same thing twice." However, under new producer Katsutoshi Sasaki

5796-461: The Soulcalibur series", adding that "Mitsurugi's design isn't revelatory by any stretch. Yet its consistency over the years and his genuine, ineffable coolness" made him one of the top characters in the series. Nathan Ditum from PlayStation Official Magazine – UK chose him as his personal favourite out of the cast of Soulcalibur V . Rock ( ロック , Rokku ) , born as Nathaniel William Adams ( ナタニエル・ウィリアム・アダムス , Natanieru Wiriam Adamusu ) ,

5922-491: The full motion video intro and the new story mode. They awarded it "Best Intro" in their 1998 Video Game Buyer's Guide . A reviewer for GamePro stated: "Bow down to the new king of fighters, and the first gotta-play-it game of the year." In 1997, PSM named Soul Edge as the fourth top game on the PlayStation, and Electronic Gaming Monthly listed the PlayStation version as a runner-up for "Fighting Game of

6048-428: The "Hero's Sword", and was slain when he refused to leave without it. Mitsurugi sensed that war was coming, but Soul Edge meant nothing to him. He had crossed countless battlefields, defeating every conceivable enemy, even those with rifles. What had once been his greatest enemy was none of his concern, as it no longer proved to be a threat. His only concern was with finding an opponent stronger than himself. Wondering what

6174-461: The 2D Samurai Showdown series). The plot centers upon the eponymous sword, rumored to offer unlimited power to anyone who can find and wield it, leading to nine warriors attempting to pursue the tenth who is rumored to have the sword. The game was a commercial and critical success, with praise given to graphics, gameplay and characters. It was followed up with Soulcalibur in July 1998. Soul Edge

6300-594: The Aval Organization and by extension, the Wolfkrone Kingdom, including Hwang's deceased parents. Hwang masters taoism for three months to suppress the malfestation from taking over his body and countermeasure any other malfestation threats. During development several weapons were considered, including a zhanmadao like Seong Mi-Na's and a bladed nunchaku like Li Long's. Several different outfit components were also considered at this time, such as

6426-530: The Character Creation mode, players can re-create KOS-MOS from the Xenosaga series as well as Taira No Kagekiyo from Genpei Tōma Den and Gilgamesh from The Tower of Druaga and even Valkyrie from Valkyrie no Densetsu . This game takes place shortly after the events of Soulcalibur II , in 1590. The amount of time is not specified, but taking into account the various characters' profiles,

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6552-465: The Evil Seed, and his rivalry with new character, Grøh . Throughout his journey with Xianghua and Maxi, Kilik is constantly troubled over Xianglian's death, but is aided by Sophitia , who helps him cope with his past. In the battle against Inferno, Kilik saves Xianghua with control over his malfestation as Grøh did before him, and the pair defeat Inferno. During Kilik's initial design creation, while

6678-469: The Hero King, Algol from corrupting the world with the realm's energies. Although not playable in Soulcalibur VI , Edge Master appears in the story mode as Kilik's mentor, Taki 's ally in keeping Mitsurugi away from Soul Edge, and a helper to guest character, Geralt of Rivia , in getting the witcher back to his world. Edge Master was created by illustrator Yasushi Nirasawa , who had designed him as

6804-568: The Murakami and aided them in their naval victory. Soon, he learned of the arrival of Nightmare, whom he had lost track of before. Mitsurugi left the Murakami and went to the West again. Ever-searching for a worthy adversary to test his skills, Mitsurugi journeyed to Ostrheinsburg, where he entered a chaotic alternate dimension and faced the Hero King, Algol , high atop a colossal tower. The two warriors clashed when suddenly Algol disappeared, along with

6930-558: The Murakami clan. Mitsurugi, noted as a great warrior, received numerous commendations and rose in the ranks, but his only true desire was a worthy opponent. After leaving the Murakami clan, Mitsurugi continued to fight in the great civil war in Japan as a hired mercenary. Having originally dismissed the firearm as a novelty, he was shocked to see the riflemen obliterate the Takeda cavalry at the Battle of Nagashino . He decided he needed to find

7056-576: The Year" (behind Street Fighter Collection ) and "Best Music" (behind PaRappa the Rapper ). PSU listed this game as the sixth "PSone classic" most deserving to be remade for the PlayStation 3 in 2011. That same year, Complex ranked Soul Edge as the 19th best fighting game of all time. The PlayStation version's opening sequence won the SIGGRAPH '97 award for the best game video of 1996. It

7182-422: The advantage. Soul Edge uses an optional offensive block maneuver called the "Guard Impact" that allows players to intercept incoming attacks and push them back, resulting in a momentary opportunity for a free counterattack. Opponents, however, are also able to return a Guard Impact after receiving a Guard Impact, allowing for stalemate clashes until one opponent missed the subsequent timing. This gameplay feature

7308-447: The atmosphere of a wild warrior, while his facial expressions were drawn in a positive manner, intended to show him enjoying the fight. When developing his appearance for Soulcalibur , a clothed design and a bald appearance were both rejected, as the team felt they gave the impression of an urban or "bad guy" character, respectively. Seong Han-myeong ( ソン・ハンミョン , Son Hanmyon , Korean :  성한명 ; Hanja :  成漢明 )

7434-532: The battle mortally wounded Siegfried. The events of Soulcalibur IV see Siegfried having been revived by the Soul Calibur, which has gained some sentience from the Soul Edge and the release of its creator, Algol . Now dependent on the armor in which the Soul Calibur had encased him for survival, Siegfried rejects all human contact and devotes himself to destroying both swords once and for all. In his ending, he finally defeats Nightmare decisively and releases

7560-518: The blade escaped and obtained a temporary shell, starting a new killing spree to strengthen himself while seeking its body, Soul Edge. What neither of the two warriors knows is that a man behind the scenes is controlling their steps, searching to end an everlasting curse. And that many other warriors ventured in search of the blade as well. The console version of the game was first released in North America on October 25, 2005. A soundtrack for

7686-430: The blanks with great gameplay, superb characters, unique graphics, and combines them into one solid package." They later commended the PlayStation port for retaining all the characters, levels, graphics, and gameplay from the arcade version. GameFan called it "without a doubt the most stunning graphical fighting feast ever to grace any console." The four reviewers of Electronic Gaming Monthly particularly applauded

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7812-423: The block button, and a combat system based on the three attack buttons: horizontal attack, vertical attack, and kick. Character moves retain a feel of Namco's Tekken series. Each character has one or two slow but unblockable attacks. Each character is also capable of performing one or two "Critical Edge" attacks, consisting of a long series of linked hits, usually ending in a strong high attack. These moves require

7938-567: The card game, next to Street Fighter , when the game was released April 2006. UFS has seen five expansions based on Soulcalibur III' s characters and history. Soul Edge Soul Edge is a 1996 fighting game developed and published by Namco , and the first installment in the Soulcalibur series . Introduced at the JAMMA trade show in November 1995 , the full arcade game

8064-417: The cast. The character concepts themselves are then built around the chosen weapon, with their movement, animations and personality designed to fit it. According to series creator Hirokai Yotoriyama, movement is the first element they focus on, deciding how the character will attack, and how mobile they are. Afterwards the character is defined down to their weight, height, age, and gender, and then developed by

8190-466: The characters' moves for a set time; Standard Mode, which is a traditional arcade mode with nine battles in a row, without cut scenes or endings; and Legends Mode, a complex eight-round mode based upon the creation of and competition between customized characters with accumulated skills taken from the home version's Chronicles of the Sword mode, such as increased stamina or the ability to automatically escape grapples. The Standard mode brings back Inferno as

8316-450: The combined efforts of Greek warrior Sophitia and Japanese ninja Taki . However, Cervantes was accidentally resurrected without his memory by Nightmare because of the Soul Edge fragments lodged in his body. For the next three years, he decided to search for the cursed sword despite knowing that it had robbed him of his free will while slowly recovering his memories. Upon the shattering of Soul Edge, Cervantes began his quest on collecting

8442-402: The concept artists. Afterwards a 3D model team is assigned to work on that character exclusively, with little overlap between the individual teams. Motion capture is then utilized for character movement and animation, though in select cases the design team will animate the character by hand instead. During the phase the designers will work with the story creators, refining the character's role in

8568-624: The concept was revisited in later titles in the series, with Tales of Symphonia ' s Lloyd Irving appearing in Soulcalibur Legends , Star Wars characters The Apprentice, Yoda and Darth Vader appearing in Soulcalibur IV , with the latter two exclusively to the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions respectively until later released as downloadable content , God of War ' s Kratos for Soulcalibur: Broken Destiny , and Ezio Auditore da Firenze from

8694-431: The conclusion of Soulcalibur III , breaking free of Ares' control and transforming in the aftermath. Now hungering for power, he is offered it in return for servitude to Nightmare during the events of Soulcalibur IV , an offer he accepts with the secret goal of devouring Soul Edge itself. Destroyed instead by Maxi, Astaroth's heart is retrieved by the cult responsible for his creation, and a new series of golems all bearing

8820-402: The current time, the online infrastructure is extremely different between countries, and there are people that can not enjoy network gaming. We've decided to concentrate on improving the game's offline content and its characters so that people all over the world will be able to have fun." Chronicles of the Sword is a single player mode gametype that combines Real Time Strategy (RTS) gameplay with

8946-467: The entire cast from the home version returns as playable characters except Abyss, who is now a non-playable boss character alongside Night Terror. From the 17 bonus characters only three made it into the arcade: Hwang Seong-gyeong , Li Long and Amy Sorel , who have been reworked and expanded into more deep playing styles. The total roster of the arcade ascends to 27 selectable characters. The game has three different modes: Training Mode, where one can try

9072-462: The entity and preserve his life. Eventually, Soul Edge summoned all pieces of itself back to it. Cervantes followed its trail, intending to wield the sword once it completed itself. Along the way, he devoured the soul of his illegitimate daughter, Ivy , but after the latter had survived thanks to her artificial soul, Ivy retaliated and defeated Cervantes, releasing all souls he had consumed, including hers. His body beaten and his mind shattered, Cervantes

9198-516: The events of Soulcalibur II , Mitsurugi stumbled upon the trail of Soul Edge while visiting a castle in Xiwei , where a mysterious dying man, after being saved by him from a group of assassins, handed him a shard of the cursed blade. Although skeptical at first, Mitsurugi accepted the gift. Soon afterward, an incident occurred in which a servant of the Emperor of Ming marched to the castle, demanding

9324-405: The evil sword) vying for control over their physical body. With this show of "hesitation", Raphael unleashed a desperate final blow upon his enemy, piercing the center of Soul Edge. Nightmare let out an inhuman cry, and Siegfried finally regained control of his own body. Siegfried remembered his actions previous, before using the newly revealed holy sword, Soul Calibur, to drive into the evil eye that

9450-553: The exception of Inferno , Necrid , Seong Han-myeong, Edge Master and the console-exclusive Soulcalibur II special guests ( Heihachi , Link , and Spawn ). Soulcalibur II ' s mimic character Charade does return in a non-playable form, as do the generic Lizardmen . Unlockable characters include personnel in the Chronicles of the Sword, opponents from the Tales of Souls mode, and the weapon, armor, and item shop owners. In

9576-565: The final boss of the game. Other PlayStation-specific features include: Versions labeled Soul Blade came out in 1997. In the North American version, clothes were added to Sophitia in the opening cutscene where she would have been nude. In the European version, Li Long's pair of nunchaku were changed to a three-section staff, since BBFC guidelines at the time banned the depiction of nunchaku. Two soundtrack CDs were released for

9702-438: The form of a twin pair of long swords, appeared mysteriously in an auction. It was taken by the dreaded pirate Cervantes de Leon and nothing is known of his fate thereafter. Presently, nine warriors from around the world ( Hwang , Li Long , Mitsurugi , Rock , Seong Mi-na , Siegfried , Sophitia , Taki , and Voldo ) search for the sword for different reasons. Some desire its power, others want revenge. Some, believing that it

9828-399: The fragments of the cursed sword for four years which melded to form a weapon for him, attacking other ships that came close to his sea. When the presence of Soul Edge's other half vanished, Cervantes's body began to weaken as the fragments that sustained him crumbled. He was informed by a servant of Soul Edge, Tira , that a powerful entity was the one responsible, so Cervantes sought to defeat

9954-505: The game could use more diverse sound effects. GameSpot praised the "fun, fast-paced gameplay" but criticized the lack of online play. In 2011, Complex ranked it as the 34th best fighting game of all time. Soulcalibur III is part of the Universal Fighting System collectible card game, created by Sabertooth Games and later published by Fantasy Flight Games . It was one of the official founding franchises of

10080-483: The game was released as Soulcalibur III Original Soundtrack - Legend of Sounds . Two guide books were released in Japan in November–December 2005: Famitsu ' s Soul Calibur III Starting Guide Book and Namco's own Soul Calibur III Official Complete Guide . Soulcalibur III: Arcade Edition is a re-tuned and glitch-fixed version of Soulcalibur III that was first released in the arcades on April 3, 2006. Almost

10206-500: The game: Soul Edge Original Soundtrack - Khan Super Session and Super Battle Sound Attack Soul Edge . In Japan, Game Machine listed Soul Edge on their March 15, 1996 issue as being the second most-successful arcade game of the month. On the annual 1996 Gamest chart, Soul Edge was the 20th highest-grossing arcade game in Japan that year. The arcade game was more successful in the United States, where it became one of

10332-493: The inclusion of head or arm guards and an arm bandana. With Hwang's appearance in Soulcalibur his attire was changed. Chinese style costumes were considered, including an outfit with an open jacket and a bandaged design with a Chinese martial artist's attire. The developers based his look around the concept of a traveler, implementing subtle hints such as his torn pant legs. Hwang appears in Soulcalibur VI , although he

10458-461: The input of a special combination of two parts: they are activated by pressing all three attack buttons together, and if it connects, the player has the chance of extending the combo with a character-specific sequence, which must be input during the attack. This attack depletes one-third of the Weapon Gauge when used. The Weapon Gauge is a life bar for the character's equipped weapon. Each time

10584-516: The key to his full memories. Through Sophitia's words, he returned to care for Bangoo, only to find him being kidnapped by Aeon Calcos/Lizardman whose cult demanded Rock's soul. He crossed back to Europe and rescued Bangoo. They stayed in Europe for several years until Bangoo grew older, after which Bangoo went to America by himself. Later, Rock is attacked by a giant named Astaroth whose moves have an uncanny resemblance to his own. He learned that Astaroth

10710-520: The largest character roster — 24 characters playable in Tales of Souls mode and an additional 18 playable in all other modes — and largest battle stage selection in Soul series history. The Character Creation Mode allows the player to choose from several classes, clothing and armor, and physical features. Most of the classes can use up to five disciplines, three of which are unique, and two of which are "Soul of ..." disciplines: an exact replica of

10836-422: The leader of a teenage band of thieves calling themselves "Schwarzwind" ( German translation for "black wind"). Siegfried grew in despair and eventually convinced himself that anyone but he was to blame for his father's death. Siegfried had heard rumours of the invincible Soul Edge, and came to believe his father's killer could only be killed with that weapon. After taking the life of a noble he worked for during

10962-413: The leftover shards of Soul Edge and later manifests itself in a new Soul Edge. However, after the new Nightmare, Graf Dumas (heavily hinted to be Raphael Sorel) was slain, Inferno choose Pyrrha as its new host until being defeated by her brother and Soul Edge along with Soul Calibur were both sealed away in the astral chaos. Its will and power has, directly and indirectly, affected several other characters in

11088-561: The level. The player may allow his troops/commander to fight on the RTS board, or choose to do a traditional Soul Calibur battle with various characters for each side. The player can lose property if they lose on the RTS board; a risk not present when fighting in the traditional Soul Calibur style. Chronicles of the Sword and the other modes are tied together, as well. Disciplines, costumes/armor, weapons, characters, and various aesthetics and skills carry over from one mode to another, and each rely on

11214-409: The name "Astaroth" are created from research conducted upon it. Astaroth's story mode in Soulcalibur VI is a retelling of his creation and service to Nightmare, though now he is aided by a ker , sent by Ares to aid him in obtaining Soul Edge. Soulcalibur IV lead programmer Masaaki Hoshino called Astaroth his favorite character, stating that because he is "so powerful there's always a chance to make

11340-720: The offer. Regardless, Han-myeong planned to marry his daughter with Hwang, which only caused Mi-na to run away from home for months, although she was eventually dragged back home by Hwang. When a malfested army invades his dojang to hunt Mi-na for her involvement and lure Hwang (who is now also a Taoist in Soulcalibur VI ), Han-myeong learns Soul Edge's evil nature from his student. Later, another student of his, Hong Yun-seong ran away from his dojo to find Soul Edge and Han-myeong reluctantly gave his blessing to his daughter in an attempt to find him, yet entrust her to prevent Yun-seong from nearing Soul Edge. Seong Mi-na ( ソン・ミナ , Son Mina , Korean :  성미나 ; Hanja :  成美那 )

11466-449: The other to unlock items. You cannot, for example, use certain skills or weapons without unlocking the proper discipline(s), and this could be based on playing different modes. All rewards are valid in all modes. The main three new warriors in the game are Zasalamel , Tira and Setsuka , all with totally different fighting styles than other series fighters. Nearly all of the warriors previously featured in Soul series titles return, with

11592-452: The period of late 16th to early 17th century, the plot of the games revolve around Soul Edge, a cursed sword able to possess its wielder and devour souls. Its spirit is called Inferno , and his avatar/host is called Nightmare. Soul Calibur, a holy sword and Soul Edge's antithesis , also has a spirit called Elysium . When creating characters for the series, they started with the weapon first, aiming to choose one that would feel unique amongst

11718-411: The player blocks an attack, the bar depletes. If the bar is totally emptied, the weapon is lost and the character is forced to fight unarmed. The unarmed move-lists are the same for every character. Another feature that was removed from Soulcalibur ' s engine is a rock paper scissors situation when two character strike at the same time, locking their weapons; those who press the correct button have

11844-465: The player successfully inputs the sequence. During movies that precede a battle after the cut scene ends, not inputting the code could result in the player starting the subsequent battle with a disadvantageous effect. Although the Mortal Kombat , Dead or Alive , and Street Fighter series all supported online play, Soulcalibur III does not. The game's producer Hiroaki Yotoriyama said "At

11970-471: The plot as necessary. During the course of the series some characters have been an exception to this process, such as Necrid , a character co-produced with Todd McFarlane that appears in Soulcalibur II . Starting with Soulcalibur II , guest characters from other franchises or companies were introduced for different home ports of the game, with The Legend of Zelda ' s Link appearing for

12096-466: The possibilities of a weapon-based fighting game; Samurai Showdown was one of the first of this type, while Battle Arena Toshinden was the first in 3D. Soul Edge was the first motion capture based video game created by using passive optical system markers. Soul Edge was initially released in arcades in 1995. A Gamest Mook series guide book (GMC-30) was published by Shinseisha on April 30, 1996. A couple of months later, Namco released

12222-654: The power of the Soul Calibur, permanently sealing away the Soul Edge and Soul Calibur, and killing himself in the process. In Hilde 's ending, he is instead forgiven for his crimes as the Azure Knight and given a royal pardon. One of Siegfried's extra weapons is the Glam (mistranslation of Gram ), the weapon that Sigurd in Norse mythology used to kill the dragon Fafnir and in Soulcalibur Legends , Siegfried fights "Fanfir". The Faust blade also takes reference from

12348-552: The pre-defined Missions which include variations on the standard matches. There is a World Competition mode created to simulate tournament rounds (of either eliminations or Round Robin) against the CPU. The Tales of Souls mode is presented as a book, narrating the selected character's story in detail during various chapters. The player can input button combos when an icon appears in the top right-hand corner during cut scene movies. The cut scenes can have different outcomes depending on whether

12474-399: The reason she, Hwang and Talim tries to prevent Yun-seong from nearing it. In a 2002 poll by Namco prior to the release of Soulcalibur II regarding their favorite character, Seong Mi-Na placed first with little under 20% of the tally, just ahead of runner-up Sophitia (18%). In an article for Kotaku , Maddy Myers heavily criticized her design, stating "It's never explained why Seong Mi-Na

12600-444: The reboot/retelling game Soulcalibur VI . It fights using the attack style of other fighters from its memories of past battles and will switch to a random one at the start of each round. Though it exists in its own dimension, Astral Chaos (a realm where time and space never exist), it has used duplicity such as in the case of tricking Siegfried into expanding its will, and in more extreme cases utilized Cervantes' flaming corpse and later

12726-399: The remainder of the series since Soulcalibur ). Nightmare's trail eventually disappeared, but Mitsurugi was unwilling to give up, and gradually improved his fighting style to the point riflemen were no longer a threat. Returning from his quest, Mitsurugi challenged Teppou Hei again, but this time Mitsurugi managed to kill the man with a single strike with his sword. Four years later, during

12852-488: The remnants of Nightmare's armor to create an avatar for itself. Within Astral Chaos, Inferno can manifest itself as a flaming and mostly skeletal body for itself, creating weapons to match whichever fighting style it currently uses, particularly Siegfried's being its primary likeness at most part. Inferno, along with Soul Edge is destroyed by Siegfried at the end of Soulcalibur IV , though its will continues to live in

12978-539: The series, such as the Evil Seed event that caused many to turn somewhat evil or insane. It has also caused the creation of several life forms or modification of them, such as Ivy's sword, Charade, Necrid and Abyss. In Soulcalibur VI , Inferno's gameplay is similar to his original Soul Edge counterpart, as being more of an enhanced version of certain Soul Edge wielders than as a mimic fighter; in this case, its main alter-ego Nightmare instead of Cervantes. Due to his final boss role despite being an unlockable character, Inferno

13104-547: The standard Soul Calibur fights. It begins with the player starting out as a new commander for the Grandall Empire. There are 20 chronicles, which are essentially a map of objectives to defeat. After the objectives are satisfied, the player moves on to the next map, which get more difficult as the player progresses. In this mode, the player and computer send out their "troops", and a commander. The player must fight their enemies and take their strongholds scattered through

13230-414: The sword he was instead sent to stop them. Heading westward, he plans to join forces with Mi-na to destroy the blade. In Soulcalibur IV , he was in Ostrheinsburg when he crossed paths with Hong Yun-seong, a student of the Seong dojo. Hwang tried to warn him the danger of Soul Edge, though the young warrior did not heed his warning and continued his journey to find the sword. After Soul Edge is destroyed, he

13356-420: The top five highest-grossing arcade conversion kits of 1996 . Despite this, it was not able to achieve the same level of arcade success as Namco's popular Tekken series. According to Next Generation magazine, Soul Edge "enjoyed less success than it deserved" in arcades. Next Generation reviewed the arcade version of Soul Edge Version II , rating it four stars out of five, and stated that "there

13482-419: The tower and all their surroundings—a dimensional convergence had warped Mitsurugi back to reality before the duel could be decided. He had also unknowingly make rival with Setsuka , after he mortally wounded her master during a battle that eventually led to his death, although he did not realize it until they fight sometime during the events of Soulcalibur IV , at which he defeated her by stunning Setsuka with

13608-437: The tutelage of Edge Master, and joined forces with Maxi and Xianghua (unknowingly Xianglian's sister) to destroy Soul Edge and purge the evil within himself. They confronted Nightmare during his Soul Edge ritual and Kilik managed to defeat him. He returned to hone his skills with Edge Master, but sensed Soul Edge's return four years later that made him travel around the world with Xianghua once again. The two confronted Zasalamel in

13734-494: The two reunited where Kilik had an intimate meeting with Xianghua that conceived Xiba, but left her before Xiba was born. He then spent his time trying to close the astral gates, where he touched the souls of those who had wandered the Astral Chaos and made him able to learn their styles. The new timeline not only retells Kilik's tragic past in the Ling-Shang Su temple massacre, but also reveals his malfested form because of

13860-486: The weapon selected remained constant several ages and related appearances were considered. In particular amongst these was suggested a young boy whose design was based upon the legendary Chinese character Sun Wukong , the Monkey King. Other designs such as a feral appearance were considered, but unused due to them feeling "pretty wild" and too different from the initial concept. "Lizardman" ( リザードマン , Rizādoman )

13986-411: The wicked sword, and out of instinct used it to pierce Soul Edge. The result led to both swords sealed together in a fateful embrace, an "Embrace of Souls". Siegfried took both weapons and started a quest to find a definitive way of sealing Soul Edge, but memories of his slaughters, plus the attacks of those resentful of the Azure Knight, drove his mind towards insanity. Unbeknownst to him, the evil soul of

14112-441: Was about to restore Soul Edge, when suddenly a man named Raphael appeared, intending on taking Soul Edge. Nightmare defeated the attacker, but was distracted by Siegfried's latent will trying to restore his body. Using the distraction, Raphael pierced Soul Edge's eye, giving Siegfried the edge he needed to break free from Soul Edge's control once again. After waking up, Siegfried found the holy sword, free from its entrapment within

14238-457: Was also included on the list of the ten all-time best game cinematics by Cheat Code Central in 2012. List of Soulcalibur characters#Charade The following is a comprehensive list of characters from the Soulcalibur series of video games, beginning with Soul Edge ( Soul Blade in the PlayStation version) in 1995. Soulcalibur is a weapon-based fighting game franchise developed by Namco Bandai 's Project Soul division. Set in

14364-502: Was born to Sir Frederick Schtauffen, a brave knight who was considered a champion among the oppressed peasants of his German home, and a woman named Margaret who met Frederick while he was on campaign, during the late sixteenth century . He was given the name 'Siegfried' after the famous hero, and was taught swordsmanship by his father. Frederick embarked on a foreign crusade and, due to lack of guidance in life, Siegfried unintentionally murdered his returning father while rampaging as

14490-408: Was created by Lizardman's cult based on his image and is now serving Nightmare. Rock is determined to stop him at all costs. His fate afterward is not known, as no explanation is given for his absence in Soulcalibur V . Initially during development, the character was called "Beast Warrior", and his design changed little over the course of creating the character. His appearance is intended to reflect

14616-483: Was created prior to the introduction of the so-called 8-Way Run. The characters can sidestep to either side by double-tapping down to move to the foreground or tapping down then up to the background. The jump maneuver (which in Soulcalibur is more like a hop) moves the player higher into the air, even allowing it to pass above the opponent (much like in Tekken ). The game uses an active block system performed by pressing

14742-839: Was dragged home once more by Hwang. She later encountered Hong Yun-seong, a student of her father angry after being disregarded by Hwang when he challenged him to a duel. Feeling sorry for him, she handed him her family heirloom, the dao 'White Storm', and later that night he set out himself after Soul Edge. Mi-na set out to retrieve the dao from him, this time with her father's blessing. Afterward, Mi-na met with an old man, Edge Master, who quickly defeated her in their battle, at which point he trained her for some time. She eventually confronted Yun-seong and together with his companion, Talim tried to convince him to abandon his quest, though he did not heed their warnings and left on his own one night while both women were asleep. Mi-na then promised Talim that she will find Yun-seong before they parted their ways. She

14868-445: Was happening in Japan at that time, and whether or not he could have a final showdown with Taki, he decided to return to his homeland. By the time of Soulcalibur III and Soulcalibur IV , the Murakami clan, with whom Mitsurugi stayed upon his return, refused to join with Toyotomi Hideyoshi , choosing instead to protect their existence as fierce pirates and rulers of the sea. Since Mitsurugi could find no trace of Taki, he went to aid

14994-576: Was not playable until being made available as downloadable content. He eventually learns a taoism to combine its power with his original sword technique. Inferno ( インフェルノ , Inferuno ) is the physical manifestation of the cursed sword Soul Edge's own soul and the true antagonist within Soul series as his Nightmare incarnation, where it mostly started out as the final boss in Soul Edge (originally listed as "SoulEdge") until Soulcalibur II , including

15120-443: Was originally conceived as a character meant to complement Sophitia's fighting style, and as a result use the same sword and shield combination as her. At one point Lizardman was meant to be left-handed, but due to various reasons the concept was shelved. In an early character draft, it was considered to have it be a golem protecting a little girl, and would have had bits of its body knocked off during combat. Deciding instead to go with

15246-656: Was ported to the Sony PlayStation for the Japanese market. A limited special edition came with the Namco Joystick controller. An official tribute book Soul Edge Official Fan Book (ソウルエッジ オフィシャルファンブック／年代記) was published in the Chronicle series by Famitsu on March 31, 1997. The port kept the Soul Edge Ver. II roster of ten characters and added five unlockable characters, including SoulEdge ,

15372-425: Was quickly defeated, and learned from Ivy that not only was she still inexperienced but that the sword she sought was inherently evil. She later challenged an alcoholic armed with a bō staff who also quickly defeated her. Seong Mi-na requested training from him, and he taught her all his skills, revealing in a farewell letter his name as "Kong Xiuqiang", the long-lost father of Xianghua. However, before she set out she

15498-543: Was released in February 1996 on System 11 hardware, the same board used by Tekken and Tekken 2 . Later in December an upgraded and expanded version of the game was ported to the PlayStation ; this version was renamed to Soul Blade outside Japan and released in 1997. Soul Edge is a 3D fighting game and was the second such game to be based on weapons, following Battle Arena Toshinden (itself preceded by

15624-488: Was revealed that his failed attempt to fight Nightmare is because Taki was sent by Edge Master to keep him away from end having an awful encounter with the Azure Knight. Misturugi made a friendly rivalry with a universe-displaced The Witcher Geralt of Rivia , and his long waited rival who is also his counterpart from SNK Corporation , Samurai Shodown ’s protagonist Haohmaru . Mitsurugi also appeared in Namco × Capcom as

15750-434: Was swallowed by a dimensional rift opened by Soul Edge. Seventeen years later, during the wake of the 17th century, people reported the presence of Cervantes' ship, voyaging through the sea; Cervantes had been released from the rift, now free from Soul Edge's control and at his height of power. In the non-canonical Gauntlet storyline of Soulcalibur: Broken Destiny , Cervantes' soul was required as payment for Ivy to create

15876-401: Was the core of Soul Edge, where the weapon had been trapped - however, this effort to destroy the evil sword would prove insufficient. In the preceding event of Soulcalibur III , Siegfried now has control of his own body, picking up both swords and leaving Ostrheinsburg on a mission to seal away Soul Edge for all eternity, as he swore to atone for his sins, not knowing that Nightmare had gained

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