TOP TEN GUILTY GEAR CHARACTERS
GUILTY GEAR ~ STRIVE is here! And in honor of the latest entry in the series, we here at Blood Work want to celebrate with our Top Ten favorite Guilty Gear characters! Fighting games are practically a religion here at Blood Work. We love them! We try to play a fighting game every day. From Street Fighter, King of Fighters, Darkstalkers, Samurai Shodown, and more, we've been playing these games since the 90's and still love them to this day.
It was around 2004 when a group of us went to an arcade called FAMILY FUN CENTER. I remember staking claim to a Capcom Vs SNK 2 cabinet while another friend stood at King of Fighters 2003 and yet another at a Soul Calibur cabinet. Then there was the last of us, a stoic fellow we call Red. He stood at a cabinet none of us were familiar with: Guilty Gear XX. And he never left it the whole time we were there. Eventually we gathered around to leave and all Red could talk about was this new amazing game he discovered. The next thing we knew, Red had purchased every Guilty Gear game he could find and sat us all down to play.
Beautiful 2D animated sprites, explosive and flashy effects, a killer metal soundtrack, lightning fast pace, and some of the most badass characters in all of video games. Guilty Gear is one of the greatest fighting game franchises of all time. Debuting in 1998 in an already crowded genre, Guilty Gear managed to differentiate itself from the pack and offer something unique and incredible. Thanks to our friend, Red, we here at Blood Work were introduced to this franchise and Guilty Gear became an all-time favorite game of ours.
Still rocking Guilty Gear to this day, here is the list of our personal favorite characters to play as from the series. These are the characters we enjoy playing with the most, the ones we're the best with. This is by no means a list of which characters are better than others, simply that these are the characters we can actually play with somewhat proficiently as well as a few we just like. If you're favorite characters aren't on the list that just means we're not very good with them, not that they're bad characters.
HEAVEN OR HELL!
DUAL ONE!
FIGHT!
THE BONUSES
#12
JUSTICE
The original final boss of Guilty Gear, Justice is one crazy character. Guilty Gear leans on the anime esthetics heavily with most of its character designs and Justice is their take on the giant robot "mech" character. Full disclosure: we're not very good with Justice. But you don't need to be good with Justice to win as she's (yep, that's a she) way overpowered. I love Justice's design and her story. She's one cool and unique character among fighting games. She's a bonus because, well, admittedly we're not very good with her, but she is still a lot of fun to play and so very cool.
#11
ZAPPA
If Justice is one of the most unique characters in all of fighting games, then Zappa IS the most unique of them all. In all of my days playing fighting games, I've never seen any character quite like him. Zappa is not a fighter, but a man possessed by a legion of evil spirits. And when the spirits take over his body he becomes a force to be reckoned with. As Zappa you can fight with a spectral hell-hound, a trio of ghosts, a demonic sword, and Raou - the manifestation of the lightning god itself!
Not only is the character concept and design entirely original and unique, but so is the execution and strategy needed to play Zappa expertly. The whole plan with Zappa is to get enough spectral orbs to summon Raou. A successful attack with one of the spirits possessing Zappa gains you a spectral orb. Once you have enough and you summon Raou, he has enough power to kill an opponent in one or two hits. And Raou is one amazing looking character. Only one of our friends has mastered Zappa and it is because of him that we're recognizing Zappa on this list! And, if we're being honest, Zappa is pretty cool.
THE TOP TEN
#10
FAUST
Faust is a completely bonkers character right out of some wacko children's show. To be honest, I don't have a whole lot of personal love for Faust, but man, he's a great character to play as. His strength is his ridiculously long reach (he's super tall, insanely flexible, and wields a giant scalpel as big as he is) and his speed. Fast characters are abundant in Guilty Gear but Faust is a particularly unique case. Keeping him constantly moving across the screen almost always guarantees victory. And there's something strangely satisfying about wielding Faust effectively. He's a difficult character to fight against, especially against someone who can keep him moving.
#9
MILLIA RAGE
Beware the hair. Millia Rage is one of the original fighters of GG and embodies everything Guilty Gear means. With the most head-bangin' hair of the entire roster, Millia is a force to be reckoned with. She's fast and furious with a Chun-Li-like rapid-fire attack (except with her hair, not her legs). But what makes Millia really deadly is the varying length of her hair, going from long-range to short-range in an instant. She's sporting a simple yet sleek design and has a stoic, badass persona. She reminds me of Medusa (from Marvel Comics, not the mythological Gorgon) and that's not a slam. Both Medusa and Millia are awesome characters.
#8
KY KISKE
The "white knight" of the Guilty Gear series, Ky Kiske is one of the poster characters for the series and arguably the co-star of the franchise. Ky is awesome but he's never been the top of my list. He's among my better characters for sure and is a ton of fun to play as. For three of my friends, however, he's one of the best. He's either their main or their second. I'm fair with Ky but nowhere near as good with him as my friends. Ky's design is wicked cool, a futuristic holy warrior of a sort. If you go with Ky Kiske you won't go wrong! Ky has some deadly high/low combos that make him a beast in the ring. And he's definitely the projectile king of the series (or a good candidate anyway).
#7
VENOM
Remember my buddy, Red? The man who introduced me to Guilty Gear? His mains are Ky Kiske and Venom, the pool-playing assassin. Venom is one wicked cool and unique character. I'm nowhere near as good with Venom as Red, but I'm not too bad either. Venom's not nearly as fast as some of the characters on this list but he doesn't need to be. He can fill the screen with pool balls and send them careening across the screen as well as massive energy balls that, if you get behind them, are devastating. Then there's his pool cue that can lay the smack down with efficiency. I've seen this for myself, Venom, in the right hands, is one of the best characters in the series.
#6
DIZZY
Dizzy
is one of my favorite characters in the entire series... that I'm
shamefully not as good with as I want to be. Dizzy has one of the best character
designs I've ever seen with a gentle and reserved personality that makes
her all the more endearing. I'm not bad with her, but she's not my best
nor even really a main... though I wish she was. I like her more than I'm
good with her (if that makes any sense). She debuted as the boss of
Guilty Gear X and has since figured centrally into the plots of several
games to follow. It was revealed that she is the daughter of Sol Badguy and
Justice. Eventually she marries Ky Kiske and becomes queen of the world.
The Guilty Gear team clearly cares about Dizzy too, but I feel
subsequent games have limited her more than improved her gameplay (this
coming from the guy who admittedly can't play as her). Anyway, I love
Dizzy and think she's one of the best characters in all video games.
#5
POTEMKIN
Guilty Gear is know for its fast characters. Potemkin is, by far, the slowest character of them all. But what he lacks in speed he more than makes up for in raw power. A single hit from Potemkin can take off a fifth of your life bar. He has the power to take down his opponents in only a handful of hits. And combine that with a reach that can stretch over half way across the screen, and you've got one of the most brutal characters in the game. In Guilty Gear there are certain characters with moves that "shrug off" enemy attacks, and Potemkin has one of the best shrug-off moves in the game. I rely heavily on that shrug-off attack as part of my strategy. Combine that with his sheer power and he's one of my favorite characters to play as in the series. If Millia is Marvel's Medusa, then Potemkin is Marvel's Hulk. And I do love me the Hulk!
#4
I-NO
First Appearance: Guilty Gear XX (2002)
The end boss for Guilty Gear XX, I-No is one of the most rockin' badasses of the entire franchise. Sporting a wicked cool design with the Hogwarts Sorting Hat to boot, I-No fights with her electric-guitar, mic-stand, amps, and music (yes, music has been weaponized). She's like a witch-rock star. All of the characters on this list are cool, but I-No takes coolness to a whole new level. Many characters embody the rockin' esthetics of Guilty Gear and I-No is particularly exemplary of it. You can imagine I-No being the character playing the series' metal soundtrack. For as petite as she is, she packs a ton of power (as she should being a boss character). She also has decent speed and some great combos that make me love playing as her.
#3
ZATO-1 a.k.a. EDDIE
It sure seems like Daisuke Ishiwatari, Guilty Gear's creator, loves Marvel Comics. Earlier on this list we had analogs for Medusa (of the Inhumans) and the Hulk. Here's Guilty Gear's take on Eddie Brock/Venom (and in XX Zato-1 was renamed Eddie... because Venom was already taken). Zato-1 is an assassin that's bonded with a symbiotic creature that has weaponized Zato-1's shadow. Zato-1 is an incredibly imaginative character in design, brilliantly realized once you start playing. At first glance he looks incredibly simplistic but, once you begin working the shadow, the character completely transforms into some amazing. Zato-1 can disappear into the ground where he's untouchable. He can fly high in the air out of reach, and switch between close and long range attacks on the fly. He's an incredibly versatile character that can keep your opponents guessing. I love playing as Zato-1. He brings a ton of options to the table.
#2
SOL BADGUY
The poster boy and central protagonist for the Guilty Gear series, Sol Badguy (what an awesome name, right?) is kind of the "Ryu" of the series and introductory character, the 'ol reliable' if you will. He's powerful, well balanced, and user friendly. He has an array of moves that flow together well which can be devastating if they connect. In the right hands Sol is a force to be reckoned with. Now, Ryu is commonly referred to as the "novice" character. But to say Sol's a novice character is a disservice. Just like with Ryu, there's good players and great players. With Sol, my tactic is to overwhelm my opponent with Sol's speed and power, mixing high and low attacks. All it takes is for one attack to connect to chain into another attack to deal serious damage. This lethal combo makes him one of my best characters, one of my mains. I also love his design and anti-hero attitude. Simply put, Sol Badguy is awesome.
#1
BAIKEN
First Appearance: Guilty Gear (1998)
My main, my favorite, the most badass character in all of Guilty Gear... Baiken. Guilty Gear is populated by an embarrassment of riches in terms of great character designs and overall awesome characters. For me, Baiken is the cream of the crop in design, personality, and playability. She's like Rurouni Kenshin merged with Yagyu Jubei and more. She's got one eye, one arm, and a stoic badass personality befitting her bushido persona. I'll admit she isn't the easiest to play with (I have to try harder with Baiken then I do with Sol or Zato-1), but that means she isn't as easy to read as other characters. I try harder with her and that brings out a whole new level in me.
She started off as a secret character in the original Guilty Gear and has become a mainstay ever since (although sadly missing from Xrd - Sign, Xrd - Revelator, and STRIVE). Like Cammy in Street Fighter, she's the character I always look for when a new entry in the series is announced. She better show up in the following updates to STRIVE otherwise I'll put off buying it for a while. Rumor has it that a Guilty Gear character may show up in the recent SAMURAI SHODOWN for PS4 and Baiken's the one character who'd be perfect among the SamSho cast! Anyway, I love Baiken and could keep going on about her all day. Mercifully for you all, I'll end it here.
And there you have it!
My favorite characters from the Guilty Gear series!
Who are your favorite Guilty Gear characters?
Leave your favorites in the comments below!
And for more video game posts check out these others below!
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