TOP TEN SOUL CALIBUR CHARACTERS
"Transcending history and the world, a tale of souls and swords eternally retold."
When it comes to fighting games we here at Blood Work can't get enough of them! But if there's one thing we're a little deficient on... it's 3D fighting games. Give us 2D side-scrolling fighting games all day long! But 3D fighting games, well, we never really took to them. Battle Arena Toshinden, Virtua Fighter, Dead Or Alive, Tekken, and even the Street Fighter EX series, we played them all but they just didn't hit us right. Something about them, the speed, the movement, the different tactics and strategies, it didn't feel as fun. That and the dawning age of 3D graphics looked horrendous to me when compared with beautifully rendered 2D animated sprites. 3D fighters have come a long way over the years and I guess we owe at least the Tekken series another try.
But there was one 3D fighter that we fell in love with the first time we played it:
SOUL CALIBUR!
To this day, Soul Calibur for the Dreamcast remains one of our most treasured possessions and holds many fond memories in our heart. We first played this game in the late 90's in high school at a friend's house. Then all of us friends hit the game hard in college. We played it tirelessly for a time, battling each other, knocking out every character's story mode, and going as far as we could in Survival Mode (to this day Ross holds the record with Siegfried at an impressive 86 wins! My record was 64 wins with Cervantes). It was after Soul Calibur that my friend Ross gifted me with a new copy of Soul Blades for the Playstation 1.
But when Soul Calibur II came out everything changed. That game was one of the biggest releases of our lives. It was the first game we ever preordered and received the preorder bonuses like the Soul Calibur II Artbook and lithograph. The game itself was mind-blowing, both in terms of graphics and gameplay. Each character was tweaked from the previous game and played even better than before. The only major drawback was the absence of the character Hwang (although he was kinda present in the character Assassin). Aside from that, the CPU was a little tougher in single player modes (getting to 16 or 17 wins in Survival Mode took herculean effort!).
My friends and I went all out for Soul Calibur III as well with the preordering and everything else. The game was good but not quite as refined as SCII. Namco further tweaked the characters and not all for the better (my two favorite characters were greatly reduced, one of them to the point of being nearly unplayable). With Soul Calibur IV and V we kind of lost our enthusiasm for the series (again, my favorite characters still being tweaked and rendered unplayable).
It seemed the general consensus that the Soul Calibur series was only getting worse with each game post Soul Calibur II (and I'd agree). But with the latest entry in the series, Soul Calibur VI, the series returned to greatness (and my favorite character had their moveset and play-style restored to their Soul Calibur II style!)!
Anyway, although we haven't always liked the changes to the series we've always supported the Soul Calibur franchise. While the gameplay varies and some characters fail as a result of Project Soul's tampering, the games have always been decent and our love for the characters has always remained. There are many factors that make a great fighting game, but ultimately it comes down to the characters and gameplay.
The list parameters:
This is a list of my personal favorite characters. Yes, some of them are the characters I play the best with and some are just characters I think are cool. This isn't a list of who the best characters are, rather merely my personal preferences. I am by no means disparaging the characters not on this list, but rather I'm not as good with those characters as I'd like to be.
And so, without further pontificating...
"ENCOUNTER!"
THE BONUSES
#12
SETSUKA
Setsuka was one of the big new additions to the roster in SCIII that I feel slipped under the radar of most. She has a rather demure and unassuming appearance and personality when compared to her other classmates that hides her ferocious martial skills. She can be a beast in the right hands, always taking unwary opponents by surprise. Her Iaido style of swordsmanship is also both interesting and somewhat unique among the cast (meaning she's not patterned off of a previous character).
There are two film characters that Setsuka reminds me of that also help endear her to me: LADY SNOWBLOOD, with her design and umbrella, and ZATOICHI, with her hidden blade and quick-draw swordsmanship. Sadly SCIV didn't really capture my attention (my least favorite game in the series thus far) and it's a shame she wasn't included in SCV (but then there was a lot to be desired from SCV's character roster). So, really it's all thanks to her SCIII appearance that I love her so much. Of all of the characters on this list I feel Setsuka is the most underappreciated of the bunch.
#11
TIRA
How could you not like Tira? From the amazing color scheme to the badass character design, visually Tira is one of the most eye-catching characters of the series. Namco combined these attractive visuals with an insane personality (imagine Harley Quinn if she were a serial killer) and a wholly unique and original weapon/fighting style to the series to create a new iconic fighter. Of the three newcomers introduced in SCIII, Tira was easily the standout character... and I'd argue Tira is the best character Namco has created for the series since the Soul Calibur 1 cast (Setsuka being the next best). I can't stop raving about her!
So why then is Tira #11 if she's so great? Well, that's easy. I can't play with her very well, despite my best efforts. I can't manipulate the Ring Blade as well as I'd like. Her Soul Calibur IV redesign was a step in the wrong direction, in my opinion, but was rectified in SCV and SCVI. The Soul Calibur cast is constantly being tweaked both in design and moveset. Personally I feel Tira's debut design was perfect but I welcome adjustments to her moveset to find a more playable rendition in the future, kinda like how they reworked another favorite of mine... keep reading.
THE TOP TEN
#10
SOPHITIA ALEXANDRA
The original heroine of the Soul Calibur series, Sophitia is the perfect embodiment of the archetypical fantasy female warrior. Her design wonderfully captures her Grecian heritage and symbolic warrior of virtue and purity. Indeed, Sophitia is a character that channels the spirit and esthetics of DC's Wonder Woman and the Filmation She-Ra. As such, she's a great archetype, perfect for the setting of Soul Calibur. She's also the original character-template/pattern of this style for the series. Namco likes to repeat character styles with slight variations. In Sophitia's case, there's Lizardman, Cassandra, Pyrrha, and Patroklos. But none are better than the original in my opinion.
Truthfully, I don't find her design all that interesting or inventive. In fact, she seems fairly standard. However her character's strength isn't in how innovative her design is, but rather the symbolism her design and character represents. In this Sophitia shines. Now, when Namco debuted the character Elysium in SCV, which was essentially a redesign of Sophitia, I felt they had something new and interesting with Sophitia (if only they'd merge the two character designs into one then we'd really have something special). I prefer Tira and Setsuka to Sophitia in terms of design and personality but I am a stronger player with Sophitia. And a Soul Calibur game without Sophitia just seems wrong.
#9
HWANG SEONG-GYEONG
Hwang was among the original cast of characters for the series and was one of the characters I remember playing when I first discovered Soul Calibur. He represents a particular character template for the series, Xianghua, Yun-Seong, and Leixia being pseudo copies. As with Sophitia, Hwang remains the best of these characters in my opinion. He has a classic yet interesting design that still feels unique. His personality is the prototypical strong silent type which suits him perfectly.
Hwang's moveset is where it's at though. He's a template for so many characters for a reason. For me he plays the best of the lot. He's quick, agile, and has a wide range of attacks to move in ways that keep opponents guessing. That's what makes Hwang so much fun to play as and difficult to play against. Hwang hasn't been in every game in the series, sadly, but he has shown up in some way in the best games of the series (coincidence?). He was present in SCII albeit as the masked character "ASSASSIN" and was the latest DLC character announced for SCVI. Namco would be wise to include him in every Soul Calibur game from now on!
#8
CERVANTES DE LEON
"Scurvy Cervy!" The original boss of the franchise, Cervantes is a classic villain and a beast of a fighter. The dread pirate of the seven seas, Cervantes is unapologetically evil and a perfect antagonist for the series. He has a unique two-sword style of gameplay that's a lot of fun and devastating to your opponents if you catch them off-guard. There's no other character like him in the series. He plays like a boss meaning he's a powerful character.
Cervantes is a rather novel experience among the cast and always has been fun to play as. In Soul Calibur he was one of my "go to" characters. Playing as him set my personal record in Survival Mode. And he was also a "Ring Out" king in the game too. As such, I have a lot of nostalgia for Cervantes, one of my all-time favorites.
#7
SEONG MI-NA
Namco really nailed the original cast of Soul Edge. With a few exceptions these characters have stood the test of time and remain among the best characters of the franchise. Seong Mi-Na is another original template character for the series, a "pole weapon" fighter spawning variants like Kilik and Xiba. What makes Seong Mi-Na different from the others are her kicks. Her kicks are powerful and potentially devastating when they catch the opponent. The last kick in her combo pops the opponent in the air, making her the "Ring Out Queen!"
What also makes Seong Mi-Na stand out is her personality and design. She has a spritely youthful personality that makes her impossible not to like. It makes her such a fun character to watch and play as. Then there's her beautiful and colorful design. The design perfectly balances on the line of being both sexy and cute (like only the Japanese can do). And the colors pop to make her design prominently stand out. Seong-Mi-Na was my friend Meredith's best character and even won her third place at a Soul Calibur tournament! In short, Seong Mi-Na is one of the franchise's best and an easy favorite!
#6
ASTAROTH
The resident "big guy" of the franchise, Astaroth is a monster in the right hands. A demonic golem channeling a classic "executioner" vibe, he is one of the truly evil characters in the series alongside Nightmare and Cervantes. Designwise Astaroth is all over the place as he seems to be radically redesigned with each entry in the series (the picture above is the design I always think of first). I personally prefer his debut design and purple Soul Calibur 1 alternate costume.
Astaroth was essentially a replacement character for ROCK (a Soul Edge original cast member) albeit far more interesting. I took a liking to Astaroth from his debut appearance, particularly loving the "spinning axe" move where he hooks his opponent on the edge of his weapon and tosses them across the screen. My friend, Chad, however became an even greater master with this behemoth, becoming nigh unstoppable! Chad holds the record for Survival Mode in SCII while using Astaroth (along with several other records as well). Varying high and low attacks, throwing in a well placed shoulder-ram, and Astaroth can be an overwhelming force in the game.
#5
KILIK
One of the new heroes introduced in Soul Calibur 1, Kilik was easily the standout character among the new roster. Kilik fights with a bo staff that can really cover a lot of ground when handled right. Keeping opponents at a distance, Kilik's far reach makes him deadly and new player friendly. He's also got a few ring-out friendly moves too. Like Astaroth was a replacement for Rock, Kilik was a character swap for Seong Mi-Na. Over the series both characters have been further differentiated from each other to become wholly unique in their own right.
Kilik has a simplistic yet heroic design that draws you to him. His backstory is quite tragic (like many great heroes in literature and gaming), possessed by the demonic sword, Soul Edge, Kilik murdered all of the innocent people at his temple. Brought back to his senses through two of the sacred weapons (the glowing rock around his neck and the bo staff), Kilik embarks on a mission of redemption and to destroy the accursed Soul Edge. Trained by Edgemaster, joined by Maxi and Xianghau, Kilik completes the Sacred Heroes team in the series. He's a beginner friendly character with a lot to offer if you put the time and effort into mastering him.
#4
HEISHIRO MITSURUGI
A weapons based fighting game is only ever complete with the inclusion of a badass samurai warrior. Mitsurugi was one of the first characters I remember playing as when first discovering the Soul Calibur series on the Sega Dreamcast. His Rising Phoenix move was a go-to favorite. Modeled off of the historical figure Musashi Miyamoto, Mitsurugi has a tough guy attitude, channeling the swagger of legendary actor Toshiro Mifune (one of my all-time favorite actors). There's even a bit of Samurai Shodown's HAOHMARU in Mitsurugi's design and personality too, which is no bad thing at all. Namco infused this character with the best aspects of pop-culture samurai characters.
Mitsurugi is the personification of "badass" and maybe one of the coolest characters in all fighting games. He could easily be the favorite character of the whole series. Personally I feel his moveset was at its best in the original Soul Calibur for Dreamcast (so much so that he may have been slightly overpowered, hence the tweaks in later games). For the most part though his moves and design remain fairly consistant throughout the series, making him an 'ol reliable' among the cast. Like Kilik, he's a great character for beginners and those wanting to learn a deeper level of gameplay. Mitsurugi is an all-around great character that is hard to top, in this franchise or any other.
#3
TAKI
Where there's a samurai there must also be a ninja! Taki is a demon-slaying kunoichi hunting down the evil sword Soul Edge. Rather than fighting with a single sword like Mitsurugi (which would be cool), she fights with twin kodachi swords (short swords). She's the fastest character in the series and the most mobile of the cast, able to vanish and reappear elsewhere in a flash and dance around opponents. Her appearance is among the simpler designs of the series, yet she wonderfully captures the mythic kunoichi archetype (a devastating beauty to the ruin of man). She has a serious "no nonsense" personality complimenting her ninja persona.
It's no secret, we here at Blood Work love ninjas. And Taki is one of our favorites! Badass and beautiful all at once, Taki is figuratively and literally disarming in her appearance and abilities. For the longest time I never thought much of Taki, having great trouble playing as her. Then one day I suddenly figured her out. There was always something cool about her, but the moment I handedly took down a friend (who was playing with their best character) my entire outlook on Taki changed. She jumped the ranks and became a top favorite. Her moveset isn't the most intuitive, but if you take the time to learn her Taki is invincible, able to take down opponents in a heartbeat!
#2
NIGHTMARE / SIEGFRIED SCHTAUFFEN
From the very first game in the series, Siegfried was a powerhouse. His moveset was easy to get a handle on and he was tough to fight against. He's a great character for newcomers to the series. Right from the start Siegfried became a favorite. And, for the most part, his character is pretty consistent throughout the series. This consistency, by all rights, makes Siegfried my main character initially in every Soul Calibur game, even more than the #1 character on this list (more on that in a minute). But the best version of Siegfried wasn't even called Siegfried.
Nightmare was Siegfried transformed by Soul Edge. As such he was basically a repeat of Siegfried (as the Soul Calibur series tends to do) only with a few changes to the moveset. In Soul Calibur II Nightmare became my second favorite character with a bullet. He was the perfect balance of power and speed with a badass design that has yet to be rivaled. According to the game's plot, during Soul Calibur I and II, Siegfried was Nightmare. Starting with SCIII Siegfried split from Nightmare, in the plot, and Nightmare was drastically differentiated from Siegfried. Siegfried was still awesome but Nightmare was changed for the worse, in my opinion. And these changes kept coming as the series continued. Siegfried remained consistent but Nightmare grew worse with every sequel compared to how he was in SCII. So, while Siegfried really is the character second on this list, Nightmare from SCII is my favorite version. In many ways Soul Calibur II is the game to play for most characters.
#1
IVY ~ ISABELLA VALENTINE
I didn't think much of Ivy when she first appeared in Soul Calibur. She had a cool whip-sword that I couldn't play with and that was that. In short, she was hard to play with. Then came Soul Calibur II and her character's gameplay and moveset completely changed. Ivy transcended to an entirely new level. Her whip-sword, the Ivy Blade, took on a whole new persona. Watching the computer utilize her sword made me want to play as her. She went from a niche character that was hard to play with to the most amazing character to watch. It made me want to learn how to play her. I put in the time and Ivy became my main in SCII and subsequently my favorite character in the series. Manipulating her sword is so incredibly satisfying.
Then Soul Calibur III came out and screwed everything up. The button commands to utilize her sword were completely changed (still more playable than SC1 but nearly unrecognizable from SCII). She received a redemption arc, transforming her from a villain to a hero, along with a new white costume. SCIV was another downgrade for Ivy, this time all around. SCV gave her one of her best costume redesigns in the series but her playability was still a far cry from what it was. But finally in Soul Calibur VI the members of Project Soul finally came to their senses. Ivy plays like she did in SCII, maybe even better than SCII (perhaps, but I haven't played SCVI enough yet to know for sure). SCVI finally returned Ivy to her rightful place as the best character in the entire series (It feels like I've waited so long for the real Ivy to return)!
Designwise, her weapon has, well, kind of dictated her design. She wields a whip. So, naturally, she must be a dominatrix (like I said earlier, Soul Calibur leans on specific archetypes for their character designs, as most fighting games do, and Ivy's character is no exception). The dominatrix design is either hit or miss as the character designers alter it from game to game. Honestly, I never cared for the dominatrix design in SC1 and SCIV, although they perfected it in SCII. The white dominatrix design in SCIII is pretty awesome too. She's easily the sexiest character in the series, but it wouldn't mean much if she was impossible to play as. Once again, Soul Calibur II perfected both her design and her gameplay, transforming her from forgettable to maybe the best character in all fighting games...? Maybe that's going too far... or maybe that's right on the money.
For me... there's only one character in fighting games I can say that I love more and she's in Street Fighter.
Anyway, I unabashedly love Ivy. She's been my favorite Soul Calibur character for almost twenty years now and she'll always be my #1 favorite in the entire Soul Calibur series... even if I can only play as her in one or two of the six main series games.
There you have it, my top ten favorite characters in the Soul Calibur video game franchise!
What do you say? Do you agree with me? Do you have your own favorites?
Please leave a comment below and let us know!
And for more video game commentary check out the posts below!
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