Soul Series/Characters/Soul Calibur III

This is a list of characters from the Soul Series that made their debuts in the fourth game of the series, Soulcalibur III.

Zasalamel

Origin - Unable to determine due to his ability to reincarnate

Weapon(s) - Scythe

Voiced By: Hiroshi Tsuchida (Japanese), Keith Silverstein (English)

Zasalamel was originally a member of an ancient tribe: a sect of Algol's cult that guarded Soul Calibur. He was eventually exiled, however, when he went against the cult's strict orders to never use the spirit sword in times of war. Some time afterward, he discovered the secret of immortality, and through the use of arcane magic gained the ability to reincarnate himself. It seemed awesome at the time, but a few centuries of constant resurrection and death took its toll and he fell into depression, losing the joy of living as every death he suffered became more painful over the years. Believing his immortality to be a curse, Zasalamel decided to use the energies of Soul Edge and Soul Calibur so that he could finally die forever.

Zasalamel succeeds in obtaining the two swords in Soulcalibur IV, but during the ritual he witnesses a vision of the modern world. Amazed by humanity's accomplishments, and wanting to see this vision come to pass, he stops the process and the two swords disappear. Zasalamel now seeks to use the swords to gain true immortality instead of reincarnation to make his dream a reality.

His current status is unknown as of V.

Bald of Awesome
Big Bad: Of III', but then...
- Heel Face Turn: ...This happens in IV.
Born-Again Immortality
The Chessmaster
Costume Porn: His primary outfit in IV. He ditches the hood, but gets a pimped-out magician's robe instead.
Cursed with Awesome: His Reincarnation ability.
Eyes of Gold: Eye to be precise. His left eye is golden. It apparently contains his soul and stays with him throughout all of his incarnations.
Fan Nickname: His name is often shortened to just "Zas".
In the Hood: His primary and secondary attires in III and IV, respectively.
Master of Illusion: In IV, his encounters with Siegfried, Kilik, and Algol has Zasalamel create illusory copies of people dear to those characters (Siegfried's father Frederick, Kilik's adoptive sister Xianglian, and Algol's son Arcturus) just to spite them for no reason.
The Middle East: It's likely he may originally be Babylonian, judging by the names of his attacks being named after figures of Babylonian myth and legend: Ereshkigal, Nergal, Shamash, Tiamat, etc. This also fits with him originally being a member of Algol's cult, who is himself inspired by the hero king Gilgamesh, and therefore likely originates from the pre-Babylonian (occupying the same region) Sumerian civilization.
One-Winged Angel: Undergoes one in III, becoming Abyss, although IV retconned it out of existence.
Resurrective Immortality: Zasalamel masterminded the events of III for the express purpose of curing himself of this.
Scary Black Man
Sharp-Dressed Man: As seen in his IV ending. That is one classy cat.
Sinister Scythe
Twenty Minutes Into the Future: His ending in Soulcalibur IV, in which he achieves true Immortality. 400 years from the events of the game, he is seen in New York City, now a man of great importance (possibly the President), looking at how much the world has changed and giving a nice little monologue before he boards a helicopter for an important meeting.
Xanatos Gambit and Xanatos Roulette: His plan to finally die. However, he discards of it before IV due to his visions and Zasalamel feeling the energies of the swords warping him into Abyss.
Who Wants to Live Forever?: Zasalamel's goal in Soulcalibur III is to find the cursed sword so that he can finally achieve a peaceful (and permanent) death.
- Averted in Soulcalibur IV, in which he suddenly wants to live forever because he saw a vision of the modern world and felt the urge to live again.

Tira

Origin - Bird of Passage Assassins Guild, Europe

Weapon(s) - Ring blade

Voiced By: Masumi Asano (Japanese), Jessica Straus (Soulcalibur IV onward, English)

A young girl who uses a ring blade and looks like she wandered off from the Cirque Du Soleil. Tira is a former assassin who once worked for an organization called the Bird of Passage. When the Evil Seed shone down on the leaders, the group disbanded. Tira had become addicted to killing during her time in the group, however, and couldn't live a normal life. When she heard about Nightmare, she empathized with him because he was a similar being to herself, and she became his servant. She then went after Sophitia's children.

In Soulcalibur IV her mind gets shattered by the meeting of Soul Calibur and Soul Edge and her already bi-polar nature becomes a full Split Personality. She becomes very cunning and manipulative and has most of the cast under her thumb. Unfortunately, Soul Edge is destroyed, and she suffers a mental breakdown, returning to the shadows. She finds solace in her plans for Pyrrha, and upon Soul Edge's return she returns to Nightmare. However, she is not pleased when she finds out that the new Nightmare wants to privately seek control over the world, instead of slaughtering everything. Deciding that this Nightmare is an impostor, she sets out to seek a new host in V.

Ancient Conspiracy: The Bird of Passage was responsible for many notorious murders of prestigious figures and officials, and from its safe position in the shadows, it influenced the history of medieval Europe.
Animal Motifs: She has an association with birds, especially Ravens and Crows.
Badass Normal: She can fight on equal grounds with Sophitia, who has literal god-given skills and a divine weapon... with a completely unenchanted weapon.
Bare Your Midriff: Present in all her main outfits.
Beauty Mark: Just below her right eye.
Blood Knight
Career Killers: Raised as an assassin.
Cargo Ship: In-universe. She's in love with Soul Edge, the sword itself, not the sword's current body/host. This is made clear when she let Z.W.E.I. kill the current host of the sword, "Graf Dumas." She then let Pyrrha dispose of Z.W.E.I. and starts talking to the sword like a long-lost lover.
Circus of Fear: As seen in her costumes and highly acrobatic movements.
Cirque Du Soleil: Her look and possible design inspiration. One of their shows (Alegria) featured the brilliant Elena Lev, a young hula-hoop/acrobat artiste, dressed all in green, who has a definite Tira vibe.
Combat Stilettos: In V.
Continuity Nod: Her main outfit in V seems to draw inspiration from her main outfit in III and especially her alternate IV one.
- Her entire relationship with ravens can be seen as a reference to Nightmare's raven in Soulcalibur II.
Dark Action Girl
The Dragon: To Nightmare, especially in SCIV where she does all his dirty work for him.
- Plus unlike Astaroth, Ivy, Voldo, and Sophitia, Tira is genuinely and completely loyal to him.
- At least until SCV.
Early-Bird Cameo: Not Tira herself, but her raven (no pun intended) was the same one seen in the intro to II handing out pieces of Soul Edge to various warriors.
Eerie Pale-Skinned Brunette: In IV. Before that, she had green hair by default.
Expy: Possibly of Misa Amane and/or Harley Quinn.
- In SCIV, it's possible to give her a crude Harley Quinn outfit.
Evil Sounds Deep: Her voice alternates according to her mood, ranging from squeeky and perky in her "jolly" state, to incredibly gruff and gutteral in her more powerful, angrier "gloomy" state.
- Power Makes Your Voice Deep: In one of her endings from III, Soul Edge takes over Tira's body. The end result? She gets a much sultrier voice.
Fairy Tale Motifs: Her throws are named after elements from fairy tales, such as Glass Slippers, Death Spindle, and Poison Apple.
Fluffy Fashion Feathers: Her Mari Shimazaki-designed 2P costume in SCV.
Forceful Kiss Kiss of Death: Her poison lipstick/soul-sucking Critical Finish.
Giggling Villain
Girlish Pigtails: In her SCIV incarnation, and the imagery remains in V.
Karma Houdini: In V. She orchestrates most of the plot of V, ultimately succeeding in replacing Nightmare with Pyrrha as Soul Edge's next host, but is conspicuously absent by the game's close.
- Justified as Word of God states that the story mode was supposed to be four times larger and deal with all the characters, but they didn't have the time or man-power to make it happen.
Large Ham: Most notably in her gleeful mood, but her gloomy mood has its moments.

"I WANT TO SEE YOU DESTROYED! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!"

Mad Love, Psycho Supporter, Undying Loyalty: Towards Nightmare/Soul Edge. But not the second Nightmare, who she views as an in-universe Replacement Scrappy.
Manipulative Bitch
Meaningful Name: Her weapon, Eiserne Drossel, translates to Iron Throttle from German. Drossel can also mean Thrush, which fits in with her association with birds.
- With regard to her own name - "Tira" is the feminine form of "Tir/Tyr," a Norse name referencing (appropriately) the God of combat. This lends weight to her possible Scandinavian origin, mentioned above.
Mood Swinger: At first. The energies released by Siegfried and Nightmare's clash broke her mind, escalating it to full-on dissociative identity disorder.
More Than Mind Control: Her method of manipulating Pyrrha.
Multicolored Hair: White and purple in V, drawing inspiration from her alternate costume in IV.
Parts Unknown: Unlike nearly all of the other warriors in the series, her bio contains no information on her birthplace and this is simply listed as "unknown." Fans have suggested several possible origins, ranging from Scandinavia, Germany, and Romania.
Pet the Dog: She likes animals, particularly birds.
- If Nightmare wasn't a Complete Monster, her Undying Loyalty towards him could be seen as this.
Perky Female Minion: To Nightmare.
Psychopathic Womanchild
Purple Eyes
Rings of Death: She wields probably the most unusual weapon in the series, a large bladed hula-hoop.
She Cleans Up Nicely: She's something of an Unkempt Beauty in her normal costumes, but certain 2P costumes indicate that Tira is downright gorgeous if she pays any attention at all to her appearance.
Something Wicked This Way Comes: She appears to have stepped right out of this disturbing, circus-based horror novel.
Split Personality: Manifests fully in the fourth game, but was present in SCIII too. Gameplay wise, this is presented as a more acrobatic "jolly" move-list and a more damaging (including self-damage) "gloomy" move-list. She switches between these styles throughout the match.
Stripperiffic: Her default outfit in Soulcalibur III. It's a wonder her boobs don't slip out or get bruised.
- Then again, her default outfits in IV also qualify. V's wouldn't, but her shirt is completely torn apart, so it counts.
Inner Dialogue: Present in a few of Tira's moves in IV.
The Starscream
Tyke Bomb
Uncanny Valley Makeup: Lashings of mascara, loads of green or black eye-shadow, bright green lipstick and stripes of deep fuchsia body/face-paint.
Undeathly Pallor: As of her appearance in SCV, where her whole face and body is now a ghostly pale pinkish grey colour.
Underboobs: Formerly provided the trope picture.
Villainous Harlequin: Arguably.
Yandere: Lampshaded in Broken Destiny, which portrays her as Nightmare's unwanted Stalker with a Crush who will kill anyone who comes between their love.

Setsuka

Origin - Raised in Japan

Weapon(s) - Shikomi-zue concealed in an oilpaper parasol

Voiced By: Nanaho Katsuragi (Japanese), Kari Wahlgren (Soulcalibur III; English), Tara Platt (Soulcalibur IV; English)

A European-Japanese woman who wields an Iai sword hidden in an umbrella. She seeks Revenge against Mitsurugi for killing her master, the only man she ever loved. In IV she gets self-doubts about her mastery of the sword, and retrains in order to reach Himura-esque speed.

Between IV and V, Mitsurugi's backstory states that she defeated him sometime during the time skip, taking his Shishi-Oh in the process. By the time of SCV, she has left Japan and started a new life in Istanbul under the alias of "Neve," where she taught the ways of the sword to orphans. She also had a hand in training Patroklos.

Action Girl
All There in the Manual: According to the official site, after the events of Soulcalibur IV, Setsuka understood how mistaken she was to pursue revenge. She took on the name "Neve" and travelled to Istanbul (the capital of Turkey) where she became a self-defence teacher to orphaned children, including Patroklos.
Combat Sandals: She wears 6 inch high okobo sandals, even in combat.
Distaff Counterpart: In a sense, she could be a considered to a very loose female counterpart to Arthur.
Fancy Hair Decorations: Her hair is gathered high on top of her head in an elaborate coiffure and held in place with various combs and ornamental pins in a Geisha/Oiran style.
Femme Fatale
Geisha: Her design basis, although she is more reminiscent of an Oiran, a type of high-ranking Japanese courtesan distinguished from geisha by their more elaborate kimono and hair decorations, front-tying obi, and higher status.
Gorgeous Period Dress: Her player 2 outfit in IV, often dubbed her Mary Poppins outfit by the fanbase.
Hidden Weapons
High-Class Call Girl: Her look. She's based on an Oiran, as explained above. This is referenced in one of her kicks, "Oiran kick."
Iaijutsu Practitioner
Ice Queen: Her demeanor.
Istanbul: Her current home, as of SCV, following her departure from Japan. The Turkish city is traditionally thought of as the gateway from Asia into Europe (and vice versa). Setsuka's character design personifies this "east-meets-west" quality, in what could possibly have been a deliberate pun. The city is also located within the Ottoman Empire, which enables her meeting and training Patroklos.
Kicking Ass in All Her Finery: Especially in SCIII, where she's geisha-ed up to the nines.
Kimono Fanservice: Her beautiful kimono, a gift from her dead master, looks as if it would slip off if she so much as sneezed.
Lady of War
Meaningful Name: Setsuka means snow bloom, which suits her cold personality.
- Shown Their Work: The name Neve means Snowy in Latin, which is a remarkably appropriate Western counter-part to her previous alias Setsuka.
Mentor Ship: Was in love with her master, as mentioned above.
Mighty Whitey: She's actually European. She dyed her hair black in the 3rd game but returned it to her natural blonde color in the 4th game. Subverted in that she was shunned from early childhood for her overtly non-Japanese appearance before she was taken in and cared for by her aformentioned master.
Parasol of Prettiness/Parasol of Pain: Not only does the umbrella conceal her weapon, but she actually whaps her opponents on the head with just the umbrella in a few moves.
- Silk Hiding Steel: Used as a Visual Pun.
Parental Abandonment: Presumably. However, it's not explained in her bio how she came to be an orphan in Japan.
Parental Substitute: While training Patroklos in the art of iaido, she was disappointed that the boy was so steadfastly clinging to revenge as a motive and urged Patroklos to not go down the same path she did, causing him to eventually turn his back on her. It is only later that Patroklos realizes that Setsuka was a second mother to him.
Revenge: She wants to kill Mitsurugi to avenge her slain master.
Revenge Before Reason: Setsuka vows to take revenge upon the man that defeated her master in a duel, which accidentally gave him an infection that killed him. Despite the fact that his dying words were that the swordsman was a good and honorable man, and that she should not hold a grudge against him.
Satellite Character: Becomes apparent instantly. Also, see "Stand Alone Episode."
Shout-Out: To Lady Snowblood and Kill Bill.
Stand Alone Episode: Her story. Unlike the other characters in the series, who are all connected to or effected by Soul Edge or Soul Calibur in some way, Setsuka's storyline has nothing to do with the legendary swords or their power and is purely concerned with her attempting to kill Mitsurugi. She is not accompanied by any other characters in SCIV's Story Mode and this must be completed using her alone.
- Exemplified in her ending in SCIII, in which she's the only character to completely ignore Soul Edge after beating Abyss.
Sword Cane
Tall, Blond and Bishoujo
The Unfettered: Her single-minded goal is to avenge her slain master, nothing more.
- Setsuka actually moves past her revenge in both games' endings. In III, she even counsels a woman in a predicament similar to hers and helps her move beyond such petty things as well.
- The above might not hold true, given what is mentioned in Mitsurugi's V backstory.
  - While training Patroklos, she advised him to not give in to dark desires such as revenge, as she was once consumed by that same drive in the past, implying that she did get over her vengeance after defeating Mitsurugi and saw something of her younger self in Patroklos.

Amy Sorel

Origin - Rouen, French Empire

Weapon(s) - Rapier

Voiced By: Kanako Tateno (Soulcalibur III; Japanese), Hitomi Nabatame (Soulcalibur IV; Japanese), Heather Hogan-Watson (Soulcalibur III onward; English)

Raphael's adopted daughter. She was orphaned at a young age, and had become distant from the world. She saves Raphael from the authorities, and starts to open up her heart again to the world.

In III she becomes a fully playable character, and gets revamped for the Arcade Edition of III, and then gets even more revamped for IV. Bored of waiting for Raphael to return with Soul Calibur, and possibly not too happy with him constantly leaving her, she heads out to search for him. Amy is missing as of the time of V, although it is speculated that unspecified events might've lead her to becoming the woman known as Viola.

Action Girl
Age-Inappropriate Dress: In both senses, as the trope picture points out.
Ascended Extra: Goes from a background character who makes a cameo in the intro to II to a bonus character in III to a full-fledged memeber of the roster in III: Arcade Edition and IV.
Early-Bird Cameo: She makes a short cameo in the opening movie of II, before becoming a playable character in III.
Elegant Gothic Lolita
Emotionless Girl: Subverted due to the fact that it's just a Jerkass Facade.
Girlish Pigtails
Impossibly Low Neckline
He Went That Way!: How Raphael met her in the first place, as well as what endeared her to him and caused him to adopt her.
Hot Chick with a Sword
Kicking Ass in All Her Finery
Little Miss Badass
Lady of War: Majestic with her rapier!
Meaningful Name: Amy, coming from the old french Aimée, means "beloved." This is played up with the mission you need to complete to unlock her in SCIII, named Beloved.
Mega Twintails
Mini-Dress of Power
Morality Pet: For Raphael.
Nietzsche Wannabe: Many of her winquotes in IV.
Pokémon-Speak: In III.
Pretty in Mink: Her outfit in the 4th game.
Princess Curls
When She Smiles: Her ending in IV.
Zettai Ryouiki

Olcadan

Origin - Unknown (An ancient civilization)

Weapon(s) - All weapons

Voiced By: Shigenori Souya (Japanese)

A warrior from an ancient time when the soul swords were in their infancy, who mocked the gods and got in exchange an owl-headed curse. Trapped in a time-still labyrinth for many years, the Evil Seed finally released it in the 16th Century. After getting used to the new era, he sets out to fight the power that released him.

Badass Grandpa: Possibly one of the oldest characters in the series (his in-game bio claims that Soul Edge was only "young and weak" in his era).
Ditto Fighter
Expy: Of Edge Master, who is implied to have fought him to a draw before he was cursed.
Put on a Bus: As with most ditto fighters.
Worthy Opponent: He fought Edge Master to a draw, and can see Edge Master's influence in Kilik's style. The only person he's considered as approaching worthy since then was Mitsurugi.

Abyss

Origin - Chaos

Weapon(s) - Scythe

Voiced By: Hiroshi Tsuchida (Japanese), Keith Silverstein (English)

Zasalamel's ultimate form after being affected by the energies of the abyss he used for his plans. In Soulcalibur III, supposedly he'd morph into this as an after-effect of the ritual he performed to merge with the energies of both swords. Soulcalibur IV retconned this, and instead Zasalamel cut short the ritual after feeling his body starting to be transformed.

Body Horror: He looks like a decaying body with a hole in its chest...
Casting a Shadow
Final Boss
Mind Over Matter
Power Echoes

Night Terror

Origin - Chaos

Weapon(s) - Soul Edge - Great Sword

A What If character intended to show Nightmare's ultimate form after he merged both Soul Edge and Soul Calibur with itself. While the character itself never came to be (well, canonically, anyways), his design was the base for Nightmare's SCIV form, possibly to show he's approaching that magnitude of power all by himself. The New Legends Of Project Soul confirms it is canon and THE most powerful entity in the Soul Calibur universe - not even Algol tangles with it.

Blade of Fearsome Size: Shames anything else in this series several times over.
Eldritch Abomination: As of the Soulcalibur V artbook, yes.
Eye Beams: A full screen flying-out-of-range variation.
Meaningful Name: Night terrors are nightmares on steroids.
Playing with Fire
Power Gives You Wings
- Wings Do Nothing: Averted. He's the only character in the series who is immune to a Ring Out. Guess why is that?
  - It also gives him a stance in which he is invulnerable to damage and can do 70% damage to any downed character.
SNK Boss: This guy will give you night terrors trying to fight him.
True Final Boss

Revenant

Origin - Unknown

Weapon(s) - Dual wave swords

An assassin once feared, but later mocked as an old man. Revenant having killed a previous incarnation of Zasalamel, Zasalamel made him pay in his next reincarnation. And since death wasn't enough, he controlled his remains to serve him as a servant. In IV he's downgraded into a Cervantes-copy still serving Zas.

Dem Bones
Disproportionate Retribution: Receiving end, see above.

Greed and Miser

Origin - Japan

Weapon(s) - (Miser) Katana and shuriken, (Greed) Dual kunai

Voiced By: Keiji Hirai (Greed; Japanese), Yuki Makishima (Miser; Japanese)

An old man that looks like a bum and a Japanese-looking girl. Two random assassins and rivals of Yoshimitsu. They get trashed by Mitsurugi in IV.

Dual-Wielding: Greed uses two kunai in battle.
Eyepatch of Power: Greed.
Katanas Are Just Better: Miser. She also wields shuriken.
Hachimaki: Miser.
Meaningful Name: Both of them.
Raven Hair, Ivory Skin/Shiny Midnight Black: Miser.
The Rival: To each other as well as Yoshimitsu. They are respectively "Number Four" and "Number Five" in their organization of thieves.

Valeria, Hualin, and Lynette

Origin - Venice, Republic of Venice (Italy) / Xian, Ming Empire (China) / Kiev, Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (Ukraine)

Weapon(s) - Grieve edge (Valeria), Extendable staff (Hualin), Tambourines (Lynette)

Voiced By: Yuki Makishima (Valeria; Japanese), Hiromi Konno (Hualin; Japanese), Kanako Tateno (Lynette; Japanese), Heather Hogan-Watson (Lynette; English)

Otherwise referred to as The Shop Girls by the fans. One lost her father to Soul Edge, the second got hired after noting her talents and the third seeks her life's calling... though they are more remembered by their role as the ones attending the in-game store... and their ludicrous amount of jiggling (especially Valeria... oh boy).

Anime Chinese Girl: Hualin.
Armed Legs: Valeria.
Blond Brunette Redhead: Lynette, Hualin, and Valeria respectively, although Valeria veers a bit towards fuschia.
Fiery Redhead: Valeria approaches this when you repeatedly try to buy an already-purchased item or select an item only not to actually buy it.
Genki Girl: They're all pretty upbeat, but Lynette takes the cake.
Get Back Here Boss: There's a mission where you have to defeat each of them while they run from you extremely fast. You're given a very long time limit, but it goes down fast if you let them taunt.
Impossibly Low Neckline: Valeria. Enough to give Lulu, the current model of the trope, a run for her money. It should be noted that while Valeria can be recreated in CAS, her individual model is considerably more buxom than the standard CAS female.
Improbable Weapon User: Tambourines for Lynette.
Meganekko: Hualin.
Meido: Present to a degree with Valeria and Hualin, but most notable with Lynette.
Odango Hair: Hualin.
Simple Staff: Hualin. Her weapon is able to grow to mammoth proportions. It's based on the staff from Journey to the West, which could change length and width (see also, Goku's Power Pole).

Abelia, Luna, Demuth, Aurelia, Chester, Strife, Girardot

Origin - Chronicles of the Sword

From an Alternate Universe known as Chronicles of the Sword. All bosses within said mode, some later reedemed to become units of the player.

KOS-MOS

While not an "official" character and lacking a move-set, KOS-MOS makes a cameo in the character creation mode, where she can be created with the "type-x" parts.