Soul Series: Difference between revisions

''Soul Edge'', while mildly successful in arcades (and on the PlayStation as ''Soul Blade''), was largely overshadowed by ''Soul Calibur'', which revamped many of the original game's aspects, including the three-dimensional movement, character combos and timing, and completely removed the breakable weapon aspect. The Dreamcast port of the game rebalanced the gameplay and overhauled the graphics, becoming its system's [[Killer App]] in the process. It's often placed among many game critics' "favorite games of all time".

As of ''SoulCalibur III'', the series title seems to be ''SoulCalibur'' in a reference to Excalibur. Odashima said he wanted ''SoulCalibur 5'' to be named ''Soul Edge 2'', but was rejected.

{{tropelist}}

{{quote| Algol: "Fighting is my all...it is my existence!"<br />

Nightmare: "Your existence is meaningless!" }}

* [[The Blade Always Lands Pointy End In]]: In the intro.

* [[Blood Knight]]: Mitsurugi and Algol.

** In the story mode of ''III'', this becomes the excuse for having a character use Soul Edge or Soul Calibur. Abyss will toss his scythe at you, requiring a [[Quick Time Event|quicktime event]] to block it. If the character is scripted to end up fighting with one of the Soul weapons, the strike will break the weapon the character is holding no matter what, and then one of the Soul weapons will be launched at the character, which they pick up to finish the fight.

* [[Canon Immigrant]]: Sort of... A character named Yoshimitsu appears in all four ''Calibur'' games <s>as a secret character</s>; he's similar to the Yoshimitsu from ''[[Tekken]]'', but may not be the same person.

** The Tekken 3 booklet's bio of Yoshimitsu says something like "He may have existed since the 18th Century". If this is true (it's nowhere mentioned in the NTSC-U english manual), it's only an addition of the English translator, as no such mention appears in any of the Japanese profiles.

** Staying within the confines of the series itself, we have Hwang and Arthur. In both cases, the characters were conceived as alternates to Mitsurugi for the Korean market (who have a high distaste for samurai due to their bad history), Hwang for ''Soul Edge'' and Arthur for ''SoulCalibur''. Later on, a second revision for ''Soul Edge'' was released and Hwang was canonized as a real character for all regions and given his own story. Likewise, in ''III'', Arthur was given some back story and added as a bonus character. Arthur has little relevance to anything in the narrative but Hwang has been a prominent player through the first two titles.

** Back with a vengeance in ''V'' (at least in Legendary Souls mode and the harder opponents in Quick Battle). In addition to reading inputs, being immune to mixups, and abusing it's own lack of needing input by executing complex moves faster than a human could ever do it, this AI will also flawlessly space your characters (staying close to long range characters and keeping away from short range ones) and perfectly confound all attempts at horizontal containment.

* [[Crossover]]: ''II'' includes [[Tekken|Heihachi]], [[Spawn]], or [[The Legend of Zelda|Link]], depending on which console you use.

*** Well, story maybe, but time period, most certainly not; ''V'' takes place over a century after the ''Assassin's Creed'' games (specifically ''II'' and ''Brotherhood'', which star Ezio, who is in about his 30's there; ergo, he should already be dead by the time the game's story rolled by).

* [[Crystal Prison]]: Soul Calibur likes to pull this as of ''IV'' whenever it trumps Soul Edge in certain character endings.

* [[Dojikko]]: Talim becomes this when you use her running "kick" attack, which is more of a "trip and fall" attack. One of Xianghua's attacks when she is on the ground has her throw a tantrum. Dampierre is prone to falling in some of his attacks (when intended), and blocking will often get him to fall over in pain. In fact, in The Gauntlet, he's constantly accidentally activating his daggers into his own flesh. In ''Broken Destiny'', the first assassin sent to try and kill you is so clumsy that your character ''starts to get hit out of pity for her.''

* [[Drop the Hammer]]: Some of Astaroth's weapons, as well as Rock's maces, include hammer-like weapons.

** Aeon Calcos (Lizardman), as of ''V'', duel-wields axes.

* [[Dummied Out]]: Daishi Odashima, the game's director, [http://train2game-news.co.uk/2012/03/26/train2game-news-soulcalibur-v-story-mode-one-fourth-of-planned-size-each-character-was-to-have-own-story/ reported] that ''SCV's'' Story Mode was supposed to be ''4 times bigger'' than that of the released product, and each character would have its own chronicle instead of just focusing on Patrokolos and Pyrrha; time constraints and lack of staff made the plan go down under. They even had full voiced lines ready for the extensive Story Mode that, in the end, weren't used.

*** [[In Name Only]]. The Critical Edge in ''V'' is a conventional [[Limit Break|super move]], governed by a gauge, instead of a long string of attacks.

* [[Easter Egg]]: ''V'''s Quick Battle mode gives players the chance to fight Katsuhiro Harada, the producer of Tekken. Harada uses a Create-A-Soul exclusive [[Tekken|Devil Jin]] fighting style. Defeating him allows the use of the Devil Jin style for created characters.

* [[Eldritch Location]]: Astral Chaos, the dimension that Soul Edge retreats into whenever it gets too damaged.

* [[Elegant Gothic Lolita]]: Amy. And then ''IV'' has Setsuka's alternate outfit and Ashlotte, a ''[[Robot Girl|robotic]] [[Clock Punk|clockwork]]'' gothic lolita.

* [[Groin Attack]]: Sophitia, Kilik, and Seung Mina.

** Note that the Alexandra sisters have a tendency to attack ''using'' their groins.

** [[Product Placement]]: Adding the Apprentice from ''[[Star Wars]]: [[The Force Unleashed]]'', a game that was going to come out a month after ''IV'', was totally this.

** Also, a bunch of anime/manga designers were hired to create an original character -- and by "original character" we mean "they look different". Each of their individual fighting styles are copied from another character. They don't even have their own voice sets (using the ones from Create-a-Character mode instead).

** Xianghua [[Wendee Lee|is]] [[Suzumiya Haruhi|Haruhi]].

** Some out there may be wondering why Siegfried doesn't have an attack called [[Code Geass|Storm]] [[Crispin Freeman|of Loyalty]] in ''III''.

** Zasalamel is [[Castlevania Judgment|Simon Belmont]].

** In Japanese, Sophitia is [[Full Metal Panic|Melissa Mao]] and [[Fullmetal Alchemist|Riza Hawkeye]].

** Male Voice 1 in Create-A-Character Mode is [[Yuri Lowenthal]].

** Patroklos and Pyrrha are voiced by [[Yuri Lowenthal]] and [[Laura Bailey]] respectively. They are also the Male and Female Protagonist from [[Persona 3]].

** Given time, [[Lauren Landa|Leixia]] will grow into a [[Blaz Blue|Boobie Lady]].

** [[Johnny Yong Bosch|Xiba]] [[Code Geass|commands you all]]...TO GIVE HIM [[Big Eater|FOOD]]!

** Cervantes' [[The Other Darrin|human]] [[Patrick Seitz|form]] is a light-haired [[Badass]] in a red [[Badass Longcoat|longcoat]]. [[Blaz Blue|Sounds familiar]]... Also, [[Sengoku Basara|he seems to be lacking an eye patch, a gigantic anchor and his jacket isn't pink...]]

* [[Hit and Run Tactics]]: Conceivably possible with Spawn's signature fire/acid ball move. Any competent human or AI will be able to sidestep the fireballs, but against the easy and the inexperienced, you may be able to wipe the enemy health gauge clean before the enemy can so much as close for combat. Same goes for Link in the same game (except in the Gamecube version only). Can also be attempted with Ivy's whip and Kilik's staff to a lesser extent.

* [[Hoist Hero Over Head]]: One of Darth Vader's grappling moves in ''IV''. Two of Hilde's throws also do this.

* [[Horny Vikings]]: The Viking Helm in ''IV'' is an example of this.

* [[Lampshade Hanging]]: Seung Mina + bladed weapon + [[Groin Attack]] + "Bye bye" = not pleasant[[Tradesnark|™]].

* [[Large Ham]]: Nightmare's taunts before a battle and after winning a match. His lines could be very scary, if he didn't sound like he was trying so hard. "Have a taste of my darkness!" Also [[Bold Inflation|The]] [[This Is Sparta|Narrator]] at times.

** Cervantes is extremely hammy as well.

** Abyss in ''III'' actually has some pre-battle lines that are so lengthy that they get cut off/run into the other fighter's!

** Everything Astaroth says is incredibly melodramatic.

* [[Leotard of Power]]: Ivy, particularly in ''II''. Cassandra in ''IV'' has a coat on over one of these.

* [[Light Is Not Good]]: The titular blade, Soul Calibur. It was shown in ''IV'' that it wants to freeze the world in crystal, thus creating a [[World of Silence]]. Soul Calibur's justification is that if nobody can move, there won't be any more war. Granted, [[Well-Intentioned Extremist|it's still insane]].

** Reinforced in ''V'' {{spoiler|when its spirit presents itself as Sophitia to manipulate Patroklos into killing Soul Edge's wielder, his sister Pyrrha.}}

* [[Limit Break]]: The Critical Edge attacks in the upcoming ''V'', complete with their super meter.

* [[Malevolent Architecture]]: Abound in ''Legends,'' where even '''Leonardo da Vinci's house''' is full of swinging blades, rolling boulders, and puzzles.

* [[Mana Meter]]: ''V'' has one (with multiple stocks at that), and it's used to power the Brave Edge and [[Limit Break|Critical Edge]] moves.

* [[Manipulative Bastard]]: Zasalamel in ''III'' manipulates Nightmare, Siegfried, Ivy, and a bunch of [[Mook|Mooks]] as part of his plan to raise both swords' powers back to full. Also, in each character's own story mode, there's one path in which he baits said character into his clock tower, tests him/her in battle, and then either directs him/her to Nightmare (so he gets a chance to feed the sword with a strong soul) or curse him so he'd not become a nuisance later.

* [[Patriotic Fervor]]: Figures into the backstory for all of the Korean characters in the Soul Series. Hwang is a soldier in the Imperial Navy seeking Soul Edge in order to stop Japan's invasion of his country. Seung Mina is trying to prove that females can be as capable soldiers as male recruits, and Yun Seong's out to prove his worth to Hwang and his country. In later games, they realize that the sword is evil and instead fight to destroy it, with the side goal of proving the nation's strength.

** Yun Seong, in his ''III'' pre-boss fight (the one where you fight someone who has to do with the character's backstory), has him walking into the room, taking one look at Mitsurugi, whom he has never seen before, and yelling something along the lines of "Enemy of my homeland, prepare to die!"

* [[Personality Blood Types]]: Blood types are listed in the character profiles.

* [[Pimped-Out Dress]]: Quite a few of the outfits.

** To be fair, you can still color-change most of the clothing, so you can make it less horrible.

* [[Recurring Riff]]: "Path of Destiny", titled "Recollection" in its first appearance, is the ending theme to all four ''Calibur'' games.

* [[Road Cone]]: Every character's ending inevitably ends with them doing something with Soul Edge and/or Soul Calibur. ''Soul Calibur'' takes elements from a handful of the endings of ''Soul Edge'', Sophitia gets her ending where she breaks one of Cervantes's Soul Edge swords, but becomes injured in the process, leaving Taki to come in and finish Cervantes off, at which point Sigfried shows up and gets his ending where he becomes Nightmare. ''II'' takes mainly from Xianghua, with elements from Kilik (he fights Nightmare and his mirror breaks) and Nightmare (Siegfried recovers his senses after facing his dad in a dream). ''III'' takes the basic setup from Nightmare's ending (Siegfried recovers his mind, but seals Soul Edge with Soul Calibur instead of throwing it down a dark pit); as well as a bit of Raphael's ending (he pierced Soul Edge's eye).

* [[Samurai]]: Mitsurugi. Arthur is an interesting case: being an England-born orphan, he was raised and trained to serve as a samurai by his Japanese master (who previously bought him).

* [[Shockwave Stomp]]: Night Terror when he stabs the ground. A few other characters have ground stabbing moves that make one, and Xianghua has an actual stomp.

* [[Shoo the Dog]]: Kilik tries several times to keep Xianghua from following him, because he doesn't plan for his quest to end well. This is also the case for Hwang in ''Soul Edge'' and the first ''Calibur'', who keeps sending Seong Mina home when she follows him out.

** The ''Just Guard'' system, however, is more or less the ''Just Defend'' system from ''[[Fatal Fury|Garou: Mark of the Wolves]]''.

*** The whole [[Time Skip]] setting of ''V'' seems to be a [[Shout-Out]] to both games.

* [[SNK Boss]]: Night Terror, Algol, and the Apprentice in Arcade Mode.

* [[Soul Cutting Blade]]: Soul Edge

* [[Split Personality]]: Tira in ''IV'' switches between [[Slasher Smile|Slasher Smiling]] psycho to [[Kubrick Stare|Kubrick Staring]] psycho when her health is half-depleted (or by using Gestalt Madness -A + K-), as a side-effect of prolonged exposure to [[Soul Edge]].

** She was also a lot like Harley Quinn in her first appearance, except oddly, switching between grinning and not at random.

* [[Stripperiffic]]: Women wear everything from skirts that flip up at the slightest provocation, to battle thongs, to ornate dental floss, with heels being standard. Men tend to go shirtless but are otherwise adequately dressed.

* [[Sudden Sequel Heel Syndrome]]: This happens to Sophitia Alexandra in ''IV'', where she's made to defend Soul Edge in order to save her daughter's life.

* [[Take That]]: Dampierre's reactions to Sophitia's married status in The Gauntlet mode of ''Broken Destiny'' could be seen as this to those who refuse to accept that she has a husband.

* [[They Changed It, Now It Sucks]]: In Universe Example: Tira's reaction in ''V'' to the new Nightmare being a manipulative warmonger instead of the sociopath [[One-Man Army]] it previously was.

** [[An Axe to Grind]]: Astaroth, Rock (formerly), Lizardman, Ashlotte, [[Spawn]]

** [[BFS]]: Siegfried, Nightmare, Strife

** [[Carry a Big Stick]]: Rock

** [[Drop the Hammer]]: None as a main, but Astaroth and Rock have a few hammers in their arsenal.

** [[Dual Tonfas]]: Talim

** [[Good Old Fisticuffs]]: [[Tekken|Heihachi and anyone with the Soul of Devil Jin.]]

** [[Katanas Are Just Better]]: Mitsurugi, Yoshimitsu, Arthur

** [[Knife Nut]]: Taki, Chester, Natsu

** [[Laser Blade]]: Darth Vader, Yoda and the Apprentice [[Star Wars|(for obvious reasons)]].

** [[Parasol of Pain]]: Setsuka

** [[Rings of Death]]: Tira

** [[Sword and Gun]]: Cervantes

** [[Whip Sword]]: Ivy

** [[What Could Have Been]]: ''V'', whilst praised for its great gameplay and visuals, was met with criticsm (justifiably so) for the fact that the story mode only concentrated on and showcased the fate of a handful of characters. Even arcade mode has no endings for any of the characters, leaving a good deal of storyline elements [[Leave the Plot Threads Hanging|hanging]]. Annoyingly, when this was brought up in an [http://train2game-news.co.uk/2012/03/27/train2game-interview-soulcalibur-v-game-director-daishi-odashima/ interview] with game director Daishi, he stated that - "Our first plan on the storyboard was that we had every character's story, and actually we do have it in the studio, but time-wise, man power-wise we weren’t able to do it and only one fourth of what we planned to do is in the game"...

* [[World of Ham]]

* [[Yet Another Stupid Death]]: [[SNK Boss|If]] you beat the Colossus in ''III'', do '''not''' just stand there!

* [[Yin-Yang Bomb]]: The Soul Embrace (which is what happens when Soul Calibur and Soul Edge merge) in ''III'' and ''IV'', and Kilik's weapon Kali-Yuga which absorbs both good and evil energies.

* [[You Killed My Father]]: Siegfried's original motivation. {{spoiler|Although in this case it's more like [[You Killed My Father|I Killed My Father.]]}}

** In ''V'', Patroklos seeks revenge on the Malfested for his mother's death.

* [[The Greatest Story Never Told]]: The end of Weapon Master tells you that whatever your choice was when confronted with Soul Edge, it was never put into history. Indeed, the [[Big Bad]] of Weapon Master is said to have only been a footnote in the Soul Edge's long and colored history, and you're completely forgotten.

* [[This Looks Like a Job For Aquaman]]: Link, for a few of the Weapon Master levels due to his proficiency with ringouts (and for 1 stage, ability to get a high number of hits) he excels, even though he is placed on the bottom of the tier list. ([[Demoted to Extra|That happens to]] [[Super Smash Bros|him a lot.]])

* [[Time Skip]]: Chronicles of the Sword

* [[Training Boss]]: The first level of Weapon Master. The first two chapters of ''Chronicles of The Sword''.