Soul Series: Difference between revisions

Line 7:

The ''Soul'' series is a series of 3D weapon-based fighting games created by Namco, arriving shortly after the success of its other 3D fighter, ''[[Tekken]]''.

All of the games in the series follow an ongoing plot: rumors of a heroic sword of legends known as "Soul Edge" are widespread around 16th century Eurasia. Only a few know the truth; the sword is actually an evil [[Artifact of Doom]] with an insatiable thirst for human souls. Some fighters seek it without knowing the truth, others seek to destroy it, while still others know the truth but simply don't care.

At first, the sword falls into the hands of a mad pirate named Cervantes, and it possesses him and turns him into a [[With Great Power Comes Great Insanity|bloodthirsty killing machine]]. In later games, the sword is damaged by its "good" counterpart, Soul Calibur, and breaks into fragments, which are spread all over the world, causing misfortune on anyone who found them. By the last game, the sword has recovered all its lost shards and power, and awaits a final confrontation with its equally-powerful rival sword.

The series began in the mid-90s with ''Soul Edge'', one of the first games to feature three-dimensional combat where every character held a weapon. Control was mostly similar to ''Tekken'' and ''[[Virtua Fighter]]'', where characters could move along the three-dimensional plane, and could be knocked out of the ring if they were careless. Characters could also deflect each other's weapon attacks, or break them and render them useless if hit enough times.

Line 28:

* [[AI Breaker]]: Anti AI moves in the third game, and Astaroth's Discus Breaker (1AB in community notation) in Soul Calibur IV. Also, lying down facing the edge when fighting Algol on Floor 60. See [[Artificial Stupidity]].

* [[Alien Geometries]]: ''V'' has a few infinitely large stages. You can see scenery in the distance, but you can never get any closer to it no matter how far you move.

* [[All There in the Manual]]: Japan released an artbook guide for ''V'' that explains what happened to many of the characters that did not make it into the game, and heavily expanded the background for those who did.

* [[Amazing Technicolor Battlefield]]

* [[Anachronism Stew]]: Supposedly, this game takes place during the mid-to-late Renaissance, but there are certain aspects of the series (mostly the costumes and some [[Steampunk]] elements coming from llluminati-esque underground cults) that never really conform to a single real-world era.

* [[Apologetic Attacker]]: Sophitia, Pyrrha, and Talim.

** Siegfried tends to go into this when fighting non-possessed enemies, as they usually go after him for his past deeds as Nightmare. He accepts they have a rightful beef, but he can't die until Soul Edge's done for. So he beats them down, and then apologizes.

* [[Appropriated Title]]: The series was originally called ''[[Soul Blade]]'' but is now better known as ''[[Soul Calibur]]''.

** More accurately, it was ''[[Soul Edge]]'' in Japan and ''[[Soul Blade]]'' in internationally. This was due to copyright troll EDGE Games claiming any and all variations of the word "edge" for themselves.

Line 48:

* [[Awesome Yet Practical]]: Guard Break attacks, which coat your weapon in electricity, do boosted damage, and stagger foes if they were guarding. They are barely slower than regular attacks, and plenty are horizontal strikes (which means you can't walk out of the way).

* [[Badass]]: Basically every character in the game.

** [[Badass Adorable]]: Many of the younger girls, particularly Talim and Ashlotte.

** [[Badass Lolita]]: Amy

** [[Badass Back]]: Voldo legitimately; other characters in ''III'' who [[Fake Difficulty|shouldn't be allowed to]].

** [[Badass Unintentional]]: The fourth game has the rare moments where character taunts match up perfectly, such as...

{{quote|Algol: "Fighting is my all...it is my existence!"

Nightmare: "Your existence is meaningless!" }}

* [[Bishonen]]: Kilik, Maxi, Siegfried, and Yun Seong are pretty boys, but also [[Playing with a Trope|quite buff]].

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

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

* [[Bloodless Carnage]]: You'd think with all the blades flying around, someone would get at least a small cut.

** Worth noting [[Gameplay and Story Segregation|that this is a gameplay restriction]], and within the story itself ,the weapons do cause injuries and even death.

* [[Body Horror]]: Soul Edge can twist the human body quite grotesquely, best seen in the number it did to Siegfried's right arm. {{spoiler|The same corruption later happens to poor Pyrrha.}}

* [[Bonus Level of Hell|Bonus Mode Of Hell]]: Edge Master Mode, Mission Mode, Weapon Master Mode, Chronicles of the Sword, Tower of Lost Souls, and Legendary Souls, in chronological order.

* [[Bottomless Pits]]: Some arenas have cliffs, chasms, or are being hoisted into the air by an Egyptian construction crane. These are some of the most common forms of "Ring Out".

* [[Bowdlerise]]: In countries (specifically, Korea) that discouraged references to [[Samurai]] due to their histories with WWII-era Japan as well as various invasions from the 1590s, Mitsurugi was replaced twice: first with Hwang in the Korean arcade version of ''Soul Edge'', and then in ''SC'' with an [[Mighty Whitey|English-born, Japan-raised "samurai"]] named Arthur, who sported an [[Eyepatch of Power]] and wielded a [[Katanas Are Just Better|katana]]. The former became a main by the 2nd arcade revision, the later became an unlockable bonus character in ''III'' as well as making cameos in the introduction for Weaponmaster in ''II'' and The Gauntlet in ''Broken Destiny''.

Line 70:

* [[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.

** According to his story, "Yoshimitsu" is actually the name of the sword he wields, as well as a ''title'' given to the strongest Ninja in his clan (the Yoshimitsu in ''Soul Calibur'' is the founder and the Yoshimitsu of ''Tekken'' is the current leader); the personality and fighting style are adopted to give the impression that he is immortal ([[Legacy Immortality]], as popularized by [[The Phantom (comic strip)|The Phantom]]). However, Yoshimitsu is the same guy in the first 4 ''Soul Calibur'' games, as his story makes constant references to his development in past games; he is replaced by a new swordsman in the events leading up to ''V''. The ''Tekken'' games all feature a single Yoshimitsu as well.

** 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.

* [[Canon Welding]]: Possibly implied with Tekken at the end of {{spoiler|Zasalamel's}} story in ''IV'', which depicts him {{spoiler|reincarnated in modern New York}}.

* [[Celibate Hero]]: Ivy. [[Gag Boobs|No,]] [[Jiggle Physics|seriously]]. She knows that she has "cursed blood", thanks to Soul Edge (her blood type is even listed as "Soul Edge"), so she has taken a vow to never have children, lest they too be cursed.

** Also Kilik. By ''IV'', he returns Xianghua's love, but says it can never be because he plans to throw away his life to become a hermit/the eternal guardian of both swords, and wants Xianghua to continue and live a full life rather than do the same just for him. She eventually moves on and has a daughter of her own named Lexia.

* [[Character Customization]]: The Create-a-Fighter mode in ''III'', ''IV'', and ''V''.

* [[Character Development]]: Siegfried turns from a deluded young man, into the [[Big Bad]], and finally into [[The Atoner]] and the arguable protagonist/hero of the games. Similarly, Ivy has moved from evil to good. Most of the characters undergo some level of character development between games.

* [[Character Roster Global Warming]]: ''Soul Calibur'' has four "big" characters (Astaroth, Nightmare, Siegfried, Rock) compared to more than twenty others.

* [[Chekhov's Gunman]]: As Algol is the hero king who was able to wield Soul Edge and created Soul Calibur, he [[All There in the Manual|has been mentioned]] [[Chekhov's Gunman|since the beginning]], they just gave him a name in ''IV''. But to those unfamiliar with the backstory, he would appear to be a [[Giant Space Flea From Nowhere]].

Line 91:

* [[Cool Sword]]: Soul Edge and Soul Calibur.

* [[Counter Attack]]: Several characters have these. Some attacks just have frames at the beginning that cause a Guard Impact, which would make the rest of the attack sort of like a Counter Attack, but there are moves that genuinely won't do anything unless the opponent lands an attack at the proper frame of the animation. All attacks do more damage if they hit during the start-up or cool-down frames of an opponent's attack.

* [[Covers Always Lie]]: Usually in game covers, ads, and merchandise, Ivy is usually shown lined up with the other villainous characters, because of her rather [[Ms. Fanservice|interesting]] appearance. Even though at one point she committed murders in the sword's name, she's been trying to destroy it for most of the series.

** ''Soul Edge'''s cover shows Mitsurugi duel-wielding katanas. He has never done this in any game in the series.

* [[The Computer Is a Cheating Bastard]]: The AI of ''III'' blatantly reads your controller inputs, leading to things like a nigh-100% success rate in parrying basic throws (where there should be a 50% chance of failure), the ability to guard impact any attack, and never reacting incorrectly to any mixup or cancelled attack. This makes anti-AI attacks a ''necessity'' to use.

** There is one challenge in ''II'' where, in order to get to one of the special areas, you have to break your opponent's guard within a certain amount of time. Taki re-guards too fast after breaking her guard.

Line 105:

** ''V'' deals with the massacre and persecution of those who are and are accused of being 'Malfested'.

* [[Difficult but Awesome]]: Guard Impacts. The requirement (pushing forward and guard right as an opponent's attack is about to hit, plus knowing what height to use) plus the consequence (there is no 'fallback' if you miss, you will take damage) are demanding but execute one and your opponent's only response will be to do one of their own, bound by the same condition.

** Several characters fall into this as well; Ivy and Setsuka are both extremely difficult to learn but utterly devastating when mastered. The Grieve Edge style from ''III'' could be considered this, too, as it was heavily reliant on expert timing for attacks and Guard Impacts but was extremely powerful when executed with proper precision, in addition to looking really awesome.

* [[Ditto Fighter]]: Edge Master, Charade's ''II'' incarnation, and [[Ascended Meme|Olcadan]]. Inferno also acts this way in his appearances, save for his very first one (where he was just a pumped up Cervantes named SoulEdge). In '' II'', he switches styles in the ''middle of the fight'' and has a super move regardless of style.

** In ''V'', Edge Master returns as a mimic character, along with {{spoiler|Kilik and newcomer Elysium}}. The difference between the {{spoiler|three is that Edge Master can mimic all characters (needs confirmation for more special characters like Ezio or Devil Jin) while Kilik and Elysium can only mimic male and female characters respectively.}}

Line 113:

* [[Dropped a Bridge on Him]]: {{spoiler|Poor Sophitia. While most of the old cast that don't appear were merely [[Put on a Bus]], Sophitia herself was stated to be killed off casually by a Malfested in the past, thus it's not just on Patroklos' mind that she's dead.}}

* [[Dual-Wielding]]: Cervantes, [[God of War (series)|Kratos]], [[Tales of Symphonia|Lloyd Irving]], and Shura all dual-wield swords, as well as Talim, who [[Dual Tonfas|dual wields Tonfas]]. Taki and Natsu dual-wield daggers for certain attacks, and Algol's hands transform into Soul Edge and Soul Calibur, as well as double bubble cannons. Maxi can dual-wield nunchaku as an extra kata in ''Soul Calibur''.

** 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.

* [[Early-Bird Cameo]]: The Apprentice/Starkiller/Galen Marek from ''[[Star Wars]]: [[The Force Unleashed]]'', in ''IV''. Amy makes a short cameo in the second game's intro.

Line 119:

** A move called the [[Finishing Move|Critical Finish]] showed up in ''IV'', but seems to be unrelated. The Critical Edge itself returns in ''V''.

*** [[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.

* [[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 (manga)]] fighting style. Defeating him allows the use of the Devil Jin style for created characters.

** It's also possible to to assemble [[Xenosaga|KOS-MOS]] in ''III'''s Character Creation.

* [[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.

* [[Empathic Weapon]]: Soul Edge and Soul Calibur. Ivy's Valentine [[Whip Sword]] is also alive, which is why it can do all those improbable things in battle. Yoshimitsu's katana is shown to have a a level of sentience as well, especially in his ''II'' ending.

* [[Enemy Within]]: Inferno

* [[Enemy Without]]: Nightmare to Siegfried, after a point.

Line 130:

* [[Evil Only Has to Win Once]]: So far, Soul Edge has been shattered or destroyed at least three times (''Soul Edge'', ''Soul Calibur'', ''Soul Calibur II''), twice by Soul Calibur. What happens each time? The sword just breaks into pieces (each one every bit as evil as the whole sword) and eventually reforms itself, stronger than before. Now, what happens in ''every'' ending where the Soul Edge wins instead? The world gets '''''hosed''''', that's what. Even worse, in ''IV'', we learn that Soul Calibur is actually just as evil, but with a penchant for order rather than chaos.

* [[Evil Weapon]]: Soul Edge. Soul Calibur during the period where it was corrupted by Soul Edge's evil; it's normally a holy sword meant to oppose Soul Edge. {{spoiler|''IV'' reveals that Soul Calibur can actually be considered just as evil, when it reaches its full power and sentience. Unlike Edge, which revels in chaos, destruction, death, and torment, Calibur wants peace, harmony, and safety -- by ''freezing the entire world so that no one can move''.}}

* [[Expy]]: In ''V'', many characters deemed too old or are dead are replaced with characters who have the same fighting style. Examples include Natsu for Taki and Pyrrha for Sophitia.

* [[Fan Nickname]]: There are quiet a lot of these made up by the fandom -- "Sieg/Sieggy", "Soph/Sophie", "Cass/Cassie", "Raph", and "Mitsu" are some prominent examples. Xianghua is often just called "X" due to the difficulty in spelling her name.

** In ''V'', fans came up with {{spoiler|"Petsuka" for Alpha Patroklos and "[[The Oprah Winfrey Show|Oprah]]" for Pyrrha Omega.}}

Line 139:

* [[Flynning]]: Can be seen in the attract mode for ''III''.

* [[Fragile Speedster]]: Taki and Maxi.

* [[Gaiden Game]]: ''Broken Destiny'''s story mode starts by stating that its plot is based on "obscure fables" and therefore isn't canon. ''Legends'' was also referred as such in the early press releases.

* [[Gainaxing]]: Very much.

* [[Game Breaking Bug]]: ''III''. Save file wipe. If you moved or deleted any other save file on your memory card, it's impossible to save in Chronicles of the Sword (and therefore to play that mode properly).

* [[Good Scars, Evil Scars]]: Siegfried and Kilik.

* [[Glass Cannon]]: Possible in ''IV'' with custom characters. Several characters have weapons with extremely high damage but low health.

* [[Gratuitous German]]: With bad grammar.

Line 151:

** 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).

* [[Guns Are Useless]]: The only firearm in the game (Cervantes' "[[Mix-and-Match Weapon|pistol sword]]"); while the strongest attack that uses it deals decent damage (between a 4th and 3rd of health), it is very telegraphed, and can be dodged by simply moving to the side once. Back in ''II'', the only attack that involved it was a weak, easy to miss, anti-air attack grab (which is as useless as it sounds).

* [[Hey, It's That Voice!]]:

** 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''.

Line 175:

* [[Instrument of Murder]]: Talim of ''IV'' uses a pair of ocarinas as her joke weapons.

* [[Jail Bait]]: Talim is 15 years old, and gets more and more sexualized in each game. She is now straddling people with her thighs while wearing translucent pants.

** Amy, who's probably younger than her.

** And then we have Leixia and Natsu in ''V''.

* [[Jiggle Physics]]:

Line 184:

* [[Joke Item]]: Each character has one.

* [[Kicking Ass in All Her Finery]]: Several outfits the ladies wear are very fancy and elegant.

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

* [[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.

** Kratos in ''Broken Destiny'', [[Up to Eleven|even more]] than in [[God of War (series)|his own series]].

Line 196:

* [[Lightning Bruiser]]: Siegfried and Nightmare hit hard and fast naturally. Ashlotte, Astaroth, and other slow-but-strong characters can be modified into this through the Step Speed Up and Run Speed Up abilities. Hilde's movement is among the fastest in the game, and she also has the two most powerful attacks (her 30 second charge attacks), both of which are near [[One Hit KO|one hit K.O.s.]]

** Darth Vader in ''IV'', which is rather true to his portrayal in the ''[[Star Wars]]'' universe.

* [[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.

** Considering the role played by Leo in ''[[Assassin's Creed II]]'', this might be intentional...

* [[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.

** Also Tira in ''IV'', as she convinces many of the characters to seek out Soul Edge to meet their goals, most notably manipulating Sophitia into working for the side of Nightmare by saying that her daughter was at risk if Soul Edge was destroyed.

** Dampierre in ''Broken Destiny''. To get two men into his service, one of which attempted to shoot him earlier, he reveals his hideout to the police, and later saves them when they are cornered. This act, plus a claim of greatness and his impressive counterfeit collection, are enough to turn them into his lackeys.

** Iska in ''Legends'' fits this trope perfectly as {{spoiler|he makes the character do the whole story then attempts to kill them}}.

* [[Meaningful Name]]: Pyrrha, Sophitia's daughter. You just know there's [[Pyrrhic Victory|only one way]] for that whole mess to end.

Line 211:

** Pamela in ''Broken Destiny'', who also serves as an assassin. A really bad one.

** Pyrrha worked as a meido until she was implicated in a murder probably the first example for a main character in Soul Calibur.

* [[Mighty Glacier]]: Astaroth, Rock, and Ashlotte.

* [[Mighty Whitey]]: Subverted with Setsuka; she's a woman of European heritage, who was orphaned and ended up being raised in Japan. Because of her appearance, however, she was shunned and distrusted by the majority of the native people around her.

** Played a little straighter with Rock, an English boy lost in a shipwreck who grew up in America, who became a fearsome giant. Still mistrusted and feared though, because, y'know, GIANT.

*** Despite this Rock isn't even all that big, Standing at only 175 cm and weighing 85 kg. Cervantes in SCV is both taller and heavier.

** Arthur as well: an orphan who ended up in the care of a Japanese merchant and was raised in Japan. He was despised by his peers, which made him the prefered target for projectiles in the battlefield.

* [[Mini-Dress of Power]]: Sophitia, Cassandra, and Amy.

* [[Mismatched Eyes]]: Zasalamel's golden eye.

* [[Morph Weapon]]: Soul Edge and Soul Calibur. Normally, they take the shape of a [[BFS|really big sword]] and a jian, respectively, but they can morph to fit just about any weapon shape. In ''II'', three characters (Xianghua, Nightmare, and Talim) could use Soul Calibur, and ''every'' character had a Soul Edge version of their weapon (Nightmare had ''three'': Soul Edge, Soul Edge [Growth], and Soul Edge [Complete]). By ''III'', Siegfried has Soul Calibur, and it too becomes a [[BFS]].

* [[Mortality Ensues]]: In his input ending of ''III'', Zasalamel succeeds in becoming mortal and spends the rest of his life as a scholar, chronicling everything he experienced.

* [[Ninja]]: Taki and Yoshimitsu; Yoshimitsu's fighting style is classified as that of a Samurai, but his backstory indicates that he was part of a Ninja clan.

* [[No Sidepaths, No Exploration, No Freedom]]: Granted, we don't expect those things from the main fighting games, but it seems like a cop-out in ''Legends''.

* [[Ominous Pipe Organ]]: Hellfire begins with one. Also, Forsaken Sanctuary is full of it.

* [[One-Handed Zweihander]]: Nightmare uses his sword like this. Averted by Siegfried, who uses both hands to swing his [[BFS]]. Most of the time.

* [[One-Man Army]]: Mitsurugi in his backstory and certain endings, Nightmare in the introduction to ''III'' as well as a character with a discipline with a good anti AI move in Chronicles of the Sword.

* [[One Steve Limit]]: Averted. ''III'' contains both Eurydice Shrine (a stage) and Eurydice, a character in the Chronicles of the Sword subgame.

* [[Only a Flesh Wound]]: Siegfried sometimes makes the claim "I avoided your vitals. You'll live," after winning a fight in ''III''. Apparently the brain isn't a vital area.

Line 236:

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

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

* [[Pirate]]: [[Ninja Pirate Robot Zombie|Cervantes]]. Maxi may not look the part, but he's a pirate from Ryukyu.

* [[Pretty in Mink]]: A few outfits with fur trim. Amy's outfit in ''IV'' has a fur neckline.

* [[Princess Curls]]: Amy, Ashlotte, Viola, and Abelia.

Line 249:

* [[Sculpted Physique]]

* [[Series Continuity Error]]: During a flashback in ''V'' of Tira kidnapping Pyrrha, Pyrrha is shown as a baby when she should have been three years old.

* [[Ship Sinking]]: When Leixia's profile was released, many a Kilik/Xianghua fan panicked that Project Soul was doing this, due to the news that Xianghua had married a general of the Ming Empire and had two children with him. Possibly averted by later information which implied that she was forced into the marriage and that she still loved Kilik; {{spoiler|later, it was truthfuly averted with the Japanese official artbook, which revealed Xiba as being their son, so by proxy Kilik and Xianghua had upgraded their relationship, even for a bried moment}}.

* [[Ship Tease]]: Someone on the team noticed that the fans ''really'' dug on [[Fan-Preferred Couple|LinkxTalim.]] So much so that in ''IV'', Talim's joke weapon is a pair of [[The Legend of Zelda|ocarinas.]]

* [[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.

Line 266:

** In ''V'', there's a Quick Battle opponent named Diego Umeharez, as in Daigo Umehara.

*** More specifically, it's the screen name used by a Daigo impersonator.

* [[Skill Gate Character]]: For the most part, averted; a number of the easy-to-learn characters like Talim, Kilik, and Mitsurugi are so deadly because they're even ''worse'' to fight against when mastered. Those that don't consider [[The Scrappy|Necrid]] completely broken argue he falls more into this category, since the majority of people play him for his stupidly cheap spam attacks without regard for how poorly this fares against players that know what they're doing.

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

* [[Soul Cutting Blade]]: Soul Edge

Line 274:

** Also, oddly enough, Soul Calibur is like a split personality of Soul Edge, since it was created from Soul Edge -- one's a [[Knight Templar]] and one is [[The Heartless]].

* [[Story Breadcrumbs]]: Single-player modes do spill some of the story, but it's hard to separate the canon from the "we needed a few more scenarios for Character A, so we put him in Character B's role" scenarios, and almost every character's ending contradicts the bulk of the cast's. Practically all of the story information comes from [[All There in the Manual|story, weapon, and stage profiles and the official site]], and those still require some context work to piece together.

* [[The Starscream]]: Astaroth, in ''IV'', as detailed in his Story Mode profile. This started as far back as the first Calibur game, where he joined Nightmare to help him restore the sword just so he could claim it in perfect shape for his true master.

* [[Steampunk]]: Most specifically "Clock Punk". Clockwork cogs are theme in many arenas. The character Yoshimitsu has a clockwork cybernetic arm, while the character Ashlotte in ''IV'' is a clockwork robot.

* [[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.

Line 280:

* [[Surrounded by Idiots]]: Hilde (and you) in ''Broken Destiny''.

* [[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.

* [[Thong of Shielding]]: Several of Ivy's costumes.

* [[Time Skip]]: A major feature of ''V'''s story, which is 17 years forward of the events of the last canon installment.

Line 288:

* [[Took a Level in Jerkass]]: Taki becomes a bitch between ''III'' and ''IV''. Her treatment of Ivy and Siegfried, who have both become [[The Atoner]] by this point, is particularly grating.

{{quote|[[Kick the Dog|"You're your father's daughter after all."]]}}

** Though worth noting, Taki has no reason to know that they become atoners. Ivy and Taki especially have a history of not getting along very well.

* [[Irony|Tragic Irony]]: Siegfried frees himself from the control of Soul Edge, cleansing himself of his sins. Then he takes Soul Calibur, believing it to be a holy weapon of pure good to counter Soul Edge's evil. Unbeknownst to him, Soul Calibur is a [[Knight Templar]] that intends not only to freeze him and Nightmare into crystal, but the rest of the world as well, and Siegfried's adamant claim "never again will I bend to anyone's will" has been subverted without him realizing it.

* [[Underwear of Power]]: Though none of the main characters use this (even Ivy just wears a very, very skimpy leotard), this can be done in character creation, and is a must in ''IV'', where clothing damage often reverts characters to their underwear anyway.

* [[Unexpected Gameplay Change]]: The Gauntlet, ''Broken Destiny'''s campaign mode, is pretty much a memory/timing puzzle, except with fighting. It's strangely addicting.

* [[Unreliable Narrator]]: When confronting Tira in ''V'''s Story Mode as Patroklos, the narrator refers to her as {{spoiler|"your mother's murderer"}} seemingly confirming that Tira {{spoiler|killed Sophitia}}. This was later disproven in the [[All There in the Manual|official sourcebook]].

* [[Unusual Ears]]: ''IV'' bonus characters Kamikirimusi and Scheherazade.

* [[Variable-Length Chain]]

* [[Virtual Paper Doll]]

* [[Walking the Earth]]: Every characters travels all over Europe and Asia in search of the Soul Edge for their personal reasons.

* [[What Could Have Been]]: [[Devil May Cry|Dante]] was supposed to be a guest fighter in ''III''.

* [[Well-Intentioned Extremist]]: Raphael's life was saved by a little girl named Amy. After they appear to get [[Our Vampires Are Different|vampiric symptoms]], he attempts to change the world by spreading it since it doesn't accept them, as opposed to attempting to cure themselves.

** Zasalamel can be seen as this in ''IV'', since in order to attain his goal of "leading humanity into a bright future", he's more than willing to torture, murder, or destroy the life of anyone, either for obstructing him or because it helps move his plan along.

** Soul Calibur itself is a holy weapon created by Algol to keep the evil Soul Edge sword in check. However, the sentience granted to Soul Calibur has allowed it to come to the conclusion that the world is full of chaos and violence and the only way to save humanity from itself is to crystallize the world and all its inhabitants.

* [[Who Wants to Live Forever?]]: The whole reason why Zasalamel brings the two swords together -- he's tired of living forever. Reversed in ''IV'', when Zasalamel decides he does want to live forever after seeing humanity's future, which apparently is so awesome that he also performs a [[Heel Face Turn]]. He's still a [[Jerkass]], however. There's a odd kind of [[Moral Dissonance]] to his speeches on human potential versus his [[Heroic Sociopath]] comments before fights. He also has a tendency to make people fight those who were important to them {{spoiler|before they died, like Siegfried's father Friederich, Kilik's adoptive sister Xianglian, and Algol's son, THEN fight completely-dead versions of them}}.

* [[Weapon of Choice]]: Every character has his/her own trademark weapon:

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

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

** [[Blade on a Stick]]: Seung Mina, Hilde, Girardot

** [[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

** [[Dual-Wielding]]: [[God of War (series)|Kratos]] and Lizardman in ''V''.

Line 322:

** [[Simple Staff]]: Kilik, Hualin (also a [[Morph Weapon]]), Xiba

** [[Sinister Scythe]]: Zasalamel

** [[Sword and Gun]]: Cervantes

** [[Whip Sword]]: Ivy

* [[What Happened to the Mouse?]]: The Story Mode for ''V'' focuses, for the first time, on the actions and destinies of only a few characters. As a result, many characters never have their reasons for being in the game stated and some, like Zasalamel and Cassandra (who's the aunt of both the main characters no less), have disappeared entirely without explanation.

** [[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]]

Line 344:

* [[Five-Bad Band]]: In Weapon Master we have...

** [[Big Bad]]: [[Tin Tyrant|Veral]]

** [[The Dragon]] / [[Dark Chick]]: [[The Rival|Minerva]]

** [[Evil Genius]]: [[Mad Bomber|Hobb]]

** [[The Brute]]: [[An Axe to Grind|Lanbardy]]

* [[Gaiden Game]]: Neither Weapon Master or Chronicles of the Sword take place in the same world (seeing as how the Soul Series take place on an alternate Earth), but share a few similarities (the presence of Soul Edge and Soul Calibur, for example)

* [[Genre Shift]]: The Chronicles of the Sword sub-game in ''III'' mashed strategy and fighting together.

** That is, unless you're strong enough to crush multiple enemies outright. There is perhaps one chronicle in which strategy is needed: a rescue mission. It's often impossible to do anything else in some levels, as the enemies favor rushing you (while it ''is'' their best option, as this forces you to face everyone at once and you can't recover between them, it tends to make the rest of the map fairly boring).

* [[Giant Space Flea From Nowhere]]: In Chronicles of the Sword, on the second-to-last level, the stronghold right next to your main stronghold is guarded by a '''level 99 [[Boss in Mook Clothing]]''' named Ende. He is never referenced prior to this, is the first enemy to have a purple health meter (the highest CotS goes), and has exactly one line of dialog when you bring his stronghold down, apparently referencing the fact that he is just a mercenary. He also has a unique weapon for the Katana discipline of [[Character Customization]], the Kokuenra. Beating him allows you to use it as well... too bad his stronghold has the habit of slowing your falls, allowing him to juggle you mercilessly with his sword.

* [[God Save Us From the Queen]]: Aurelia is the final boss of the first half of Chronicles of the Sword, has tried to [[Take Over the World]], and wields "[[Black Widow]]".

* [[Heroic Mime]]: In both modes, your character will think to themselves between chapters, but never actually say anything.

* [[Instant Win Condition]]: Averted in Chronicles of the Sword, a ring-out will only take a large chunk of a combatant's HP.

** Played straight on one occasion. There is one stronghold in the game where falling to the floor means instant death. And your opponent is a level 60 character. Thank your lucky stars that he isn't immune to the stage's effect, unlike other occasions in the game.

Line 360:

** Merope Monastery's bonus mission in Weapon Master is dependent entirely on if the AI moves the right way, as you have ~15 seconds to defeat each of the 6 foes, only truly possible with a ring out while over 3/4 of the stage is wall.

** In chapter 8 of Chronicles of the Sword, you have to rescue at least 3 of 5 allied units on the field from the enemies. Outside of a [[New Game+]] (where you can get through fortresses much quicker with your higher strength units), the AI decides if you can rescue the three named ones that will join you as well as your ability to rescue the two generic ones for bonus points, as if they attack any unit with more than one of theirs, they are going to die.

* [[Manipulative Bastard]]: Chester {{spoiler|has three out of the four kingdoms under his strings}} around the end of the first half, part of his [[Evil Plan]] to {{spoiler|become king himself}}.

* [[My Country, Right or Wrong]]: {{spoiler|Abelia}} in Chronicles of the Sword. You befriend this out of her.

* [[Names to Run Away From Really Fast]]: Lanbardy, Marauder of Slaughter

* [[New Game+]]: Chronicles of the Sword; either this or a fresh game is required to get all of the create a character parts (as at least one part will be unlocked by picking one [[Optional Party Member]] over the other).

** Weapon Master Mode has [[Playable Epilogue|special chapters]] unlocked after defeating the [[Big Bad]], which offered a [[Sidequest]] set after the plot's end.

* [[Nominal Importance]]: Averted in Chronicles of the Sword; most named characters are merely elite mooks (opposed to the [[Red Shirt|Red Shirts]] who are named for their affiliation).

* [[One-Man Army]]: Chronicles of the Sword. It's even lampshaded, with generic soldiers thinking your character is a War God(ess).

Line 371:

* [[Player Mooks]]: An option for Chronicles of the Sword over preset characters. They are stupidly broken due to the ability to put them into a strong class and use any "reliable" weapon of your choice, plus you don't lose them during the [[Time Skip]].

* [[Putting the Band Back Together]]: You do this [[Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha|Nanoha]] [[Defeat Means Friendship|style]] post-timeskip in Chronicles of the Sword (see above).

** Kilik, Xianghua, and Maxi form an ass-kicking trio in ''II'', but they're all separated by the end of that game. Xianghua and Kilik have found each other and split apart again since then, but Maxi lost his memory and has rebuked the offer to join them several times.

* [[Quirky Miniboss Squad]]: Luna and her subordinates in Chronicles of the Sword (named "The Klessirpemdo"). Their quirks only go as far as elemental theming due to a lack of development.

** [[Amazon Brigade]]: All 5 of them are women.

Line 384:

* [[Sidequest]]: A few optional chapters in Weapon Master.

* [[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.]])

* [[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.]])

** Obviously, these stages aren't as easily gotten around in the Xbox and [[PlayStation 2]] versions.

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

Line 394:

* [[War God]]: One chapter of Chronicles of the Sword has your character note they overheard someone call them this once.

* [[Weapons Kitchen Sink]]: Chronicles of the Sword has katana wielders fighting side by side with people who wield claymores, chinese swords, rapiers, and nunchucks.

* [[Weak but Skilled]]: Soul of Devil Jin. Players will find themselves outclassed in some form against any other character.

* [[Worthy Opponent]]: Luna says you are this during the first fight with her, and her dialog throughout the rest of the game supports it.