Soul Calibur IV: New Characters
All the confirmed characters, and a few rumored ones!
By Jeremy Azevedo
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Few fighting games still have any relevancy in today’s competitive gaming market. One of those that do is Soul Calibur, long celebrated as the best and most accessible 3D fighter on the scene. |
Soul Calibur IV is capitalizing on its reputation (and the hype that precedes it) by keeping a pretty tight lid on new or secret characters starring in the latest installment. We’ve gone to the trouble of investigating the rumors that surround SCIV in order to present you with a comprehensive list of confirmed and unconfirmed combatants that you can expect to play as when the game is released.
New Soul Calibur IV Characters:
Darth Vader
Not word yet on whether or not “midichlorians” work in alternate realities.
Only available on the PS3, Darth Vadar exists in Soul Calibur presumably as an apology to fans that are still pissed about “Masters of Teras Kasi” on the PS1.
Yoda
“Sense, my being in this game does not make!”
Only available on the Xbox360, presumably because its power light is also green (at least when it’s not experiencing the red ring of death), Yoda probably plays like that crappy little dinosaur fellow that was in Namco’s other fighter, Tekken. Yoda is sure to be an annoying character due to the fact that most of your attacks will sail right over his diminutive head.
The Apprentice, Starkiller
You can tell he’s a bad guy ’cause he draws his eyebrows on with a sharpie.
Really? Another Star Wars character? This is a Soul Calibur game right? Apparently, in addition to being a fighting game of some esteem, SCIV is also a commercial for the upcoming game “Star Wars: Force Unleashed”. Starkiller, the dark apprentice, is the star of that game and also a bonus playable character here.
Kratos?
Maybe in trade, Sony can help Namco make a SC Legends game that doesn’t suck.
Now here’s where we divert into rumor territory for a moment. It is rumored that Kratos will be making a guest appearance in SCIV on the PS3. This actually makes sense, as his fighting style with the Blades of Olympus would make a good fit in the world of Soul Calibur. And since God of War 3 is still pretty far off in the distance, it would befit Kratos to make an appearance and keep himself in the spotlight until that big PS3 sequel comes.
Darth Malek?
Like “Trapjaw” from He-Man, but with a lightsaber.
So who would be the exclusive 3rd party character on Xbox360 if PS3 has Kratos? Some have said that Darth Malek from Xbox exclusive Star Wars themed RPG “Knight of the Old Republic” is a likely candidate. It is a licensing possibility, but I think that it may prove to be one Star Wars character too many, so it’s probably unlikely. What I think is more likely is that we will see a character from the upcoming Xbox360 exclusive “Tales of Vesperia” make an appearance, especially after seeing Llyod Irving of “Tales of Symphonia” make an appearance in the Soul Calibur Legends game for the Wii this year.
Master chief? Ryu Hayabusa?
Believe it or not, this is a real picture and not a shoop!
Most of the rumbling has to do with Master Chief making an appearance, possibly even in his “Hayabusa Armor” unlockable as a secret item in Halo 3. But if we can have Hayabusa armor, why not have Ryu Hayabusa (of Ninja Gaiden) himself? According to Team Ninja lead Tomonobu Itagaki, there aren’t going to be any more “Dead or Alive” games, so why not bring Ryu and his next-gen weapons based combat to the world of Soul Calibur?
Angol Fia
Watch out for her lactation projectile!
Back to reality, Angol Fia is a new character that has actually been confirmed. She fights with some kinda mace type thing, has more of an anime-inspired look that maybe even seems a bit out of place, and possesses the pointiest nipples of any fighting game character in history.
Hilde
Hilde: Taking the whole chastity belt thing a step too far.
Notable for being one of very few female characters that doesn’t have ginormous, implausibly pendulous breasts, Hilde is the armor clad combatant that fights with a spear and a short sword at the same time. This should allow for some unique combinations of short and long distance fighting.
Ashlotte
Looks like she’s on her way to some kinda goth Quinceanera…
Ashlotte appears to be some kind of clockwork cyborg type thing, a mechanical doll that fights with an ax/spear/halberd combo weapon and looks to be wearing an Iron Maiden as a skirt.
Shura
Shura, checking out Ivy’s attention-distracting underboob.
Shura is a scantily clad dual-katana wielding ninja type character. Like most of the female characters, she sports an enormous rack and a thong as part of her attire.
Scheherazade
On a quest to save the Hobbits from the Soul Edge’s evil influence, or something.
Scheherazade looks like some kind of elf that escaped from a Lord of the Rings game and fights with a rapier type weapon.
Algol
Algol’s MySpace profile pic, taken with the Soul Camera.
Algol is rumored to be a boss character in SCIV, and possibly even the original possessor of the Soul Edge. Either way, he’s the only confirmed new male “traditional” Soul Calibur character, and looks pretty badass.
Shop girls: Lynette, Hualin and Valeria
Yep, even the shop girls are ridiculously endowed.
Apparently, even the shop girls are going to be unlockable characters. It’s probably a safe bet that even more characters like these will show up in the “Tower of Lost Souls” game mode, and that they will be as useless and inconsequential as they were in the last game.
Verified Returning Characters:
Worried that some of you favorites won’t make the cut up against this onslaught of newcomers? Here’s a list of old school Souls making a comeback for the fourth outing:
Lizard man is looking about 1000 times better at least…
Amy
Astaroth
Cassandra
Cervantes
Ivy
Kilik
Lizardman
Maxi
Mitsurugi
Nightmare
Raphael
Rock
Seong Mi-na
Setsuka
Siegfried
Sophitia
Taki
Talim
Tira
Voldo
Xianghua
Yoshimitsu
Yun-seong
Zasalamel
