Cervantes :Voiced by (English): Warren Rodgerson (
SCII)
Wally Wingert (
SCIII to SC:BD)
Patrick Seitz (
SCV to SCVI) :Voiced by (Japanese):
Takashi Nagasako (
SC~
SCIII); was a
privateer who was sent on a mission by the
King of Spain to loot in the name of Spain. Following a
disastrous attack on an English warship that killed Philip, Cervantes forsook his allegiance to the king and became a
pirate. Receiving an order from a wealthy merchant to find the cursed sword Soul Edge, Cervantes voyaged through the sea and eventually found the sword in the possession of an English
dealer who specialized in rare weapons. However, the sword gradually corrupted him until his soul was devoured by it. Having murdered all of his crew, Cervantes boarded his ghost ship on a reign of terror for twenty years until he was defeated and killed by the combined efforts of Greek warrior
Sophitia and Japanese ninja
Taki. However, Cervantes was accidentally resurrected without his memory by
Nightmare because of the Soul Edge fragments lodged in his body, transformed into an
undead. For the next three years, he decided to search for the cursed sword despite knowing that it had robbed him of his free will while slowly recovering his memories. Upon the shattering of Soul Edge, Cervantes began his quest on collecting the fragments of the cursed sword for four years which melded to form a weapon for him, attacking other ships that came close to his sea. When the presence of Soul Edge's other half vanished, Cervantes's body began to weaken as the fragments that sustained him crumbled. He was informed by a servant of Soul Edge,
Tira, that a powerful entity was the one responsible, so Cervantes sought to defeat the entity and preserve his life. Eventually, Soul Edge summoned all pieces of itself back to it. Cervantes followed its trail, intending to wield the sword once it completed itself. Along the way, he devoured the soul of his illegitimate daughter,
Ivy, but after the latter had survived thanks to her artificial soul, Ivy retaliated and defeated Cervantes, releasing all souls he had consumed, including hers. His body beaten and his mind shattered, Cervantes was swallowed by a dimensional rift opened by Soul Edge. Seventeen years later, during the wake of the
17th century, people reported the presence of Cervantes' ship, voyaging through the sea; Cervantes had been released from the rift, now free from Soul Edge's control and at his height of power. In the non-canonical Gauntlet storyline of
Soulcalibur: Broken Destiny, Cervantes' soul was required as payment for Ivy to create a potion for
Hilde and her party to cure her father. Though they attempted to renegotiate, they were forced to find and take Cervantes' soul by force. :Voiced by (Japanese):
Toshiyuki Morikawa (
SE (Arcade));
Wataru Takagi (
SE (Console)~
SC);
Naoki Imamura (
SCIII);
Subaru Kimura (
SCVI (Version 2.30)) With Hwang's appearance in
Soulcalibur his attire was changed. Chinese style costumes were considered, including an outfit with an open jacket and a bandaged design with a
Chinese martial artist's attire. The developers based his look around the concept of a traveler, implementing subtle hints such as his torn pant legs. Hwang appears in
Soulcalibur VI, although he was not playable until being made available as downloadable content. He eventually learns
Taoism to combine its power with his original sword technique.
Inferno is the physical manifestation of the cursed sword Soul Edge's own soul and the true antagonist within Soul series as his
Nightmare incarnation, where it mostly started out as the final boss in
Soul Edge (originally listed as "SoulEdge") until
Soulcalibur II, including the reboot/retelling game
Soulcalibur VI. It fights using the attack style of other fighters from its memories of past battles and will switch to a random one at the start of each round. Though it exists in its own dimension, Astral Chaos (a realm where time and space never exist), it has used duplicity such as in the case of tricking Siegfried into expanding its will, and in more extreme cases utilized Cervantes' flaming corpse and later the remnants of Nightmare's armor to create an avatar for itself. Within Astral Chaos, Inferno can manifest itself as a flaming and mostly skeletal body for itself, creating weapons to match whichever fighting style it currently uses, particularly
Siegfried's being its primary likeness at most part. Inferno, along with Soul Edge is destroyed by Siegfried at the end of
Soulcalibur IV, though its will continues to live in the leftover shards of Soul Edge and later manifests itself in a new Soul Edge. However, after the new Nightmare, Graf Dumas (heavily hinted to be
Raphael Sorel) was slain, Inferno choose
Pyrrha as its new host until being defeated by her brother and Soul Edge along with Soul Calibur were both sealed away in the Astral Chaos realm. Its will and power has, directly and indirectly, affected several other characters in the series, such as the Evil Seed event that caused many to turn somewhat evil or insane. It has also caused the creation of several life forms or modification of them, such as
Ivy's sword, Charade, Necrid, and Abyss. In
Soulcalibur VI, Inferno's gameplay is similar to his original Soul Edge counterpart, as being more of an enhanced version of certain Soul Edge wielders than as a mimic fighter; in this case, its main alter-ego Nightmare instead of
Cervantes. Due to his final boss role despite being an unlockable character, Inferno is banned from online matches and official tournaments.
Li Long : Voiced by (English)
Dan Woren (
SCIII) : Voiced by (Japanese):
Jin Yamanoi (
SE);
Masaya Takatsuka (
SCIII) is an
assassin sent by the
Emperor of China to kill a pirate lord, but failed. Badly injured, he was rescued by a female ninja named Chie and eventually they fell in love. One day, her former comrades caught up with them and she was believed to be dead. Told falsely
Heishiro Mitsurugi was responsible, he set out after Soul Edge knowing Mitsurugi was also after the blade. Along the way he takes the weapons of other fighters he defeats, repurposing some for his own use. Upon finding and defeating Mitsurugi, he realized the swordsman had no part in the attack upon Chie, and continued his goal of searching for Soul Edge. He located its wielder,
Cervantes, but was beaten severely and lost an eye. In
Soulcalibur III, he found himself on the run from assassins sent by his Chie's former clan leader. Traveling by night under a false name, he was taken in by a girl that reminded him of Chie, and chose to stand his ground when the assassins found him. After defeating them he set out to find himself, not knowing that Chie was actually alive and had set out to find him with their newborn son. By
Soulcalibur V it is revealed he has reunited with his family, and they now live with the ninja
Taki's clan. Li Long's weapon is a pair of nunchaku with mounted blades; however, due to a ban of nunchaku weapons in the
United Kingdom, they were changed to a three-sectioned staff for the European release of
Soul Blade. His facial contours, expressions and hairstyle were designed to suggest the "assassin" side of his character and to depict his representation of Chinese culture.
Mitsurugi :Voiced by (English): Scott Keck (
SCII); :Voiced by (Japanese):
Toshiyuki Morikawa (
SC~) Mitsurugi encountered the female ninja
Taki during this time, but was unable to find any trace of the legendary "Hero's Sword". In his frustration at finding no signs of Soul Edge, he returned home and challenged Teppou Hei, a man wielding the
tanegashima, to a duel. However, Mitsurugi suffered an embarrassing defeat, leaving him with a scar of a gunshot wound on his right shoulder and forcing him to depart in shame on a second quest to perfect his swordsmanship so that he might eventually defeat the gun. It was during this quest that he learned of the Azure Knight,
Nightmare, who terrorized Europe with a sword deemed invincible, and set out after him in order to find what he considered a worthy challenge (this being his motivation through the remainder of the series since
Soulcalibur). Nightmare's trail eventually disappeared, but Mitsurugi was unwilling to give up, and gradually improved his fighting style to the point riflemen were no longer a threat. Returning from his quest, Mitsurugi challenged Teppou Hei again, but this time Mitsurugi managed to kill the man with a single strike with his sword. Four years later, during the events of
Soulcalibur II, Mitsurugi stumbled upon the trail of Soul Edge while visiting a castle in
Xiwei, where a mysterious dying man, after being saved by him from a group of assassins, handed him a shard of the cursed blade. Although skeptical at first, Mitsurugi accepted the gift. Soon afterward, an incident occurred in which a servant of the
Chinese Emperor of
Ming marched to the castle, demanding the "Hero's Sword", and was slain when he refused to leave without it. Mitsurugi sensed that war was coming, but Soul Edge meant nothing to him. He had crossed countless battlefields, defeating every conceivable enemy, even those with rifles. What had once been his greatest enemy was none of his concern, as it no longer proved to be a threat. His only concern was with finding an opponent stronger than himself. Wondering what was happening in Japan at that time, and whether or not he could have a final showdown with Taki, he decided to return to his homeland. By the time of
Soulcalibur III and Soulcalibur IV, the Murakami clan, with whom Mitsurugi stayed upon his return, refused to join with
Toyotomi Hideyoshi, choosing instead to protect their existence as fierce pirates and rulers of the sea. Since Mitsurugi could find no trace of Taki, he went to aid the Murakami and aided them in their naval victory. Soon, he learned of the arrival of Nightmare, whom he had lost track of before. Mitsurugi left the Murakami and went to the West again. Ever-searching for a worthy adversary to test his skills, Mitsurugi journeyed to Ostrheinsburg, where he entered a chaotic alternate dimension and faced the Hero King,
Algol, high atop a colossal tower. The two warriors clashed when suddenly Algol disappeared, along with the tower and all their surroundings—a dimensional convergence had warped Mitsurugi back to reality before the duel could be decided. He had also unknowingly make rival with
Setsuka, after he mortally wounded her master during a battle that eventually led to his death, although he did not realize it until they fight sometime during the events of
Soulcalibur IV, at which he defeated her by stunning Setsuka with a punch, but lost his
katana Shishi-Oh in the battle. In
Soulcalibur V, after the warring period of Japan had ended, Mitsurugi has settled a quiet life as a farmer for seventeen years. He regains his fighting spirit when he heard about Soul Calibur and goes on a journey to once again continue the battle with Algol that was left unfinished years before. A young Mitsurugi returns in the reboot/altered timeline-themed game
Soulcalibur VI. It was revealed that his failed attempt to fight Nightmare is because Taki was sent by Edge Master to keep him away from end having an awful encounter with the Azure Knight. Misturugi made a friendly rivalry with a universe-displaced
The Witcher’s protagonist
Geralt of Rivia from
CD Projekt, and his long waited rival who is also his counterpart,
Samurai Shodown’s protagonist
Haohmaru from
SNK Corporation. Mitsurugi also appeared in
Namco × Capcom as a playable character along with Taki, with whom he makes a temporary alliance there. He also appears as a limited card in
Outcast Odyssey. Yuri Lowell from the
Tales series can wear Mitsurugi's costume as his alternate outfit. He is also referenced in
Ridge Racer 6 with the car named Mitsurugi Meltfire. Former Fanbyte editor-in-chief John Warren described him as "arguably the most recognizable character from the
Soulcalibur series", adding that "Mitsurugi's design isn't revelatory by any stretch. Yet its consistency over the years and his genuine, ineffable coolness" made him one of the top characters in the series. Nathan Ditum from
PlayStation Official Magazine – UK chose him as his personal favourite out of the cast of
Soulcalibur V.
Rock :Voiced by (English):
Robert Belgrade (
SE)
Wally Burr (
SCIII) David Jeremiah (
SCIV to SC:BD) Voiced by (Japanese):
Takashi Nagasako (
SE~
SC);
Tōru Ōkawa (
SCIV~) , born as , is the son of an English
dealer who specialized in rare weapons. His father managed to bid Soul Edge at one auction and was about to take it home, only for the ship to be attacked by the pirate
Cervantes, who killed everyone except Rock, who washed up in the shores of
North America with his memories gone. The
Native Americans were unwilling to help Rock due to his size and only a boy named Bangoo was unafraid to befriend him. Rock eventually recovered his memories over time and left America in search of Soul Edge, which may become the key to his full memories. Through
Sophitia's words, he returned to care for Bangoo, only to find him being kidnapped by
Lizardman (Aeon Calcos), whose cult demanded Rock's soul. He crossed back to Europe and rescued Bangoo. They stayed in Europe for several years until Bangoo grew older, after which Bangoo went to America by himself. Later, Rock is attacked by a giant named
Astaroth, whose moves have an uncanny resemblance to his own. He learned that Astaroth was created by Lizardman's cult based on his image and is now serving
Nightmare. Rock is determined to stop him at all costs. His fate afterward is not known, as no explanation is given for his absence in
Soulcalibur V. Initially during development, the character was called "Beast Warrior", and his design changed little over the course of creating the character. His appearance is intended to reflect the atmosphere of a wild warrior, while his facial expressions were drawn in a positive manner, intended to show him enjoying the fight. When developing his appearance for
Soulcalibur, a clothed design and a bald appearance were both rejected, as the team felt they gave the impression of an urban or "bad guy" character, respectively.
Seong Han-myeong is the father of Seong Mi-na and the owner of the Seong dojo. He only appeared as a secret character in the console version of
Soul Edge, utilizing a Chinese sword akin to Hwang. After his wife and son both died of illness, he trained his daughter in martial arts but wished her to stay home, despite her rebellious nature. He became interested in a student of his, Hwang Seong-gyeong, and tried to adopt him as his successor, although Hwang politely rejected the offer. Regardless, Han-myeong planned to marry his daughter with Hwang, which only caused Mi-na to run away from home for months, although she was eventually dragged back home by Hwang. When a malfested army invades his dojang to hunt Mi-na for her involvement and lure Hwang (who is now also a Taoist in
Soulcalibur VI), Han-myeong learns Soul Edge's evil nature from his student. Later, another student of his, Hong Yun-seong ran away from his dojo to find Soul Edge and Han-myeong reluctantly gave his blessing to his daughter in an attempt to find him, yet entrust her to prevent Yun-seong from nearing Soul Edge.
Seong Mi-na Siegfried :Voiced by (English):
Crispin Freeman (
SCIII);
Roger Craig Smith (
SCL~
SCV)
Kirk Thornton (
SCVI) :Voiced by (Japanese):
Nobuyuki Hiyama (
SC~) was born to Sir Frederick Schtauffen, a brave
knight who was considered a champion among the oppressed peasants of his German hometown in the
Holy Roman Empire, and a woman named Margaret who met Frederick while he was on campaign, during the late
16th century. He was given the name
Siegfried after the
legendary Germanic hero, and was taught
swordsmanship by his father. Frederick embarked on a foreign
crusade and, due to lack of guidance in life, Siegfried unintentionally murdered his returning father while rampaging as the leader of a teenage band of thieves calling themselves "Schwarzwind" (
German translation for "black wind"). Siegfried grew in despair and eventually convinced himself that anyone but he was to blame for his father's death. Siegfried had heard rumours of the invincible Soul Edge, and came to believe his father's killer could only be killed with that weapon. After taking the life of a
noble, he worked for during a siege on his castle in Ostrheinsburg (he did so in an effort to claim–what he thought was–Soul Edge), he finally managed to come across the legendary weapon Soul Edge, lying beside the corpse of the defeated
Cervantes de Leon which transformed into
Inferno. Siegfried defeated Inferno, earning the right to wield Soul Edge himself. However, Soul Edge
telepathically spoke to Siegfried, arranging a deal between the two; Siegfried would help the blade to restore itself gathering souls, and Soul Edge would resurrect his father Frederick. But Siegfried finally succumbed to the sword's power–transforming into the Azure Knight,
Nightmare. He claimed refuge in Ostrheinsburg Castle. During the following three years, he gathered together a group of followers: the
golem Astaroth,
Lizardman (Aeon Calcos), and
Ivy. Each of them aided him in Soul Edge's quest to devour souls for a rejuvenation ceremony to be performed in his chosen stronghold, Ostrheinsburg Castle. But as the ceremony was about to take place, the clan was quickly laid to waste. Both Aeon Calcos and Astaroth were defeated; and Ivy left the clan after learning the shocking truth of her past from the Japanese ninja
Taki. Two young warriors confronted Nightmare:
Kilik, owner of both the sacred staff Kali-Yuga and sacred mirror Dvapara-Yuga; and
Xianghua, owner of Krita-Yuga, which revealed itself as Soul Calibur. Nightmare and Soul Edge were defeated, initiating a new resolve in the now-conscious Siegfried, albeit temporary–shards of the weakened Soul Edge were still present within his body. He eventually assumed the
azure armor for a second time, becoming Nightmare all over again, desperately pursuing fragments of the Soul Edge so that he might fully restore it.
Raphael Sorel appeared in search of Soul Edge and Nightmare stood victorious after a fierce battle. As he stepped forward to finish Raphael, he muttered something incoherently. Following this, an internal struggle began between Siegfried and
Inferno (spirit of the evil sword) vying for control over their physical body. With this show of "hesitation", Raphael unleashed a desperate final blow upon his enemy, piercing the center of Soul Edge. Nightmare let out an inhuman cry, and Siegfried finally regained control of his own body. Siegfried remembered his actions previous, before using the newly revealed holy sword, Soul Calibur, to drive into the evil eye that was the core of Soul Edge, where the weapon had been trapped–however, this effort to destroy the evil sword would prove insufficient. In the preceding event of
Soulcalibur III, Siegfried now has control of his own body, picking up both swords and leaving Ostrheinsburg on a mission to seal away Soul Edge for all eternity, as he swore to atone for his sins, not knowing that Nightmare had gained a separate body of his own. Eventually, he fell victim to
Zasalamel's plot to reunite Soul Edge and Soul Calibur at the Lost Cathedral. Siegfried took up Soul Calibur and fought a ferocious battle against the now-independent Nightmare, who in turn regained Soul Edge. Though victorious for the time being, the combination of the energy released from Soul Edge and Soul Calibur as well as his injuries from the battle mortally wounded Siegfried. The events of
Soulcalibur IV see Siegfried having been revived by the Soul Calibur, which has gained some sentience from the Soul Edge and the release of its creator,
Algol. Now dependent on the armor in which the Soul Calibur had encased him for survival, Siegfried rejects all human contact and devotes himself to destroying both swords once and for all. In his ending, he finally defeats Nightmare decisively and releases the power of the Soul Calibur, permanently sealing away the Soul Edge and Soul Calibur, and killing himself in the process. In
Hilde's ending, he is instead forgiven for his crimes as the Azure Knight and given a royal pardon. One of Siegfried's extra weapons is the Glam (mistranslation of
Gram), the weapon that
Sigurd in Norse mythology used to kill the dragon
Fafnir and in
Soulcalibur Legends, Siegfried fights "Fanfir". The
Faust blade also takes reference from a
German legend, in which the protagonist makes a
deal with the Devil (in-universe, Siegfried and Soul Edge have a
Faustian bargain).
Sophitia Taki Voldo ==Introduced in
Soulcalibur==