#Soulcalibur IV Soul Calibur

[danthepest]

Voldo through the ages. The one constant of the Soul series. The undisputed S&M king. The true sex symbol of gaming.

[raulmartinmw]

I haven't painted with acrylic paint since I graduated from high school. For the past 7 years I've been painting digitally. Today I finished my 1st acrylic painting. I think I didn't do well painting Pyrrha, maybe I'll do a remake.

[cosmic-demon-rae]

WOO! modern au? Definitely an excuse to draw these two more <3

[soulofamy]

I'm not sure if this has come up, but do you have any OCs for Soul Calibur?

i do actually!! their stories are very under developed but under the cut you will see a (very old) art i made of my oc, layali. shes the daughter of an ottoman governor of a city located somewhere in modern day iraq. im still trying to get her story straight but so far the way it plays out to me is that she runs away from home to find and destroy soul edge when she learns that one of the shards made it into the hands of her fathers most trusted advisor and that he wanted to kill her father and take his position.

i dont have any art of him yet but i have another oc named mustafa, and he is an ottoman janissary who is stationed in her same city and he learns that she ran away and goes after her. after hearing her out, instead of dragging her back home, he decides to fulfill his duty as janissary by staying and being her bodyguard

layali starts off the story not knowing how to fight but mustafa teaches her, and eventually gifts her with twin daggers, which she named "aya" and "sofia". mustafa fights with scimitars but im not sure if he fights with one or two

[gaymer-hag-stan]

On the 29th of July, sixteen years ago, "SoulCalibur IV" was released in North America for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.

"SoulCalibur IV" features a diverse roster of characters, including special guest characters from the Star Wars universe, such as Darth Vader and Yoda. Known for its weapon-based combat system, "SoulCalibur IV" introduces new gameplay mechanics and improved graphics, offering both single-player and multiplayer modes. The game also includes a character creation mode, allowing players to customize their own fighters.

[121ubyday6]

soulcalibur characters as textposts: part 1

[waterkirby--64]

[laikaflash]

Etymology of the Three Treasures

Or: Why were these magic weapons kept in a Buddhist temple named after eras of Hindu cosmology? Well, at least they are in the English localization of Soulcalibur, and consequently, the rest of the series. Bear with me as I overthink some plot devices in a fighting game! First, I’ll give a refresher on which one is what. In clockwise order from the above image from Soul Calibur VI:

The sword: Krita-Yuga is actually the titular Soul Calibur, the antithesis of the evil sword Soul Edge.

The mirror: Dvapara-Yuga has the power to purify anything corrupted by evil energies.

The rod: Kali-Yuga can absorb any type of energy, be it good or evil.

Note the hyphenation.

These are named after three of the four eras (yugas) of the Yuga cycle. The broad strokes of each one in chronological order, and in order of diminishing spirituality, are as follows (at least in Vaishnavism, to be clear):

Krita Yuga, “the accomplished age”. A synonym for Satya Yuga, “the age of truth”. This is believed to be when mankind lived in perfect harmony with the Dharma, which is symbolized by a bull on four legs which stand for austerity, cleanliness, mercy, and truthfulness (source: Vedabase). The Golden Age, if you will.

Treta Yuga, “the age of three” is mentioned here for completeness’ sake. The aforementioned attributes (the symbolic legs) began to dwindle by one.

Dvapara Yuga, “the age of two”. This refers to the two remaining pillars of religion: mercy and truthfulness as people continued to stray further from the Dharma.

Kali Yuga, “the age of strife”. Named for the asura Kali, not to be confused with the goddess Kālī. This is believed to be when vice and sin are at their highest, and the Dharma is on its last leg. It is prophesied that Kalki, the final incarnation of Vishnu, will end the era with a fiery sword and usher in a new Satya Yuga, beginning the cycle anew.

As I’ve said, this is the theme the English localization went with. Before I get into the Japanese names, I want to point out that I can see the logic behind it. In story, Kilik wields the Kali-Yuga rod, which absorbed a considerable amount of powerful energy from Soul Edge itself, i.e. the Evil Seed. In that same moment, he himself is also possessed by the Evil Seed, which is only contained by the mirror Dvapara-Yuga. In a sense, the Dvapara-Yuga is the last thing between him and the Kali-Yuga, and by extension, his own destruction. The Krita-Yuga, Soul Calibur itself, is the very weapon built to destroy Soul Edge and bring an end to the chaos wrought by the evil sword. The fact that some of Soul Calibur IV’s endings show it ultimately intends to do this by freezing the world in crystal notwithstanding. On the other hand, I think there’s a reason one of the designers intended to convey “a merciless apathy” with regard to Elysium: eschatological figures with swords mean business. (I’m probably applying that retroactively.)

The other thing is that game canon has it that Soul Calibur tends to appear wherever someone is wreaking havoc with Soul Edge. Suffice it to say that it would pick up different names somewhere along the way. Soul Edge is at some points called “the Sword of Salvation” and the “Hero’s Sword”, but it’s clear that these are products of wishful thinking. That was the theory I was working from in the first place; I still think it holds.

The timeline in New Legends of Project Soul places the following at ~800 A.D.: “An elderly man known only as Edge Master gathers the three powerful artifacts once used by a Briton king. He stores them for safekeeping in Ling-Sheng Su Temple.” This is some 300 years after the same timeline mentions the same weapons went missing. I’d imagine that they had to have ended up in India at some point in the intervening years before Edge Master made it to China. While the same timeline all but outright says that Soul Calibur was Excalibur, where the other two figured in that is anyone’s guess.

So, what are the three treasures’ names in the original Japanese? I’ve belabored my other points long enough, so once again:

The sword: Gouhouken (護法剣), literally, “demon-dispelling sword” or possibly “sword in defense of Buddhist doctrine”.

The mirror: Mappoukyou (末法鏡), literally “mirror of the Latter Day of the Dharma”.

The rod: Meppoukon (滅法棍), literally “extremely [powerful] rod” or possibly “rod of the of the law of destruction”.

It didn’t take me long to understand where the localizer(s) were coming from because this as concise as I can get. That and the latter two are just daring me to mix them up when left as is. Maybe tying them to a theme made the names easier to remember. Only one of these is named after one of the Three Ages of Buddhism, and it’s the one that corresponds to the Kali Yuga! Specifically, Mappou, or Mòfǎ in Chinese, it is the third age which lasts for 10,000 years, during which the Dharma declines; at that age’s end, the Maitreya will restore the Dharma through his teachings. (Pure Land Buddhism holds this era to include the present day. Incidentally, in my research on the Yugas, I found quite a few sites with similar ideas about the Kali Yuga. Boy, does that feel familiar...)

A little tangent about the mirror’s design: note how the metal clasps resemble the ends of a vajra, a legendary weapon significant to both Buddhism and Hinduism. In Sanskrit, vajra means both “diamond” and “lightning bolt”, hence its symbolism of indestructibility and spiritual power. Naturally, it’s a major symbol of Vajrayana Buddhism, wherein the lightning stands for enlightenment. (This likely plays into the Himalayan setting of the Proving Grounds stage.) It’s not for nothing that Kilik’s victory animation in SC6 after a critical finish ends with him in a meditative pose, reciting this mantra: “Om vajra dharma Kilik.” I may as well note that his name comes from the Japanese pronunciation of the Sanskrit hrih, variously translated as “conscientiousness” or “self-respect”, one of the virtuous mental factors in Buddhism. The mantra in the Japanese is “On basara daruma Kiriku”. Here’s the latter in Soulcalibur V. Swap out his name for hrih and you have the heart mantra of the thousand-armed Avalokiteśvara. Or it could be related to the bodhisattva Vajradharma. Maybe both?

While in modern Japanese, meppou (滅法) is often used to mean something absurdly powerful, I ended up scrambling to make sure I wasn’t missing anything because I was somewhat literally reading that as “to destroy dharma”. (In my defense, “dharma” is one way of reading the second character.) I suspect the rod’s name may be an allusion to the concept of zesshoumeppou (是生滅法), the law of creation and destruction; in essence: impermanence.

I don’t have a lot to say about the name Gouhouken; the “demon-dispelling” meaning does suit Soul Calibur.

What’s more, the collective name Three Treasures (Sanbou, 三宝) comes from the practice of taking refuge in Buddhism. Generally, this is expressed by reciting a short formula; the metaphorical treasures are the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha (the monastic community as a whole). This may also be called the Triple Gem or something similar, depending on whom you ask.

And I thought I would just be picking up from where I left off in this short post, but if I’m honest, I just think it’s all really interesting.

Remember that the night the Evil Seed possesses Kilik is the darkest point of his life. He was the one chosen to wield Kali-Yuga, which coincides with some poor mad lad (who just wanted his dad back) picking up the wrong sword in Spain, unleashing a surge of evil magic on the world. The only thing that saved him from being a bloodthirsty monster was his sworn sister Xianglian putting the Dvapara-Yuga on him—at the cost of her own life. Again, without the mirror, Kilik would have been unable to regain his self-control, and the Kali-Yuga would effectively become another Soul Edge. Then he wakes up at Edge Master’s grotto with major survivor’s guilt, and his training begins in earnest.

Kilik’s arc in the new timeline emphasizes his struggle to balance and master his cursed side, culminating in him using it to defeat Inferno (with Xianghua delivering the final blow with Soul Calibur). Although the Dvapara-Yuga shatters in the battle, the main story ends on a hopeful note. He may not be completely rid of Soul Edge’s curse, but he leaves the Astral Chaos with full control of himself and one sacred mirror shard to remember it by. Whether he will try to follow in Edge Master’s footsteps this time remains to be seen.

[the-monkey-ruler]

Soulcalibur V (2012) ソウルキャリバーV

Date: January 31,2012

Platform: Xbox 360 / PlayStation 3 / PlayStation Network (PS3)

Developer: Project Soul / CyberConnect2 Co., Ltd. / 8-4, Ltd. / Bee Tribe / Imagica Digitalscape Co., Ltd. / O-TWO

Publisher: Bandai Namco Entertainment

Genre: Fighting

Theme: Fantasy / Martial Arts

Franchises: Soul

Aliases: Soul Calibur V / Soulcalibur 5 / Soul Calibur 5 / SCV / SC5

Type: Appropriation

Summary:

Soulcalibur V is a 3D historical-fantasy weapon-based fighting game developed by Project Soul and published by Namco Bandai for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 on January 31, 2012.  The sixth main entry in the Soul series, Soulcalibur V takes place seventeen years after the events of Soulcalibur IV and features the children of prominent series heroine Sophitia Alexandra as the main protagonists (Patroklos and Pyrrha). Along with descendants and students of some of the retired fighters from the series (such as Taki's protege Natsu and Xianghua's daughter Leixia), the game introduces new fighters (including fortune teller Viola and mysterious werewolf Z.W.E.I.).  Like most of the previous games in the series, Soulcalibur V includes a non-canonical guest fighter. For this entry, the guest is Ezio Auditore da Firenze from the Assassin's Creed series. Players can also unlock the moveset of Devil Jin from the Tekken series for use in the character creation system.

Source: https://www.giantbomb.com/soulcalibur-v/3030-35161/

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=muQs_5h-hMI&ab_channel=TheInnocentSinful

[legiongamerrd]

#Gamefemerides

Hace 16 años se lanzó SoulCalibur IV. Es la VI entrega de la serie de juegos de pelea SoulCalibur. Se lanzó para PlayStation 3 y Xbox 360. Contiene gráficos bastante mejorados con respecto al anterior, e incluye 3 personajes invitados de la franquicia de Star Wars como luchadores jugables. Este fue el primer juego de la serie que no se lanzó en arcade, y el último de la trilogía del 1590 D.C., después de II y el III: Un spin-off para PSP, llamado Soul Calibur: Broken Destiny, se lanzó en 2009.

#LegionGamerRD #ElGamingnosune #Videojuegos #Gaming #RetroGaming #RetroGamer #CulturaGaming #CulturaGamer #GamingHistory #HistoriaGaming #GamerDominicano #GamingPodcast #Podcast #ProjectSoul #BandaiNamco #SoulCalibur #SoulCaliburIV #PlayStation #PS3 #Microsoft #Windows #Xbox #Xbox360 #Peleas

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[magistera]

This sword is my destiny.

[denahi]

Girlfriends... Seong Mi-na and Chai Xianghua from Soulcalibur. Drawn as a gift for Little Black Dress exchange.

[nymphseongmina]

^_^

[soulofamy]

In the moon, I see everything 🌙🥀

an old piece i made almost two years ago featuring viola from soulcalibur v in her 2p outfit

[tapewurms]

Nothing says childhood like playing a game series that you really liked a lot as a kid.

And then mixing it with your current fixation.

While I'm not much able to play of Soulcalibur 4 now [because my cousin likes to steal games from me], I still remember playing as a few characters I liked. Like Hilda or Ivy or Angol Fear [shown above as a Bomberman]. I really like the cast of the series [most specifically, the girls,,], so I might do more Bomber-fications.