Icarii
[09] Warrior
That's true, all my speculation is based on post 1590. Which would cut off Raphael entirely unless they rewrote some of his backstory.I admit my speculation about Raphael was the weakest leg, but I held back on his relationships to the other characters, because all of those took place after 1590, which is where this story ends. Unless they retcon it, of course, we don't really know what he was doing before the events of SoulCalibur II, which is why I likened him to Yoshimitsu, likely pursuing his own goals, before discovering the swords and becoming intertwined into their fates. Besides that, I want to see more of non-malfested Raphael, to get a real history of his character.
Makes it more likely that he is DLC to be honest. Though I'd be fine with it so long as he was apart of the game. Still would be nice to have him incorporated to the story mode somehow. (Fav character bias)