The Original Character(s) Timeline

[ZionOAS]

Hello I'm posting this thread to speak on the ability to create a shared timeline through the Soul Calibur franchise going forward. Bring any of your thoughts on how this could improve the quality of the single player modes. How it could make any kind of impact on the main chronicle time line. How it expands a shared universe for guest characters that are included in the single player modes. Any further details you can muster up.

 

[ZionOAS]

So a friend of mine has been playing Dragon Age 3 and it dawned on me that I had potentially had two original main characters in my roster. I have been carrying over my "Cadet" OC for every game, and I had made other OCs that are apart of his story. But Libra of Souls has changed this, or made me think differently about who my character for it should be. I ended up redoing the character as the Cadet's lover thus making her the "Conduit." The Conduit interacts with the main cast of characters and effects the Soul Chronicle in many ways. I also never realized that the Conduit actually fights Kilik in the Soul Chronicle mode. So what if the Cadet still exist in the world? And what if the Cadet and the Conduit will eventually interact with one another in the future rather than one of the two being lost to the annals of history? Could this be a way to carry over your character to a future installment? Where the Conduit may give the Cadet the Libra of Soul and then his/her's soul will be permanently stuck in the alignment you left it. You would come across the Conduit in future missions where they made act honorable or dishonorable to the situation, or have an affinity to provide you assistance to certain missions based on your alignment. There's also a good point that the Conduit's story isn't over correct? Astral Fissures are still opening up and they are the person with the ability to close them. The Cadet turned Rebel Hero of Grandall could provide a strong military support to the other OCs installed into the story line like a Commander Shepard. And since Soul Calibur 2 was more of just going around beat missions and collect money, that character could be included in a sense of the Grey Warden/or Champion. Everyone doesn't have to be the Supernatural savior, but they could all be important in their own aspects. This could possible take away certain creative liberties from your OCs yet I believe it will help you create more of an extensive fan fiction now tied closer to the canon story line than before. And one last point, this could give your "Conduit" "Cadet" and otherwise something special about their Soul Charge or Soul gauge attacks in the future.

 

[ZionOAS]

I just thought of that mysterious unknown series of events that caused Luna to have Soul Calibur, this could be a result of the Conduit pulling the sword from Astral Chaos and giving it to her in order for her to have the power to defeat you in combat. This could change the story of the Cadet if your conduit's alignment causes Luna and Strife to have the opposing sword in the story or where they could have gotten it from.

 

[DanteSC3]

I like the Cadet more, but it’s precisely because the Chronicles of the Sword storyline is alternate history and not possibly contained in the canon why I found it interesting. It’s its own fantasy setting and surprisingly detailed for being a side mission mode in a game that already has quite the robust story mode for its main cast. That they were able to create a standalone narrative, a what-if scenario if the swords were used for warring empires instead of just being passed through fated individuals, what that would be like, and it worked out quite well, if you ask me.

The Conduit, on the other hand, was made purely to tell the hidden history behind the canon with regards to the Aval Organization and its activities. It’s less interesting in that it doesn’t really matter what the Conduit does, but they were just at the right place at the right time, and practically manipulated by Zasalamel to play their part to keep Azwel and the astral fissures in check, lest he take over the human race and become a supervillain to rival the Hero King Algol. Don’t get me wrong, I liked seeing the details between the details that tell the main story, but the self-contained narrative approach that has nothing to do with the main story at all is preferable for a created character, for me.

 

[ZionOAS]

@DanteSC3 I expected to see a opinion from where you are coming from. When you add the Cadet into the canon it loses it individuality as a self contained story. And yes the Conduit is a pawn but how many main protagonists cannot control their own paths at first? The Cadet was Strife’s pawn throughout the story even if you just want to say he/she was just following orders. The narrative itself could still be included into the main canon and could show that our usual beaters of the two swords could be switched up. Even give more concrete examples of how the swords identities interact with different bearers. I would like to see the Cadet interact with a Conduit who has gone through the transition of being their own character and making their own decisions and new character growth to the blank slate you started. Something I think a developer never brought up as a concept was why isn’t it possible to still control two narratives at once? Even the Cadet were to ask the Conduit where they came from, why can’t you choose the response?

 

[DanteSC3]

As far as Luna getting the sword is concerned, I just see it as her praying to a deity or something about needing the power to defeat you, who represents the Grandall Empire, and since Strife has Soul Edge, then Soul Calibur answered her call and Luna, not knowing about Strife, just uses it against you. It doesn't work, because the sword, I feel like, isn't at its full power unless it's directly battling its polar opposite, and also, the sentience of the sword spirit may detect that you aren't evil, which is why it holds back on purpose and you're able to defeat Luna. Instead of Luna taking it all the way to the end, she surrenders the sword to you, because she sees you as her better, and more fit to take down Strife, once she learns the truth.

I mean, it could possibly maybe take place in the past, before Cervantes got Soul Edge, but then that doesn't make sense, because it's in the greatsword form that it only became accustomed to with Siegfried, but then that doesn't make sense to take place after SoulCalibur IV either, because the sword was, as far as we know, as because if not, then Siegfried would have been all over it, dormant until it rose again 17 years later, so then it could only really take place after SoulCalibur V, maybe, but the implication that both Soul Edge and Soul Calibur have taken new forms by then, that too is contradicting.

I just really can't place the narratives together, since there's too many clashing elements. They would have to retcon a fair number of things to make it work, and if they did, I'm not really sure if it would be worth the effort, or what really we would stand to gain by this happening. They can tell two narratives at once, but Chronicles of the Sword, if it returns, should stay its own separate entity, in my opinion.

 

[ZionOAS]

It can tak

I mean, it could possibly maybe take place in the past, before Cervantes got Soul Edge, but then that doesn't make sense, because it's in the greatsword form that it only became accustomed to with Siegfried, but then that doesn't make sense to take place after SoulCalibur IV either, because the sword was, as far as we know, as because if not, then Siegfried would have been all over it, dormant until it rose again 17 years later, so then it could only really take place after SoulCalibur V, maybe, but the implication that both Soul Edge and Soul Calibur have taken new forms by then, that too is contradicting.

Just from a narrative we hadn't seen Soul Calibur or Soul Edge ever be called complete until the fourth game. The new timeline shows that fragments of both swords are available because Azwel had fragments of both. The Conduit and Azwel can call these "impersonators" from the Astral plane and finally Algol should still have fragments of both as well. So multiple swords can exist at the same time and it merely a developing coincidence that Luna used a jai and Strife used a broad sword. So they weapons turned into what you used. If the Cadet is of any of the weapon classes that can use Soul Calibur it will bend to their fighting style. But I can see it being placed right in between Two and Three. Before Nightmare's new construct is animated. With Strife losing to the Cadet falling into the flames of his burning empire, Tira or Zasalamel can obtain this part of Soul Edge in the process of animating the Azure Armor. And the Cadet could give their Soul Calibur to Siegfried to make his more powerful. During this time the Cadet would relate to him because of them both being good hearts but have caused much sorrow and bloodshed. This could also cause the Conduit to have another character arc because they do consider Zasalamel "close" in a way. They could come to odds or terms with him as he goes about trying to break his curse.

Edit:Also were character's ages relatively are, such as Luna and Abelia. They would have to exist within the frame of Soul Calibur 2 and 3. The conflict itself had no concrete time span but can be spread out through the course to align with all these events. Strife and Luna would also cause the attention of the Aval Organization. Luna only gave you Soul Calibur because of the promise she made to Giradot. Who could have come in contact with the Aval Organization after having his suspicions that something was wrong with Strife after he finally showed he had obtained Soul Edge.

 

[ZionOAS]

I have to admit I never owned Soul Calibur 2 because I wanted it on Gamecube and by the time I owned one I had Soul Calibur 3. So I'm reading up on the narrative from there. But seems the Weapon Master has their own story as well. Even if you kept it in the self contained world the Weapon Master could be thrown into an Astral Fissure like Geralt and displaced in time. Would you then send them home or keep them as an asset for later installments? I feel like the culmination of the Conduit, Weapon Master and the Cadet can be used as a plot point towards the Soul Calibur 4 story line against Nightmare's campaign against the entire Eastern World. An army of people strong enough to defend the people, or even assist Wolfkrone in a way. But all three are capable of giving a reinvented experience to the canon lore, even visiting times that were within Zasalamel's notes. For all we know he could have been Veral or Tristy in Weapon Master's story

 

[TresDias]

I remember playing Chronicles of the Sword 13 years ago (How has it already been so long??), acquiring the Bonebreaker Sword, and just absolutely demolishing everything my CaS encountered from that point forward. That weapon made for one of the most broken offenses in the whole game, and inspired me to think of what CotS should have been about: the Cadet waging war on behalf of a warmongering manipulator (which we got) for the sake of bathing a weapon in enough blood that it becomes the soul-devouring malevolence that will be named Soul Edge (which we didn't).

That would have allowed it to ostensibly be in canon without necessarily beholding Project Soul to it if they ever wanted to delve more deeply into the evil sword's origin and pre-Algol days.

 

[ZionOAS]

Interesting. On an off note I was thinking that I would like if PS never took the story farther than SC4, that would be an interesting story to tell itself without aging the roster continuously. But funny that you feel as though you broke the game, which is something that happens allot unless you are playing something like Dark Souls. You train and train or you just obtain a weapon that makes you entirely too OP for the mechanics of the game to handle. I feel like 2B broke the Libra of Soul part of the game because even though you can start with her level 1 weapon it's very easy to juggle any opponent for moments on end and chip all their health away.

But back onto the subject, I like where the cadet headed in his story and something you are referring to I would rather that be an entirely different character. It seems I'm getting a vibe that people are afraid of the stories getting too involved with the main canon. It's not something to fear because it could enrich what we already have without pushing the story too far. I would like something more than just creating a new original character for the next installment mini game they put into a story. I would actually want to impact the canon of the storyline in some way. That's why I liked the Conduit's because they actually stopped a world wide cataclysm. But I believe Project Soul may also loosening the reigns on the historical accuracy since we are putting more fantasy like elements into the game. You can literally go as far back as you want and still tie things in somewhere along the way. I still want to see some shared narrative since the Conduit is canon, I want the Cadet to be canon, I want the Weapon Master to be canon. I even want to see the one who allowed Soul Edge to become the become the evil incarnate it has become.

 

[DanteSC3]

But there's an inherent flaw with Chronicles of the Sword being part of the canon, that being that while, obviously, the story of SoulCalibur is high fantasy fiction, it's still based in reality, some things added for the sake of the narrative, but it's mostly played straight to be, if you take into account the existence of the two swords and what they do, possible to take place in our real world. Chronicles of the Sword goes against this idea, with these warring nations that don't exist and don't really have real-world counterparts. Go ahead and find Grandall, Dalkia, Halteese, Maletta, and such on our world map. I'll wait...

I'm aware you could rework it and retcon it into the existing countries and make it fit, but as I am a strong opponent to the idea that SoulCalibur VI (and thus SoulCalibur VII and beyond) is (would be) retconning anything, I wouldn't be okay with this. They're keeping everything the way it was before, and changing the narrative to fit Chronicles of the Sword in with the main story would just be tacky and obtuse. If they want to bring it back as its own separate entity and expand upon it, that's fine, but it just doesn't mesh with our story.

 

[ZionOAS]

But there's an inherent flaw with Chronicles of the Sword being part of the canon, that being that while, obviously, the story of SoulCalibur is high fantasy fiction, it's still based in reality, some things added for the sake of the narrative, but it's mostly played straight to be, if you take into account the existence of the two swords and what they do, possible to take place in our real world. Chronicles of the Sword goes against this idea, with these warring nations that don't exist and don't really have real-world counterparts. Go ahead and find Grandall, Dalkia, Halteese, Maletta, and such on our world map. I'll wait...

I'm aware you could rework it and retcon it into the existing countries and make it fit, but as I am a strong opponent to the idea that SoulCalibur VI (and thus SoulCalibur VII and beyond) is (would be) retconning anything, I wouldn't be okay with this. They're keeping everything the way it was before, and changing the narrative to fit Chronicles of the Sword in with the main story would just be tacky and obtuse. If they want to bring it back as its own separate entity and expand upon it, that's fine, but it just doesn't mesh with our story.

Find Wolfkrone...And just like everything else it would be lost to history. There's no point to be history accurate or semi-accurate. I wouldn't care if all the Elves had left the Eastern hemisphere and colonized North America. It doesn't matter because it is a game, and it is slowly and surely becoming more of a fantasy tale. Another thing about the cadet, only Grandall survives that war. And is most like apart or near Rome.

 

[ZionOAS]

And to be a realist. You honestly think that Nightmare could go on this campaign of slaughter and not kill, injure, enthrall any real person in the world and not screw up our future? He literally just goes somewhere and leaves everyone dead. He can even blow them up. Someone important to the politics of history is no longer breathing. Not to mention that an Evil seed has gone off, not to mention there is no guarantee another Evil/Ultimate Seed could go off. Or an Astral Fissure just open up and turn everyone in the area into Malfested. Or Malfested just come running up in your town. Lizardmen and cult members come to harvest you and your family to make Astraroths and Lizardmen.

 

[TresDias]

But back onto the subject, I like where the cadet headed in his story and something you are referring to I would rather that be an entirely different character. It seems I'm getting a vibe that people are afraid of the stories getting too involved with the main canon.

To the contrary, I would have liked to see CotS be canon, and the scenario I offered would have allowed it. Project Soul hasn't touched pre-Algol history, so CotS' status would be safe even if PS hasn't acknowledged the matter since.

It would have been really freakin' easy to rework CotS into what I described, and would have allowed it to be something that ostensibly endures to this day as part of the canon. Instead, it was hamstrung from the beginning to be this trippy alternate history that wouldn't really be a significant chapter in the history of the two swords even if it was canon.

How much more impactful could that story have been had mortally wounding Giradot been the final step that cultivated the blood-soaked blade into a conscious malevolence? And it was at that moment Strife stepped forward to claim his prize and finish Giradot off with it?

I get just chills imagining the scene that way. How did they drop the ball on that? It was begging to be done.

But there's an inherent flaw with Chronicles of the Sword being part of the canon, that being that while, obviously, the story of SoulCalibur is high fantasy fiction, it's still based in reality, some things added for the sake of the narrative, but it's mostly played straight to be, if you take into account the existence of the two swords and what they do, possible to take place in our real world. Chronicles of the Sword goes against this idea, with these warring nations that don't exist and don't really have real-world counterparts. Go ahead and find Grandall, Dalkia, Halteese, Maletta, and such on our world map. I'll wait...

This is another reason setting CotS in the pre-Algol days would have benefitted its potential canon status.

 

[ZionOAS]

I really had no issue with the story, the entire thing was well written to me and not a basic script that I could just expect everything to happen. Mooncalf being Luna’s mother. Girardot death scene. His family joining the rebellion. Your rematch with Abelia and freeing your old comrades from soul edges influence. Chester the molester pulling strings. It was very Fire Emblem’esque. It’s the kind of writing the Conduit didn’t share. So when you have the potential to document the long bloody history of Soul Edge you can tell an even better tragedy then the Cadets story of the one that would create Soul Calibur. I would actually like that person to die at the end. But I wanted the Cadet to live. And once again something like that original person dying and then boom! Coming out of an Astral Fissure like the Pharaoh did in Libra of Souls. (Because I believe that was supposed to be a reference to one of the wielders. And your faced with one of the hardest A.I.s you have faced, stats are maxed out, has some annoying buffs and debuffs. That would do you the player justice for the work you put into that character during your play through and lay your ill fated OC to rest.

 

[ZionOAS]

Imagine if the Original was gifted Soul Edge by loved ones who received it from a shady peddler. He goes on a journey to do something, makes friends, completes it. Then turns around to have his sanity twisted by the sword. Going to kill him companions, eventually his loved ones. Then somehow breaking through it. And having the die by one of his surviving companions or even an antagonist rival he made somewhere down the line. But he dies in peace knowing that he has been stopped. It's the story you want, laced in two other stories and you would realize that it was the story of the Original until you get to the last couple of chapters and realize that there is no way Soul Calibur is just going to get shopped into the story, and then your jaw drops when you start having to fight the last two or three chapters against all the comrades you made. And it hits you...It's the Original.

 

[ZionOAS]

I’m not sure if it’s sequel baiting but it’s worth pointing out.

Spoiler: The bodyguard

So at the end of Amy’s Soul Chronicle her maid makes a suggestion/threat that Amy should be accompanied by a capable warrior. Besides Raphael, Amy is a more capable fighter in her own respect than many people she has encountered. She has also gained the perceptive analysts ability where she can tell can tell someone is nearby because the wind sway a different direction than it normally does at that exact spot everyday at 2:37pm and 45 seconds. Lol. With all of this, there is one person Amy vouched for even to Raphael. And that was the Conduit. Seeing as Amy and Raphael are being hinted at causing the next country wide event because Nightmare May or may not be in commission. Or the focus of the next Azwel scheme for the Player Character to embark on a journey to stop. It may make sense that Amy becomes the new Groh in a sense as the exposition and plot director.

 

[DanteSC3]

It’s possible that it could be the Conduit, yeah. I wasn’t considering that. I’m not sure if I like that, though, because while the race and gender never comes up or matters during Libra of Soul, if the other perception is true, that this bodyguard is the guy who will become Z.W.E.I. in the future, then that would lock in a canonization that dismisses all the other possibilities. Kinda defeats the purpose of getting to make your own character if the next game has a shocker reveal like that.

 

[ZionOAS]

There is always room for a party to be formed. If they intend on working on mechanics for Team Battles again. The Conduit, Amy, Z.w.e.i, Groh, Mitsurugi, maybe Taki or Ivy, Hilde, and Cassandra all make sense as constant travel compainons. Maybe even the new guest character. There could also be a good team and bad team depending on how you choose to interact with Raphael's machinations.

 

[Starringrole]

I’m not sure if it’s sequel baiting but it’s worth pointing out.

Spoiler: The bodyguard

So at the end of Amy’s Soul Chronicle her maid makes a suggestion/threat that Amy should be accompanied by a capable warrior. Besides Raphael, Amy is a more capable fighter in her own respect than many people she has encountered. She has also gained the perceptive analysts ability where she can tell can tell someone is nearby because the wind sway a different direction than it normally does at that exact spot everyday at 2:37pm and 45 seconds. Lol. With all of this, there is one person Amy vouched for even to Raphael. And that was the Conduit. Seeing as Amy and Raphael are being hinted at causing the next country wide event because Nightmare May or may not be in commission. Or the focus of the next Azwel scheme for the Player Character to embark on a journey to stop. It may make sense that Amy becomes the new Groh in a sense as the exposition and plot director.

Interesting idea. Its pretty apparent Amy/Raphael are taking center stage for the next game (or story sequence whatever really) which aligns perfectly with Soulcalibur II and is a pretty strong divergence since Amy presumably began activity during SCIII or IV. I assume canonically IV however?
So now she begins at what would be SC2.

I feel as though the most logical companions for Amy would (if not going by the Conduit) would be Ivy, Groh or ZWEI. Maybe even Siegfried if they do some incredibly large ongoing changes.

I assume anyone with the "Family" theme as a driving force is also prone to being linked to Amy in the future, something that has corresponded with her character for a very long time. which applies to Siegfried/Ivy pretty directly and Sophitia in a sense too.

I will say however, I don't think making it the conduit would be a good idea at all as the only way I can see it at the moment it will heavily intervene or ruin the next games story assuming they pursue Amy being heavily involved in the main story with Raphael, which I think its safe to say Raphael at the very least is going to be the lead. The problems from this and story opportunity that would be simplified to fit in the Conduit makes me really think it wont be the Conduit. Regardless of if I like it or not, I do suppose that in some capacity making it the conduit could make something interesting occur.

But it does seem like it erases lots of plot opportunities.