Taki (Soul Calibur)

Taki is a fictional character designed for the Soul series of fighting games, making her debut in the first game of the series, Soul Blade. She has thus far appeared in all the following games, including Soulcalibur: Broken Destiny and Soulcalibur Legends. She is known as the Hunter of Darkness in Soul Blade, the Partial Shadow of Demon Sealing in Soul Calibur, and the Sealed Sword of Godspeed in Soul Calibur III, Soul Calibur IV, and Soul Calibur: Broken Destiny.
Taki is the female ninja in the games, and as such is a character known for her agility and speed on both movements and strikes. She is also recognized for her many acrobatic movements, exaggerations of ninjutsu skills, and the use of magic-based unblockable attacks.
In the game's universe, according to the Edge Master Mode profile in Soul Blade, Taki is a Japanese orphan raised in the Fu-Ma Ninja clan, under the care of it's headmaster, Toki. She is a capable fighter in both unarmed and armed combat, as well as an accomplished demon huntress, spy, and blacksmith. Being one of only three characters to have never been dropped from a single game, either arcade or console versions, she has become one of the staple characters of the series.
She is voiced by Fujiko Takimoto and Sachiko Kojima in the Japanese version, and by Desiree Goyette and Cynthia Holloway in the English version.
==Personality==
As a ninja, Taki takes her job very seriously. She is often times stern and emotionless, and will assassinate a potential threat, no matter if they maybe evil or not.
She considers herself an enemy to most of those affiliated of Soul Edge and doesn't mind killing them if that's what she must resort to, but to those that are not truly evil, such as Sophitia and the Libra of Souls Protagonist, she is more remorseful towards, and instead warns them about the evil blade's true intentions.
To her only known disciple Natsu, she shows great care in teaching her the disciplines of a true stealth warrior, but she is aware that should the seal containing the demon residing inside Natsu break, she will take whatever measures are necessary to stop it.
Alongside Sophitia, Siegfried, and the Edge Master, she is one of the few individuals aware that Soul Edge is truly evil.
==History==
===Early life===
It is implied that Taki was orphaned when she was a girl, by her parents. One day, she was taken up by her master Toki, and was trained extensively in the art of ninjutsu. Overtime, she was also able to forged her own ninjatō, a sword named Rekki-Maru, which held supernatural powers and which Taki used whenever possible.
Eventually Toki called upon Taki and the other members of her clan, where he told them that a former clan member turned traitor named Hachibei had stolen a sacred artifact belonging to the clan: a ninjatō called Mekki-Maru before fleeing. Because Ninja of the clan were not permitted to defect until death, Toki order Taki, alongside the rest of the loyal clan members to hunt down and assassinate the traitor ands daughter Chie.
Taki eventually located Hachibei, and when she confronted him, he revealed his motive for stealing the sword. Apparently, Toki had grown too attached to the scared blade that its demonic powers began to manipulate the Clan Master, secretly driving him insane; Hachibei was aware of this, so he took the sword for his former masters own safety.
===Soul Edge===
Taki had her suspicions with Hachibei, but because he was a respected member prior to the assassination order by Toki, she had no choice but to believe him. Hachibei, believing that Taki was more trustworthy than Master Toki, gave Mekki-Maru to her, but warned her to keep it away from her master.
Upon returning, Taki confronted Toki and lied to him by claiming that she killed Hachibei and Chie and that their bodyguard Li Long had fled; pleased but not fully satisfied by this, Toki ordered the rest of the clan members to hunt down and kill Li Long. Realizing that her master was completely disregarding the code of honer of ninjutsu, she came to the realization that Toki was not the master she once knew, and that Hachibei was right. 
However, she sensed that an outside source was responsible for this thirst for power, and after hearing stories about a legendary sword called Soul Edge, she believed that the cursed sword was responsible for driving her foster father and master into insanity, and vowed to destroy the demonic blade. Overtime, Taki's signature sword Rekki-Maru, began to wane in power, believing that Soul Edge was affecting its power. She believed that eventually, Mekki-Maru would also be affected.
Eventually, Taki made her way to port in Spain, where she confronted the source of Soul Edge: an undead pirate named Cervantes, who was about to kill the angelic warrior Sophitia, who was critically injured by a shard of Soul Edge after damaging the blade. Although Rekki-Maru's power was almost completely gone, Taki jump in front of Cervantes before he had a chance to kill Sophitia, and killed the pirate captain, as well as destroying one of his swords in the process.
Taki saved Sophitia, and the to exhausted heroines retreated to safety, but little did either of them know that Soul Edge survived, as the second sword Cervantes was wielding was also the cursed sword, and in leaving it intact, the two unintentionally released the Evil Seed.
===Soul Calibur===
Taki returned to her home, and found that her master Toki was still insane from the evil sword's influence. There she confronted a number of attackers and defeated them, only to learn that they were after the sacred sword Mekki-Maru. Upon realizing that Toki was suspicious about Mekki-Maru's whereabouts with her, Taki left.
Taki used a shard of Soul Edge, which she obtained from the battle against Cervantes to mend the lost power into Rekki-Maru. She tried the same trick one Mekki-Maru, but failed, and in doing so, both swords released a dark aura, which drew more attackers towards Taki. The female ninja tried to fend off the attackers, but eventually she was overpowered and captured by Toki's right-hand man Geki, who took Mekki-Maru in an attempt to return it to Taki's former master turned enemy. Taki warned Geki not to break the seal, but the arrogant ninja did so, and had his right arm blown off from the sword's evil aura. Taki then grabbed the demonic blade as Geki's henchmen were distracted, and in doing so, was branded a traitor like Hachibei.
===Soul Calibur II===
Overtime, Taki fended off numerous assassins summoned by her former master to kill her, and although she managed to defeat them one-by-one, she knew that she would not be able to hold them off forever.
It was then that Taki had a sudden realization: Soul Edge was not completely destroyed during her battle against Cervantes. Overtime, she heard rumors of a similar dark warrior, clad in azure armor and after hearing that the this dark knight was wielding a powerful, demonic blade, Taki realized that it must be Soul Edge.
Before Taki could begin tracking down Nightmare and destroy Soul Edge, she sense that the powerful ghost-demon Gel-o-Fury had escaped from the bamboo forest Taki had trapped him inside so long ago after the Evil Seed's power had grown powerful enough.
The demon then traveled to Hoko-ji Temple in Kyoto, where Taki confronted him and used Mekki-Maru to defeat him, but in doing so, she sealed her fate with Mekki-Maru as well.
Taki the began her search for Soul Edge, but hoped that in the time between, she would control the demonic power that was contained within Mekki-Maru, and use its tremendous power to her advantage.
===Soul Calibur III===
Taki confronted a clan that was opposed to Toki's clan. There, they revealed to her the her former master was residing within Hoko Temple. Upon reaching the temple, Taki battled her master; although the two were at first evenly matched, Taki managed to gain the upper hand when she used techniques that her master had taught against him.
Before Taki had a chance to kill her master, Toki spoke up to her, stating "Taki... is that you? It's very dark..."
Suddenly, a spirit with dark aura escaped from her master's body, before it fell limp. Knowing that the entity that escaped from Toki's lifeless body was the evil spirit residing within him for so long, she vowed to tracked Soul Edge and destroy it, before the spirit did in order to exploit its powers. Sensing the evil sword's power was temporarily waning, she felt that now was her chance.
===Soul Calibur IV===
Taki traveled to the Lost Cathedral, where she witnessed Siegfried (who had recently broken away from Soul Edge's influence) battling Nightmare with Soul Calibur. She initially hoped that both swords would destroy each other in the climatic battle, but instead, it caused a large explosion that destroyed the cathedral in the process.
Both Taki and Siegfried escaped alive, but Taki had sensed that Soul Edge was still alive, and sensed its presence in Ostrheinsburg. Knowing that Siegfried was heading there, she decided to travel there in the hopes that Soul Edge would also be destroyed for good should the Tragic Knight manage to control the spirit sword's power.
===Soul Calibur V===
Taki's skill in ninjutsu, as well as blacksmithing, made her unique to a newly reformed Fu-Ma clan.
After Soul Edge was destroyed by Siegfried, Taki recruited a disciple named Natsu, who was processed by a powerful demon named Arahabaki. Although the rebellious and upbeat girl opposed the clan's rules, she respected Taki, and agreed to follow her instruction to avoid causing trouble.
Taki trained Natsu extensively in the art of ninjutsu, just as her late former master did, but she knew that the burden fell on her to protect Natsu's life in the event that Arahabaki broke away from her.
During this time, Taki heard rumors about sighting of her former master Toki in the west. Wanting to see if the rumors were true and quench the threat if so, she left Natsu behind, telling her that she would be back in two week's time... she was never heard from again.
===Soul Calibur VI===
In the intro to the alternate timeline, Taki helps Sophitia once again defeat Cervantes and destroy one of the two swords he was wielding, but in the process, left Soul Edge ultimately intact, setting forth the eventual consequences that would lead to the Evil Seed.
Shortly after the ordeal with Cervantes, Taki became an outcast of the Fu-Ma clan. She fails to forge the shard of Soul Edge with her sword Rekki-Maru, but succeeds in doing so with Mekki-Maru. In doing so however, Geki, a member of the Fu-Ma clan demands that Taki hand over the demonic sword to him. Taki defeats him, before retreating to Mt. Fuji to learn more about Mekki-Maru.
Taki confronts Yoshimitsu, and battles that automaton in the belief that he is working for Toki. Afterwards, she heads towards Hoko-Ji Temple in Kyoto in an attempt to defeat the demon Gel-o-Fury, whom Taki had sealed away long ago.
Along the way, Taki confronts Shuki, a member of the Fu-Ma clan's Fujibe faction, and battles him. There he reveals that she should've been the real master and not Taki, before giving her Ranjatai, an incense embedded with Celestial power to help her defeat Gel-o-Fury.
Taki eventually makes it to Hoko-Ji Temple after defeating his henchmen Miime and Niime, there she confronts Gel-o-Fury, who has processed Geki's body. Taki then battles a processed Geki. Taki defeats him, and drives Gel-o-Fury out of Geki's body. Geki then tells her that Toki has left Japan in an attempt to evade retribution. Realizing that he likely in search of the cursed sword Soul Edge (which Taki realized was still intact), she heads off in search for both her former master as well as the evil sword.
In the Libra of Souls Campaign, Taki is confronted once after the Protagonist gets lost in the forest while in search of Azwel to stop him from releasing the Ultimate Seed. Taki attempts to assassinate the protagonist, believing that they are merely another henchmen working for Nightmare, but the protagonist defeats her and proves otherwise that they are not affiliated with the cursed sword. She warns the protagonist about the evil sword's power, in an attempt to give them second thoughts about obtaining it, before leaving just as Grøh finds them.
She is encountered a second time should the protagonist's alignment lean towards evil in an attempt to find Soul Edge over Soul Calibur. She battles them once, and is once again defeated by the protagonist. Realizing that the protagonist could in fact be the one that could stop theUltimate Seed, she entrusts them with finding Soul Edge, but heeds the same warning as before, implying that should they become insane, she will be forced to kill him. She then leaves for other matters unbeknownst to the protagonist.
==Quotes==
==Gallery==
===Images===
taki-sx.jpg|Soul Edge Appearance.
sc-taki1.jpg|Soul Calibur Appearance.
sc2-taki3.jpg|Soul Calibur II Appearance.
Taki-soul3art.jpg|Soul Calibur III Appearance.
959863 20090603 790screen025.jpg|Soul Calibur IV Appearance.
art-025.jpg|Namco X Capcom Appearance.
agah (13).jpg|Queen's Gate Appearance.
51b83840fda88ed312f14b6a5698d6fa.gif|Namco X Capcom Opening.
sc2-taki.jpg
Sc2-taki2.jpg
soulcalibur01.jpg
tak13.jpg
taki-nx.gif
takisc3rend.jpg
z (7)y5y45.jpg
500px-SC4 Taki.jpg
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