Taki (Soul)

Dual Kodachi (SC-4)

Mekki-Maru (SC-4)

## History

### Pre-Soul

Taki was orphaned at an early age and was brought up by a ninja master named Toki.
 She was trained in the ways of the ninja, growing into an expert spy
and a great schemer, techniques taught by Toki, whose clan lived in
seclusion. Many among this clan had extraordinary abilities that had
either been lost or forgotten by the general population. Taki, being
blessed with supernatural powers of her own, decided to travel
throughout Japan to conquer the evil demons who threatened ordinary
people. To aid her in this task, she forged her own weapons with love
and care, her favorite of which was a short sword, Rekki-Maru, which
also held supernatural powers. During this time of civil war, many
military commanders employed ninjas, but, Taki worked for herself.

One day, Toki suddenly summoned all of the members of the clan for a meeting - telling the assembled ninjas that Hachibei,
 a man who had once led the ninja clan with Toki, had stolen the
spiritual ninjatō, Mekki-Maru, and had run away with his daughter, Chie. By the clan's law, the two were now nuke-nin, or rogue ninjas.
Ninja's
 were not permitted to leave their clan until they died because of the
clan secrets, making the clan responsible for the nuke-nin, and often
given the task to terminate them. In accordance with the code, Toki
ordered the ninjas to hunt down Hachibei and Chie, kill them, and return
 the Mekki-Maru. Although this was the normal course of action,
something in Toki's eyes made Taki suspicious of her foster father for
the first time.

Hachibei proved to be a hard man to find, as his skill for
remaining hidden had been the finest in the clan. Taki, with her sixth
sense and massive intelligence network, eventually found a few leads.
Chie had been Taki's childhood friend, and by following a slight trace
of Chie, Taki was able to locate Hachibei. The two were running a small
stall on a vacant road. An extraordinarily strong man named Li Long
 was living with them at the time, so Taki waited to confront Hachibei
when the old man was out. Hachibei was surprised to see Taki at first,
but his face soon filled with relief when she only requested for him to
give her the Mekki-Maru. Before doing so, Hachibei revealed to Taki that
 Toki had been possessed by madness and that the Mekki-Maru had a
dangerous control over the ninja lord now. He stated that it was for
this reason that he had taken the sword, and left.

### Soul Blade

#### Backstory

Even though Taki had her suspicions about Toki, she still found it
hard to believe that the dull blade Hachibei held in his hands had
extraordinary spiritual powers. The old man explained that if Toki were
to come in contact with the Mekki-Maru again, that he would surely kill
him. He then gave the magical blade to Taki, warning her of what would
happen if it got into her master's hands. Hechibei's trust caused her
suspicion of Toki to grow, and so she let he and Chie go free and hid
the Mekki-Maru where she was certain no one would find it. When Taki
returned to the clan, she fabricated a story about Chie's Chinese lover
taking the sword and killing both Chie and Hachibei. When Toki heard
this, he grinned and ordered the clan to pursue Li Long and kill him as
well. When he gave these orders, Taki realized that Toki was no longer
the man she knew. The only explanation was that an outside source was
affecting the Mekki-Maru, causing it to resonate with evil and warp her
foster father. Hearing rumors of the cursed sword, Soul Edge, Taki felt certain that this was the source of evil and thus set out on journey to find the blade and destroy it.

For some time, Taki had noticed that her favorite sword,
Rekki-Maru, had been acting strangely. Its once considerable power had
weakened. When she had been called in to slay the Fury demons which had
been confined in a temple, she was barely able to defeat them and seal
the gates back. Though, after the revelations with the Mekki-Maru, Taki
was sure that Soul Edge was affecting her own sword as well. Thus, she
now had two reasons for going after the legendary blade.

Though it took time, Taki eventually tracked Soul Edge to an
abandoned port town in Spain. When she arrived at the docks, she came to
 find a weakened pirate standing over an injured girl. And to Taki's
surprise, in his hands was the demonic sword she had been searching for!
 Before the pirate, Cervantes,
 could deliver the final strike to the girl below him, Taki called out
to challenge him. And thus, a battle like none Taki had ever fought
before began. Although she had been improving her armor for years, it
was designed for fighting ghosts and lesser demons and began to crack
under the strain. Her sealing spells proved useless and Rekki-Maru had
nearly lost all of it's power. However, Cervantes' battle with Sophitia
 had left him severely depleted and Taki eventually struck a fatal blow,
 causing the mad pirate to shriek in pain and slump to the ground. Even
though she was exhausted from the ordeal, Taki still managed to carry
the wounded Sophitia away from the harbor. As they left, they heard an
immense explosion of evil energy from behind them, which turned out to
be the release of the Evil Seed.

Once a safe distance away, Taki removed the shards of Soul Edge
that had riddled Sophitia's body and treated her wounds. She accompanied
 Sophitia back to her family, and then left for Japan with the shards of
 the now destroyed blade. Taki hoped that with the destruction of Soul
Edge that the Mekki-Maru had returned to normal and that Toki would be
himself again.

### Ending

Taki's sword breaks. She doesn't realize that Soul Edge is floating up into the air...

##### Bad Ending

The two swords fly at her, miss, then fly away. Taki tells her sword
that she will repair it. She goes back to the forge, fixes Rekki-Maru,
and confronts a demon. She's about to draw her sword, but she decides to
 seal it with magic instead. She then yells, "The deed is done!"

##### Good Ending

The two swords fly at her, but she grabs them as they come to her. She
then holds them down and purifies them. Wondering if she can use the
swords, she returns home, and forges the blades into one sword. A demon
appears, and she kills it with her new weapon. She then yells, "The deed
 is done!"

## Soul Calibur

#### Backstory

When Taki returned home, she unfortunately found that Toki was still
under an evil influence and was actually attacked by his assassins.
After easily defeating them, she learned that their purpose was to steal
 the Mekki-Maru, which meant that Toki was aware that she knew of it's
whereabouts. Taki quickly went to the spot where she had hidden the
sword and took it home so she could keep it away from Toki and his clan.
In
 order to restore her swords' lost power, Taki attempted to bond a shard
 from the Soul Edge into Rekki-Maru. However, they were resistant to
each other and would not join properly. Although, when she tried the
same trick on Mekki-Maru, the two were immediately united and began to
emit a dark aura. The aura was so dark that even common people could
sense it, so Taki closed it in it's sheath and sealed it with magic
cards. Mekki-Maru's power still shone through the magical seal, which
led more of Toki's assassins right to Taki. She defended herself with
her new blade, but she eventually ran out of power and was captured by Geki,
 Toki's right-hand man and highest ranking ninja. Exhausted from the
relentless battle, Taki could do nothing as Geki took Mekki-Maru and
claimed it in the name of Toki. Taki warned Geki not to undo the seal,
but it was too late and his entire right arm was blown off by the shock
wave that was released. Taki seized the moment, took the sword, and ran
past Geki's stunned assistants Gaki and Doki. Thus, Taki became a
nuke-nin like Hachibei.

#### Ending

"Evil... begone!"

Taki's cry and Mekki-Maru both pierced through Inferno.

Taki wielded Mekki-Maru at her will, which bore the same evil as Inferno.

But the faint resonance of Mekki-Maru along with the doubt in her heart would not stop.

"...So there is no end to this?" Yet surely she would triumph somehow...

...And repeat her favorite line, "Demon slain. The deed is done."

### Soul Calibur 2

#### Backstory

Toki's assassins were powerful, and Geki, who wanted revenge for the
loss of his arm, was the most dangerous of them all. Taki was able to
drive their attacks back, but she knew that she could not hold out
forever. Taki was bewildered as to why there was still an evil influence
 affecting Toki. Even Rekki-Maru was still powerless. It was then that
she remembered that Sophitia had only destroyed one of the evil swords
called Soul Edge. Rumors reached her of a berserk knight that was
ravaging Europe with an evil sword, and Taki was sure that the sword
must be the remaining part of Soul Edge. Taki devised a plan to track
down this Nightmare and pit the Soul Edge and Mekki-Maru together with the hopes of destroying both evil powers.

However, her trip was delayed when the powerful ghost, Gel-o-Fury,
 gained enough power from the Evil Seed to break Taki's seals in the
bamboo forest, where she had trapped him. After he escaped, he headed
toward the Hoko-ji Temple in Kyoto, a great temple of madness that was
constructed by warped ideals that would be the ghost's final
battleground. Taki used Mekki-Maru to defeat the Fury demon, and decided
 to share her fate with Mekki-Maru as she searched for Soul Edge.

During her time of using the legendary ninjatō, Taki realized
that Mekki-Maru was a tremendous yet dangerous weapon, she just wished
that there was some way to control it.

#### Ending

"Demon captured. The deed is done." As Taki whispered these words, the figure vanished into thin air.

Having obliterated the loathsome weapon, Taki set her sights east.

A familiar presence, bloated from devouring many souls, beckoned her.

As she ran, her unwavering gaze revealed a powerful inner purpose.

### Soul Calibur 3

#### Backstory

A clan that opposed Toki revealed to Taki that he was located in the capital of the Hoko Temple. After given this information, Taki found and faced off against Toki in the Buddhist shrine.
Although
 it was fierce battle, Taki was given the ironic advantage of the Fu-Ma
techniques that Toki himself had taught her. She also had the
Mekki-Maru, the sword that her former master sought after.
In the
end, Taki was able to defeat Toki, but as she stepped forward, preparing
 to put an end to Toki, he weakly called out "Taki... is that you? It's
very dark..."

The female ninja was caught of guard. She didn't see any insanity
 in him when he said these words. She opened her mouth to call out her
master's name, but suddenly, his eyes widened and an evil entity came
out of his mouth and disappeared.

Taki had no doubt that Toki was now heading for Soul Edge. She
knew that she had to find evil blade and destroy it before Toki did, and
 since the evil sword was temporarily weakened - it could easily be
found.

### Ending

Taki is seen running through a village, when she runs into a guard.

##### No Input Ending

Taki blocks the guards attack, when suddenly the guard drops to the
floor. She realizes the guard was attacked from behind with a kunai. She
 quickly jumps out of the way as more kunai are thrown into her
direction. An assassin, whose soul has been tainted by evil, appears
behind her. "How pitiful" Taki says "To sell your soul to evil without
preparing for the consequences." As the assassin prepares to attack,
Taki leaps over him and slashes him from behind. She then looks down and
 discovers a piece of Soul Edge that the assassin has dropped. "Soul
Edge, your scars run deep... even in death." As these words come out of
her mouth, she tightly clutches the shard in her hand.

##### Input Ending

Taki knocks out the guard and walks up to the bridge where Mitsurugi
 awaits. "A warrior of your caliber...should have no need for evil
power. It's time to hand over...that evil shard you possess." She
demands as they begin to fight. Taki then leaps backwards onto the
railing of the bridge and states "Soul Edge, your scars run deep... even
 in death." She then leaps back at Mitsurugi, continuing the battle.

### Soul Calibur 4

#### Backstory

Taki came to the Lost Cathedral, and witnessed the battle between Siegfried, who had Soul Calibur,
 and Nightmare, who had Soul Edge. She expected the two swords to
destroy each other, but the opposite happened. They unleashed a powerful
 cataclysm, which obliterated the cathedral. Taki barely escaped
herself.

Even though the cathedral was demolished, Taki knew that the soul
 swords had survived, and it was most likely that they would clash with
each other again. It was then that Taki learned that Soul Edge was in Ostrheinsburg,
 and that Siegfried was heading there with Soul Calibur. Taki wondered
if this man had the will to control the spirit sword's power. Not
wanting chance to decide this question, she hurried to do what must be
done.

#### Ending

"Why do you stand in my way. Are you saying that my way is wrong,
that I will fail?!" a defeated Siegfried asks as he falls to the ground.

"Unfortunately, yes." Taki replies. "Relying on such power will
only bring rise to new evil. In the end, we must all face our demons
alone." As Taki speaks, Siegfried grabs Soul Calibur, stands up, and
allows himself to be crystallized. As he is doing this, Taki silently
walks away.

The text-only epilogue reveals this: There is no way to know how Taki lived her life from that point on.
She sealed away a great evil and disappeared from history.

### Soul Calibur 5

Backstory

Having thoroughly studied both the forging techniques of the
blacksmith group and the demon-sealing techniques of the sealing group,
Taki was the sole member of the Fu-Ma clan to be a veteran in both
areas.

After Soul Edge was destroyed, Taki supported and raised a young
girl who was a member of the demon-fighting Fu-Ma clan, Natsu. Natsu had
 the great demon, Arahabaki,
 sealed within her and was often shunned by her fellow ninja. Taki
protected and trained Natsu to become a ninja like herself, and even
though Natsu rebelled against the clan's rules, she never questioned
Taki.

She supports her apprentice Natsu with her entire being, and has
protected her from several crises. While she carries the burden of being
 responsible for the misfortune that befell Natsu's life, she is
determined to do what must be done in the case that Natsu would turn
into a demon. Though neither Natsu's appearance or behavior are of any
special concern, the treatment she presents in her decorations appear to
 be worrying.

Before the events of *Soulcalibur V*, Taki had heard
rumors about the appearance of Toki, who she was certain was dead. She
left on a journey to the west, telling her disciple that she would be
gone no longer than two weeks. However, she has not returned since...

## Critical Finish

**Blades of Vanquishment:** Taki says "Ougi!", kicks her foe, and
then performs a magical ninja spell in order to triple herself into
three. Afterwords, they all slash through the target, jump into the air,
 and become one again. Finally, Taki takes down the helpless opponent in
 one fatal strike and tells them to "Stay Down."
(Ougi, in this case, would literally mean secret.) Generally, this can
be interpreted as her unleashing a "secret" art before the Critical
Finish starts damaging the enemy.

### Weapon Arts

**Vanquish Blades:** This move is presumably taken from Taki's
SCIV Critical Finish. There's an evident similarity even between their
names. At the beginning of this single middle Break Attack she crouches
slightly and rushes forward, slashing the enemy horizontally with both
of her blades. Time slows down a little during the strike, in case it's
performed successfully. The enemy is thrown at quite a distance after
the attack. Its range is long, its start is safe, but its main downside
is that is starts slowly. You won't be stopped for sure, and it never
stuns, however, it can continue a combo only when the opponent is thrown
 very high in the air. When he's caught in mid-air, he'll be thrown much
 closer to you, but even in that case there are no guaranteed combos
after the Weapon Art. Ukemi can save the enemy from your quickest single
 attacks. The standing opponent can be hit against the wall by this
attack, but never it can never be done to the him in mid-air. It fails,
if the enemy's on the ground. You won't be punished when the attack
guarded against. To make the most of this Weapon Art, you'd better
activate it when you see the foe starting an attack or just randomly, as
 in any case you won't get punished.

**Exorcism:** One of her signature Unblockable Attacks is now a
 Break Attack. At the beginning of the Weapon Art, there's a short
animation, in which Taki gets hold of her blades at her back, as the
camera slowly zooms in. The range of this attack is extremely short and
it can be interrupted both before and after the animation. However, the
chances of being stopped are not too high. It starts quickly enough for
you to continue some combos, when the foe is stunned and opened to
mid-attacks or in mid-air. Sometimes you can even interrupt the
opponent's attack with it. Although, there is a gap between the
activation of the move and the attack itself, but in comparison with
some Weapon Arts of other characters, it isn't very long. It won't hit
the lying opponent. When activated with the opponent in mid-air, it can
make him hit the wall, otherwise it can't. When the enemy is hit in the
air, he's thrown close to you. If the standing opponent is hit, he'll
fall to the ground pretty far from you. In both cases it doesn't stun
the enemy and you won't be able to create any significant combos after
the move, but quick low-damaging attacks will certainly turn into a
guaranteed combo. It always bursts the guard in case the enemy blocks
it.

**Beast Rage:** That's a drastic transformation of Natsu's
Critical Edge. At first, there's an animation of Taki, during which she
turns around quickly, raises her hands in the same way as she did in
SCIV during her Ninja Cannon: Fury, as a big pink cluster appears in her
 hands. She stands with her arms up for a while and then she hits the
ground with the collected energy, saying "Ready?". An enormous pillar of
 pink energy emerges, making blasting sound, quaking the ground, hitting
 the opponent six time and sending him into the air. As the enemy falls,
 he gets the additional seventh hit. When this energy stream disappears,
 you can see green spiral pillar, just as that of Natsu's Critical Edge.
 Long lasting tremor, that is created by this attack, doesn't have any
actual effect, but perhaps it widens the effect of the move.
Additionally, Taki steps a little forward during the animation, so it
definitely is a mid-range attack. This middle attack never stuns, it
can't be easily side-stepped and it has an immediate swift start
together with numerous ways of extending or starting a combo with it.
The last hit makes the opponent fly up high, enabling you to catch him
with Taki's mid-air grab Stalker Drop. Although you can easily be
stopped by any attack right before the animation. It works the same way
on the opponent on the ground, while standing or in mid-air. However,
some of the hits, including the last one, may miss when the enemy's too
high in the air. It can't cause a wall hit, but it's absolutely safe
even when blocked. Taking everything into consideration, this move is
utterly useful in combat.

**Dragon Flames:** This is a rapid combination of her former
Unblockable Attack called Seal of the Fire Dragon and two last hits of
Wind Sealing Rush. The first mid-range Break Attack charges faster, than
 in other Soul Calibur sequels, but it's still too slow to activate it
randomly, as you're opened to any of the opponent's attacks during the
charge. After the opponent is tossed in the air by the first attack,
Taki proceeds with low-damaging horizontal kick in mid-air, changing the
 direction of the whole attack a little to the right. Then time slows
down and she unleashes the last vertical strike in the air, sending
opponent back to the ground. When he touches the floor, the sound of
another hit is heard and the lightning comes down from above, however,
the damage is not done. He bounces off and falls down at once, as Taki
jumps over him. It looks and even sounds a bit confusing, but there are
only three hit in this Weapon Art. With the opponent behind you, you
still can't make any guaranteed combos after the attack, though you have
 a good chance of performing a throw while facing away. At the beginning
 of the attack Taki always says "This is...", but at the end her phrases
 vary. There can be "Pointless!", "Forgive me!", "It's over!" or just
nothing. Despite a slow start, the first attack provides a safe medium
range and always bursts the opponent's guard. After a Guard Break you
won't have a lot of time to attack though, but at least it saves you
from the punishment. If the first move misses, or the opponent guards
against it, nothing else will be performed. Fortunately, some combos can
 be continued by the Weapon Art, because it works nicely on the opponent
 in any state. However, it tends to miss, when the enemy is lying on the
 ground. There's a very small possibility of hitting the opponent
against the wall with the first hit, but the second one leads to a wall
pretty frequently. It may also occur, that the finishing strike misses
after a wall hit caused by the previous attack. The enemy won't be
stunned by any of three attacks.

## Stage

Shrine of Confined Demons (SB)

Hoko Temple (SC)

Kaminoi Castle: Sakura-Dai Gate (2)

Underground Buddhist Sanctum (3)

Ostrheinsburg Castle: Twilight (4)

Dark Capital Ostrheinsburg (BD)

## Theme

Future Dancing (SB)

A Haunting Wind (SB)

Cursed Image (SC, 3)

Sakura-Dai Gate: Brave Sword Braver Soul (2)