Soul Edge

> **"You have grasped my hilt... you will be my wielder... you will be my body. I will make you a master of the sword. No one is stronger than you... use me and kill!"**
>
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   Soul Edge is the central antagonist in the Soul series of fighting games and namesake to the first installment. When originally forged, Soul Edge was just an ordinary sword, but after being bathed in blood and hatred countless times, the sword turned into a demonic weapon and gained a wicked soul, called Inferno. Those who grasp its hilt are unable to escape its curse, as its spirit invades the mind like a parasite and drives its wielder insane. Its blade soaks in blood and in power, and it remains a polished red. Soul Edge is distinguished by its animate eye.

Consistently referred to as the Evil Sword, Soul Edge has a reputation for devouring souls. The weapon is also known to be a shape-shifter – which form it takes depends on its current owner. Only those with great mental discipline can retain their will while wielding this weapon. In the games, a common trait of selecting Soul Edge as a combative weapon is that it depletes the health of the player whilst giving increased attack power or even draining an opponent's health upon contact.

Soul Edge's curse is called malfestation, and is inflicted not only upon those who wield the sword itself, but those who come into contact with its shards. Normally, the Evil Seed transforms the person infected into a demonic monster and feeds off the host's inner sinful deeds of bloodlust, controlling and manipulating their actions, and forcing the user to take the souls of whom they defeat in battle.

Soul Edge makes its first appearance in Phantom Blood as a minor antagonist during the fight at Davis' Castle, with its wielder being Inferno in the form of Nightmare. Although he is defeated in battle, he survives through Soul Edge. The sword is later taken to a museum after the battle at the castle.

Soul Edge and Inferno reappear Miidust Odyssey as a minor antagonist once again. It is initially wielded by [Name pending], who is defeated by Wario and Waluigi in battle. He later possesses Ciptun Felkom, who had planned on ambushing the Wario Bros and mercilessly Felkom Pawanched a barber, and is defeated by Jorvin. Soul Edge then possesses Wario, Waluigi, then Ciptun Felkom again, who ends up getting rid of the sword accidentally. The fate of the sword is unknown, although it was heavily damaged and thrown into a river.

## Appearance

While Soul Edge is commonly depicted as a sword, he takes on many shapes and forms throughout the series, either through time periods or various people wielding him. When he first gained his parasitic powers, he was a broadsword with a collection of flesh growing at the hilt and handguard area with a yellow eye. In Soul Blade, he was a normal sword with a flesh-like hilt and handguard with hooks on the latter part. By the time Nightmare arose, the weapon transformed into a giant sword with flesh filling the blunt side of the blade and the eye at the base of his hilt. One side of the sword featured an enlarged blade to greater fit Nightmare's fighting style.

After having sustained damage after the events of Soulcalibur and recovering Charade in Soulcalibur II, a portion of the blade is missing, and the flesh area is exposed and forced to grow to accommodate for his missing portion, to the point of creeping over the hilt himself. In an artwork piece showing Nightmare, the blade seems to be leaving decomposing shards and pieces of flesh, as if he is weakening, although there are weapons he can obtain which show a restored or "completed" version of himself, the latter of which is covered completely in a grotesque composite slab of eyes and meat. In Soulcalibur III, Soul Edge is no longer used by anyone in the immediate roster or available as an initial weapon. He had instead fused together with Soul Calibur where the holy weapon had pierced him from the hilt area, and several parts of the blade are folded and cracked. Nightmare is forced to use a "phantom" version of the blade which features a rough bronze blade with a black and purple eye as his core. The "complete" version of Soul Edge in this game no longer features an eye or exposed flesh, but is merely a large sword with teeth lining the blunt side of the blade.

Following Soulcalibur IV, the blade is once more whole and takes on an entirely new design, with a giant crystalline structure with a red hue covering the blade and a blue core while having formed a proper handguard again. The eye is now situated in the handguard instead of being on the blade himself. In Soulcalibur V, he retains his more familiar appearance from 1 and 2. However, when Pyrrha inherits Soul Edge, the blade becomes smaller and slimmer, and the handguard gains wings and a skull-like form in the middle with the eye situated just above him. The blade himself retains a crimson hue but with traces of black and flesh in the interior.

## Personality

Swords don't have personalities. But Inferno, the sword's soul, can easily be described as a pretty damn evil thing.

## Involvement in plot

(~~Coming when Half Life 3 is announced~~)

## Trivia

* When wielded by Nightmare, he takes his Zweihander form. It becomes a longsword when wielded by Ciptun Felkom, a club when wielded by Wario, and a rapier when wielded by Waluigi.
* Soul Edge was the very first weapon to have life force.
* His role in the story is very similar to Anubis' role in Stardust Crusaders.
* Soul Edge and Inferno are one of the only Miidust Odyssey villains that don't have a Stand.