Azwel (Soulcalibur)

Saviour of the Human Race

## History:

**Azwel** (アズウェル, *Azuweru*) is a brand new character in the Soul series of fighting games. He first appeared in Soulcalibur VI, which marks his debut appearance in the new, rebooted Soulcalibur timeline.

He is the main antagonist of Libra of Soul's story mode, and is nicknamed **Leader of Humanity** (人類の教導者 *Jinrui no Kyōdōsha*?).

Self-proclaimed "Studier of the Human Race," Azwel's love for mankind bordered on the fanatical. Blessed with an almost otherworldly intelligence, he was a scholar in numerous fields, including history, medicine, war and art. His research into human history in particular led him to conclude that people would eventually destroy themselves through war or some other catastrophe. In response, he decided to become the savior of humanity. As a member of the Aval Organization, he conducted research at a lightning pace, and concluded that by causing the powerful Evil Seed, humanity would be taken to its next level. Azwel's was such that it might soon rival even that of the gods themselves.

Azwel's research at the Aval Organization had not been for nothing. He had concluded he was unable to obtain enough information about the cursed and spirit sword by himself—at the same time, however, he is also felt restricted in his movements within the organization. So when he became a member of the Twelve, he recruited crazed followers who would help. His actions, though, raised the suspicions of the organization. With his theories about the Ultimate Seed already formed, he was ready to take his plan to the next stage: by getting his hands on a fragment of both the spirit sword and the cursed sword, he could use their power to bring forth the Ultimate Seed. The day humanity would be saved was nigh! Just thinking about it filled Azwel with ecstasy...

## Since The Worlds Collided:

Azwel had quickly found his footing and just as quickly aligned himself with the Cabinet of Underrated Rogues and happily strived to bring the human race together through his numerous methods of madness. He then travelled to the Returner Hideout along with fellow Cabinet member Batroc The Leaper defeating 3 heroes in a row albeit having to carry Batroc's unconscious body at the battle's end. He recaptured Wild Link after they escaped captivity at a castle.

The reason why Azwel took this mission was revealed before the skirmish. He wanted to kill Khada Jhin's rival named Sona but was unsuccessful.

## Personality:

Azwel is a cunning and charismatic genius who possesses mannerisms of a playwright with a messiah complex who advocates his love for humanity. Underneath it all, however, Azwel comes off as irredeemably cruel, self-aggrandizing, spiteful, and sociopathic sadist. His warped idea of "love" for humans is merely for his own self-gratification and can be likened to that of psychological abuse and emotional manipulation he inflicts to his victims, especially through his experiments. He also made no hesitation in remorselessly murdering any high-ranking members of the Aval Organization when they became suspicious of his schemes, including Grøh's master, Orzal.

## Trivia:

* Though Palindrome is the official name of his weapon, none of his weapons' names are palindromes.
	+ Despite his weapon being his gauntlets, they are treated as upper body parts for Character Creation and are not needed when his style is used.
* He is the second playable character to canonically wield Soul Edge and Soul Calibur's powers at the same time in some form, the first being Algol.
	+ Moreover, he wears the two swords' powers in the same hands as Algol, Soul Calibur in the left hand, and Soul Edge in the right hand.
		- In the Christian religion, the left hand is related to the Devil, and the right hand to God. It is interesting that both Algol and Azwel wear them in the opposite way.
	+ Azwel is the only canonical Soul Edge & Soul Calibur wielder to have his fighting style available for custom characters.
* Azwel is the second completely new character in the rebooted timeline of *Soul series* games.
* Azwel has by and far the longest win quotes in series history, most of which are accompanied with a maniacal laughter. The second lines are not included in the subtitles. When playing as him in Arcade mode, the entire dialogue is skipped into the next battle. The whole dialogue can be heard by either finishing Arcade Mode or after the end of a VS Mode battle.
* Azwel does not possess any side projection.
* With Inferno, they are the only characters to not have colorable weapons.
* Some of Azwel's moves are directly taken from Spawn, or slightly modified.
	+ Azwel guard stance is nearly the same as Spawn, as his 8 way-run moves.
	+ Azwel's tremor is the same as Spawn's Soul Charge.
* Azwel is the final boss on Very Hard in Arcade mode, and the sub-boss on Legendary.