Soul Edge

From birth to present, Soul Edge, the evil sword wielded by Nightmare in the Soul Calibur franchise, has spread evil, not only by corrupting innocent souls but greedily devouring them. Although little is known about the blacksmith that forged the evil soul blade, plenty of lore is available about the once average two-handed sword that became self aware.

In the beginning, Soul Edge was controlled by Algol, a master with will strong enough to control the blade corrupted by hatred. Soul Edge’s call, a promise of grand power, soon bewitched its master’s son, Arcturus, who stole the sword and became its victim. Algol, the Hero King, was forced to confront Soul Edge. He emerged victorious, but the prince’s life was lost. Soul Edge vanished but Algol was able to cleanse every fragment left behind from the battle to forge the blade’s arch nemesis: Soul Calibur.

Soul Edge was passed down to owners as time marched on, once to a Pharaoh who caused a calamity with the sword, a hired mercenary that was actually a Germanic warlord, and then a king that used the blade’s evil to start a war but was stopped by Soul Calibur, wielded by King Arthur.  Years later, Soul Edge transformed, separating into two swords, and found a new owner through an auction. The owner’s ship was attacked and the dual swords of Soul Edge came into the possession of Cervantes de Leon. He was quickly influenced by Soul Edge and murdered numerous people, the crew of the ship he pilfered and the citizens of a town. Sophitia was dispatched to stop Cervantes, but after destroying the offhand of the Soul Edge set, she was nearly eliminated. Taki showed up just in time to take out the demented pirate.

Enter Siegfried. He attempted to steal the starving blade resting beside Cervante’s corpse. Inferno, the name given the sword’s demonic entity comprised of death and hate, possessed the dead pirate and dueled Siegfried. As the winner, Siegfried claimed his prize, but was unable to control the awesome power of Soul Edge. The Evil Seed was released upon the world to wreak havoc, and eventually Nightmare was born. Several heroes came to put an end to Soul Edge’s rampage in its pursuit of consuming souls and ultimately was obliterated by Soul Calibur. Soul Edge lost control of Siegfried for a short time, but eventually regained domination.

The next opponent to rise seeking claim to the power offered by Soul Edge for himself was Raphael Sorel. He and Nightmare engaged in a treacherous battle and it appeared as though the latter won. Determined, however, Raphael used the last of his strength to pierce the flesh down the center of the blade. Horribly wounded, Nightmare recoiled and Siegfried was revived.  Soul Calibur emerged to him, freed from its prison, and offered itself to be the tool that would destroy Soul Edge forever. Siegfried grasped his opportunity and skewered the eye of Soul Edge.

As evil often does, the sword survived. Inferno escaped into the remains of Nightmare’s armor. Powerless to control the armor, Inferno made a deal with Zasalamel. In exchange for finding the two legendary swords, Zasalamel would use his archaic magic to bind Inferno to the armor. The weapon he wielded during that time was not actually Soul Edge, only a phantom formed by his memories. As such, its power was limited, so Nightmare hunted for his true counterpart. Soul Edge was fragmented, scattered across the land, which only served to extend the reach of its evil influence. Nightmare would need to unite these shards to recover his precious sword.

Before long, Nightmare battled his rival, Siegfried, at the Lost Cathedral. In this fight, Siegfried wielded Soul Embrace, the strange combination that was created after Soul Calibur was used to stab Soul Edge. Their battle was so fierce that Soul Embrace broke apart into two swords once more. A shockwave comprised of evil energy destroyed the cathedral, activating all dormant fragments of Soul Edge. Nightmare reunited with Soul Edge, and after spending some time in another dimension, arrived at Ostrheinsburg. The evil sword used the energy from the blast at the cathedral to summon all of its missing pieces. Once gathered, the energy was too great to be contained within a set of meager armor. Soul Edge expanded, its tendrils of evil creeping out to curse the city. With its strength returned, Soul Edge patiently waited for the opportunity to defeat Soul Calibur, but something else was missing.

Soul Edge needed a host, a person to corrupt and force to do its bidding, and unleash its true power. For the time being, Soul Edge possessed a body that was given the name Graf Dumas. This host was not satisfactory, and was used only temporarily until a suitable replacement could be located. Soul Edge found the perfect host in Pyrrha Alexandra, but Nightmare was defeated upon challenging her. Once Pyrrha became the new owner of Soul Edge, it transformed into a short sword that would utilize the same style that defeated it in order to destroy Soul Calibur once and for all. Soul Edge persuaded Pyrrha to become its new host. She agreed. For as long as the sword would never abandon her she would claim souls for Soul Edge. She was consumed by its will.

What happened to Soul Edge? Pyrrha used the evil sword to free her brother from the crystal that trapped him, and together they seemed to dispose of both Soul Edge and Soul Calibur into the realm of Astral Chaos. No one knows if it was completely eliminated from all existence, if the two blades formed Soul Embrace, or if Soul Edge still lies in wait to be revived by an unwitting host. All we know is that one shard of Soul Edge was left behind. Only one desperate soul is needed to fall for the promise of power to open the gates to the Astral Realm and free Soul Edge.