Oh my god rolewise Jacob Custos is the Josh Joshington of The Quarry.

The True Mighty Bison - Season V edition.

Some weeks ago, I had a very productive discussion on twitter with Steven Mane about the subject of this essay, and he brought up very good points, an alternative theory (not as out there as mine) and reminded me I haven't actually added the ACTUAL Seth info from his story and Arcade endings to this text. Now that even Rose is on the game (although she didn't bring new info on this front), Let's update this very wild theory about our favorite psycho powered dictator. For the day you discovered the truth about M. Bison was the most important of your Street Fighter fan life. But for them, it was only Tuesday. HEAVY SPOILERS FOR SETH'S SFV STORY MODE AND ENDING. and in a lesser intensity, Rose's. -----------------------------------------------------------------------------

This is M. Bison. Bison is one first class A-hole who runs the biggest crime syndicate on the world (Shadaloo), wants to spark global destruction if not given global domination and has a tendency to kidnap 16 year old girls.  Bison also wields something called Psycho Power. Through profane rituals (more of this in a bit), He is the biggest source/receptacle of it. this power is also destroying his body, which leads to the only thing he likes more than kidnapping 16 year old girls: Body Swapping. The body in the picture is not his original body, not even his first, but is the... model we are most used to see him using. This is how you would imagine him if one mentioned M. Bison. In SFV he finally got grey/white hair, but originally this body had black hair.

however...

These are Ed and Falke. They are CLONED Bodies of Bison, They are both spare bodies for M. Bison, created in a attempt to build a body strong enough to hold his power. They are both of the most recent attempt, the newer models so to speak. As far as we know, they are all biological (a point that will come up later) and since CAPCOM use the word CLONES, they share the same DNA as Bison. Physically speaking, they are around their late teens, although being much younger actually (both suffered from accelerated aging). They escaped Shadaloo due to the fact that an older model ended up destroying the base where they were being held. speaking of the Devil....

These are Seth and Abel.  Also, spare bodies of Bison. But (un)fortunately, they developed a conscience and independence. While Abel ran away and joined the french army, Seth created a splinter cell from Shadaloo called S.I.N. and planned a hostile takeover of the syndicate. One interesting fact is that both Seth and Abel are the SAME MODEL of bodies, but Seth installed the upgrade of the Tanden Engine on his body. So Seth was once like Abel and if given enough time and the proper modifications, Abel could become like Seth.  One recent release on Street Fighter V revealed the Seth was always more machine than man. If that is plainly due the Tanden Engine modification and what this means to Abel, its still unknown. both (Abel more than Seth) still have Bison’s DNA on them. Also, Bison considers this batch of clones a FAILED experiment Seth was the final Boss of Street Fighter IV, and Abel was the protagonist of that series. but, the older models are the more interesting ones.

These are Cammy and Decapre. Both are the oldest clone models player knew until recently. They are also fully biological and the first successful vessels for Psycho Power. Decapre is actually a “ Cammy Alpha“, a first attempt to create Cammy herself. Being fully biological, they ALSO carry Bison’s DNA. While Cammy became independent and joined the British Army, Decapre stayed brainwashed and a weapon for Shadaloo until recently (SFIV). Both Decapre and Cammy were part of a shadaloo project call “The Dolls project“: Most of the Dolls were the kidnapped teenage girls mentioned before, who were also test beds for Bison’s mind control via psycho power. There were 12 Dolls (Decapre and other 11), with Cammy being a 13th, codenamed Killer Bee. As of now, you probably noticed: 3 males, 3 females. We might be onto something here. But remember that profane ritual I mentioned? One of the results was this lady here...

This is Rose. In order to get full access to Psycho Power, Bison had to EXPEL ALL THE GOOD ENERGY FROM HIS SOUL. No joking. the good half of Bison’s Soul incarnated on a young Italian GIRL who was being born that moment and who grew up to be a incredible psychic and fortune teller ,plus the most powerful user of the SOUL POWER, the opposite to Bison’s Psycho Power. so Rose is the REINCARNATION of Bison’s soul, or at least half of it. After the events of SF Alpha 3, Bison even used Rose’s body as a vessel, to hide himself from the authorities. How she was freed and what happened to her during SFII is still unknown. Street Fighter V didn't really expanded on the relationship between Rose and Bison, as much as confirmed that as of the end of A Shadow Falls (SFV general story mode), Bison's is truly gone, at least as definitive as Rose can sense. Let's also remember that, until the interference of Rose herself, Cammy/Killer Bee was considered a succesfull attempt at creating the perfect body. If Rose hadn't freed Cammy's mind, which was as close to a blank slate and receptive as possible, its highly probable that Bison would be using her body instead. Still with me? STREET FIGHTER V: ARCADE EDITION added another point on this list: SETH was released in 2020 as a playable character, part of Season IV. HOWEVER, the FORM he appeared is quite the surprise.

THIS IS SETH! YES, THAT SAME SETH!! (a name tag on SFV confirms this is number 15, the seth that was at the center of SFIV events) After having all of his bodies destroyed during SFIV, his brain was placed by Juri on an old body known as DOLL UNIT 0. The interesting thing here is that Jury is doing this in behalf of a third party, identified only as voice on phone. This voice expected a male body, while Juri didn't even noticed (or cared) that Seth or DU0's had a gender. Doll Unit 0's body accepted Seth's biological brain without a problem. Seth's mind however, is on turmoil. When integrating with the DU0' original personality, something went wrong and Seth went completely batshit crazy. He only sees Psycho Power, and mistook Ed and Falke as being Bison himself, due to their Psycho Power energy. Some lines, such as this Seth is true perfection hints on a ongoing attempt of accepting the new body. The Arcade mode ending and an extra Seth on his Critical Art during his V-trigger 1 also hints that Seth's true power lies in the INTEGRATION with this new body. ALL OF THESE, ALL OF IT, are just canon facts from the SF series lore.  now for the speculation. Bison is not using the original body. And psycho power, specially the levels Bison desires, requires quite the strong one, which factors on why his current body is failing these days. why he had to abandon his original body? My only guess is that the profane ritual either destroyed it in the process or damaged it beyond repair. but at this point, Bison already had gained the power to posses other bodies. Doll Unit 0, the prototype for the perfect vessel, is female. Bison’s soul incarnated on a female body and until very recently, when his clone technology developed enough to create more radical deviations, the clones were all female. While there is several attempts of male bodies they are a late development and not only there is only one almost successful male body, it is the one that requires constant replacing AND Bison is trying to upgrade from, because it's not enough. But, the creation of a male body is stiil on the table and being attempted. Considering CAPCOM’s own words, that Seth is more machine than man, we can guess that Abel is probably just the biological basis for Seth, who is mostly the Tanden Engine and a biological brain. This is what was implemented into Doll Unit 0, who was completely female at that point, maybe even fully biological since Cammy, the earliest successful clone so far is fully biological as well. If we compare to real world cloning technology, cloning someone of the same gender is easier and more direct than altering the gender. Then there is the not-satated-but-extremely-obvious-fact that DU0 was the true first attempt at the tech that would produce Cammy, meaning, Shadaloo’s cloning tech was tested with HER. This also means that Doll Unit 0 IS EXTREMELY SIMILAR, IF NOT IDENTICAL, TO BISON'S ORIGINAL BODY. in conclusion: Bison’s original body is FEMALE and something close to this:

Thanks BbbSFXT from Deviant Art for the Mod and the picture. On the last version, I considered Mistress Bison being blonde, but thinking it through, it was more wishful thinking, trying to make them close to Cammy. Clones being a blonde is probably a side effect of DNA manipulation. Blond hair is recessive, and putting on the simplest, almost insulting way possible, it means blonde only happens if both sides of the DNA have the same code for hair. Since Bison is using the same DNA over and over, it makes sense clones would end up blonde. This also fits with DU0 being a very early prototype, with almost Bison's entire DNA intact, including the code for them hair. And now let's talk mysticism: There is the whole Yin/Yang theme surround everything Psycho Power, explicitly shown in Seth's design, but it was already there, at least as early as the Alpha/Zero series. In the balance of the Yin/Yang symbolism, Yin, the black part, can represent a “feminine principle” and also, can be a suffix/preffix meaning shadow. While Yang, the white part, can represent a “masculine principle” and also can be a suffix/preffix meaning light. these are parts in all living beings, be them male or female.

Psycho Power, the shadow, is feminine. Soul Power, the light, is masculine. There is a inversion of the symbolism here, with Bison, the male body, using the yin and Rose, the female body, using the yang. But the catch is: Rose is not a traditional reincarnation of Bison (obvious reasons) but received Bison's yang, on top of her natural one. This counts on why Rose is so powerful with Soul power. And while she doesn't seem to suffer a physical instability like Bison, as fortune teller and psychic, seem to be incredibly sensitive to strong emotions and energies around her (How the mind of G affected her on SFV being a exemple), I would argue that this extreme sensitiveness is the side effect of that extra yang energy. Let's also consider that while Bison wants MORE shadow and went way beyond what his natural body could hold, Rose stayed pretty much at her natural levels, as far as we know. So Bison's instability can be accounted as using insane levels of pure feminine energy inside a male body. Seth, the genderless one, will only find harmony in accepting his female body. Rose, the female body, is the only of them to have any kind of control and estability. This all points towards Mistress Bison, and that's the hill I'm dying on. this also ties to the idea proposed by Steven Mane: Psycho Power is closely related to the feminine and can't function properly, or at all, with men. Bison forcing that is the base reason for the physical instability. Which leads us to... ------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Steven Mane's alternative theory of Psycho Power

The main gist here is that there isn't really any indication that Bison's OG body is any different from the one he uses today (which is true. There isn't a single line about it on the canon sources). The initial lack of male clones is accounted simply as that we haven't seen enough male clones, and they might have existed since Killer Bee's times. In his views, everything so far points to Bison desiring a male body. However, Psycho power works better with women, or was meant to be used by women. There is another fighting game with a similar plot, Skullgirls, in which the main McGuffin for that story is a mystical artifact that only works with women, which is why most of the cast of that game is female. And after Rose's SFV ending, I wouldn't put behind CAPCOM to lift another game's plot point for their own, specially one that would fit well with the already stablished canon. However, Steven Mane's best argument for this comes from SFA3 itself, or rather, the PSP version of SFA3. But before we get to that, let's go down on the memory lane and remember the facts.

Street Fighter Alpha 3 MAX, also known as Street Fighter Zero 3 Double Upper in Japan, is so far the last version of Street Fighter Alpha 3 released and it is an exclusive of the Playstation Portable console. The Alpha/Zero Series is the main focal point when talking about Bison and Psycho Power, as it's the series where Rose first appeared and in Alpha 3, we have the only canon appearance of Cammy as Killer Bee (on the intro of her first fight against Rose) and the first playable Dolls, Juli and Juni. SFA3 MAX is also, up to the publication of this, the only game in the series to have a guest character (the jury is still out on SFV last season V character). "Wait, Tony" you ask "Don't you mean 4 guest characters?" Eagle and Maki are not guests: They were always part of the Street Fighter franchise, and are contemporary to the events of the game . Yun makes a non-canon appearance which is explained by time travel (in his own quotes), since the events of Alpha series happen way when he was nothing but a toddler. But he is still part of the franchise, so not a guest, per se.

Ingrid, however, is a conundrum wrapped inside a enigma and kept inside a locked puzzle box missing some of its pieces. That is inside a cave inside a volcano under the pacific ocean. On the mariana trenches.

Ingrid is from a failed, unreleased CAPCOM game called CAPCOM Fighting All-Stars. Her first playable appearance is the ill-received crossover game CAPCOM Fighting Jam, known in Japan as CAPCOM Fighting Evolution.

In All-Stars, she was kind of a regular fighter, with a special importance to the plot and final boss. The very little we know about the plot hints on her being something beyond human. She carried a code Isis, is nicknamed the Eternal Goddess, and is said to posses the power of longevity.

On Fighting Jam, she has to solve some issues she had with Pyron, the final boss of that game and an alien who is basically a living sun and is hinted to be what ended the dinosaurs (i swear this is Darkstalkers Canon) Her ending there is... weird.

I brought this up because it adds a tiny little bit of context to her SFA3 MAX ending.

Ingrid claims ownership of the psycho power. Notice that its the power itself, not the Psycho Drive Bison's uses. And Bison is aware of that. Roses recognizes both as users of Psycho Power, even though she doesn't recognizes Ingrid. Also note at 00:59 that the focus point of the psycho drive carries Ingrid's Seal, the same one on the cups on her head AND the one she summons on her Fighting Jam ending. Oh, and she is capable of time travel. but no mention if she was the one who brought Yun to SFA3 time, though. What this all mean? Speculation time: According to Steven Mane's theory: With Ingrid being the creator of psycho power, Psycho power works better with women. You can even explain Bison's obsession with 16 year old girls: They are the ones who closely resemble Ingrid, who he knows is the original source of that power. This also explain why Bison's desire of a male body directly conflicts with psycho power: It was never meant for such body. and why there is so much female clones: It simply the result of experiments to see what fits better. But Bison is trying to get around this: He has been experimenting on both, noticing that male bodies deteriorate way faster, confirmed that female ones fit better, but for reasons only known to himself, this was not enough. The genderless Seth, a sentient machine build to gather psycho power, was Bison's latest attempt of circumvent the body type limitation, but it still didn't work (as stated by Bison himself) This is where Steven Mane's theory ends. But from that, we can jump to other conclusions: Ingrid is a goddess and is the source of Psycho Power energy. Notice that she is not the source of soul power though, so behind her innocent face, behind those red eyes, lies something sinister and evil. (Or maybe, Soul Power is simply Psycho Power with another name? Rose might be the one hiding something...) [Small June/2021 update: After a lazy Sunday re-reading the SF30th's bios, its is clear that Soul Power is not just Psycho Power with a different name. So if you want to follow this line of thought through, you have to consider that Ingrid is EVIL, or at least deals heavily with negative energies (closer to Akuma than Bison). and it opens the possibility of a God/Goddess of Soul Power somewhere out there on the SF Universe. but that is speculation for another time.]

Ingrid is time-travelling to specific points in time to collect parts of her power. Bison was one of those who stole it. Pyron probably did it too, and in 201X, Ryu has something to do with it.

Oh, extra fact: SFIII, the last game on the timeline, happens in 1999. SFV, the game that was released on the 10's, canonically happens during 1998. So the Ryu she is supposed to meet next is YET to appear (maybe in SF6?).

And because she is a time travellng goddess, not a dimension hopping one this means a direct connection between the worlds of Darkstalkers, Street Fighter and Red Earth, the three franchises from CAPCOM Fighting Jam: Darkstalkers' Human World could be considered to be Street Fighter's Earth, and Red Earth is literally another planet on the same universe, hinting a bigger CAPCOM shared timeline then we expected. We can also speculate that Bison ultimate goal would not be just global domination but to replace Ingrid as god/goddess of psycho power. And she took Yun to 1989 just for the LuLz. Why I didn't mentioned Ingrid up there in MY theory? because of CFN Portal. The Capcom Fighters Network Portal is essentially the final word on who is canon in Street Fighter. Released together with SFV, its a well documented, weirdly organized and deep source of any street fighter or final fight character you can imagine. Those 2 guys fighting on the intro of SF2 got bios there. As well as Hakan's daughters and Elena's Family. Heck, CFN Portal is the place that finally settled Chun-li's father name as Dorai.

There is also relevant guest characters and characters who appeared in other games but that CAPCOM consider part of the franchise and canon, such as Blade from the Street Fighter: The Movie game (now part of the North American operations of Shadaloo) and... Ruby Heart from MARVEL vs CAPCOM 2 (a version of her actually, before the events of that game). Ingrid is clearly shown as a guest character and NOT part of the street fighter franchise, as she does not have the SF franchise standard background. the only ones who this happen are special guests from, such as the ones from Street Fighter EX and Street Fighter 2010. Ingrid is also described there with her bio from CAPCOM Fighting All-Stars, rather then her own story on SFA3 MAX or even CAPCOM Fighting Jam, in a way making her role on SFA3 MAX similar to Evil Ryu's: A what-if non-canon scenario of the events of the game, that has no bearing on the main plot. Evil Ryu's ending are always Ryu kills everybody and wants more blood, never really explaining anything. Evil Ryu is more important as a visual representation of the dark side of Ryu rather than a character itself'. and because of that precedent, when CAPCOM itself gave her non-canon status, it's better to err on the side of caution and not consider her direct influence and acts when speculating about the plot and lore, unless they are the only source of some kind of hinted information. And there is one very canon character who has a situation like that. Killer Bee. As I mentioned before, the ONLY time Cammy acts as Killer Bee in canon is on her SFA3 arcade/story mode: In her intro against Rose, her very first fight, She initially starts under control of Bison. Rose actually recognizes Bison's Power and frees her, even before the fight starts. The fight itself is actually framed as a violent reaction to being freed. but there is a game where we can see Killer Bee Cammy in all her brainwashed glory: X-men vs Street Fighter. Released before Alpha 3 and the first game where Cammy is shown with her Alpha design. Her quotes there shows a profound reverence to Bison AND some are mechanical in nature. Goddess Ingrid (to differentiate a bit from Code Holder Ingrid) could be one of these instances: Canonically speaking, we know very little about Bison: What are his motivations, why he desires such levels of power or anything that would elevate him from one dimensional antagonist. Sagat started as that and became one of the most developed characters of the franchise. Gill is from the straight go good intentions that will end up bad. Seth is the whole reason of this essay, so I don't need to show you anymore how he turned out a interesting character. and there is G, who is either a suicide cult leader still looking for followers, or the savior of mankind. Not to mention that most players thought as a good guy until Rose's ending. like, holy psycho powered cow... Bison is still just the dictator who wants to rule the entire world. And the only character that deals with Psycho Power in a way that is not just evil power for the evil dictator is a character that, as far as CAPCOM is concerned, is not even acknowledged as the relevant version.

The reunion with someone you love,  thanking someone who was unrewarded,  saving of the pitiful who cry for help: universal themes in events and their connection to Roman and Olga

Benienma's charming New Year event ended and there were lots of good moments. Specially for Fionn fans who finally got their favorite to take the spotlight. Fionn is in Ireland, the equivalent of King Arthur, just like Cu Chulainn is the equivalent of Herakles, so the way FGO has handled him was horrible so far but he came around in this event and got impressive feats on his own. But I won't talk about Fionn, others have done before this. When this event dropped years ago, I and a lot of japanese players felt certain uncanny emotional parallel with Beni's old man and Mash's situation with Roman. A man who never knew happiness for themselves and always thought about the happiness of others, cloaking themselves in big lies, misunderstood alive but grieved in death. Who still died smiling because others were saved and happy, yet still they want to thank them and set things right, even if it's an impossible wish.

Mash is the one who speaks up, while she doesn’t overtly voice her parallel, we know it exists.

If I am to only fulfill my role between larger gears, There isn’t much to worry over, If “only” is good enough.

I’d like to try living, in the time I was granted. I don’t fight to suffer, Just like you said. Please, let the gentle rain fall upon me, upon our will. When I depart, I’d like for you to quietly see me off.

When I was done crying, I could no longer hear your voice. That’s how you urge me on, I see, telling me that there’s no road back.

I was born into this world to live. There is no other definite reason. I don’t need a mission or a meaning. I will live! I don’t want to Let my memories with you end in sorrow. Just like you said, The conclusion can be repainted, always.

Cut for length.

This is the song for her mental and emotional state after what she lost at the end of part 1 (Roman). It’s called Blank Space, it shows that, like Benienma, she’s continued her duty for the chance to see Roman again. This post isn’t about Roman, but also about Olga, since the prologue of Part 2 there are two heavy losses that weight Mash’s heart (also the player but Mash’s more vocal about it): first is her guilt of being unable to save Olgamarie (which was discussed and was the reason they went to save Goredolf) and the other is her sorrow with the separation with Roman whom she didn’t even properly thank for everything he did for her (was hinted how she is comforted by his room in Missions before being tore apart from it in the prologue where she had a breakdown and refused to leave). Events in FGO sometimes don’t exist in isolation, they connect to major plot arcs: Ooku continues CCC and is about the major plot of the Beasts, for example, Oniland and Christmas 2020 with Karna supply dragon lore which surely will be important in Britain Lostbelt or when Arthur confronts the Beast of Revelations. Plenty of events to build the Greek Pantheon and characters. As such, there are these small emotional catharses of events that are sometimes connected to the main characters (Mash and Guda) own desires and wishes. The desire of Guda meeting the one(s) he loved and lost again is ever-present, even in interludes:

(Abigail interlude)

The person singled out for this is always Roman. Aphrodite's song illusion in Guda's heart led toward Roman and is a mere possibility he was around (even without a blank without body, even without understanding what he's saying) what broke in Guda's defenses. It was always when they gave in about the doctor when the loop was allowed to continue. It was also the source of strength to break out of this. Because Guda can't face Roman unless they are proud of their answer and path, in death or life, they can't thematically meet again (exceptional events aside) until Guda is satisfied with their actions. Events sometimes feature this Roman-loss theme, or rather about being reunited with someone you separate from and lost what is the conclusion of one's journey: Sitonai reunites with that Berserker in Oniland, Beni with the old man, and there's that movie singularity that was all about a man who was misunderstood and made a villain by people who after his death realised their mistake and understood he loved his foster daughter's future and would protect it with his life. Mash was personally touched by that  script (so was Roman, who was included by Nasu changing the original novel that was going to be published, to help the cast reshoot the movie for Mash's sake) and wanted to ensure to preserve it, the end of the movie is the daughter living well while the father is watching over, apparently alive, but with a different appearance who one day might meet his daughter again.

The other point of emotional struggle is to help or save those who pitifully want to be saved. While the reunion is nearly always involving a man (sometimes a father figure or someone who was a guardian), the saving part is almost always about a girl, usually, a girl who is doing evil actions and needs to be put down for the sake of others but Guda and Mash (if she’s around) refuse. Imaginary Scramble features two of them: "Gogh" (Clytie) and  Yang Guifei.  The Olga factor goes tacit in all but the male exception, Goredolf was a man, but the Olga connection was brought up explicitly in his case. This plot-line might have started with Ereshkigal Christmas event and Salem (on that note, Abigail's search and longing for her dead friend also connect and echos with Guda's losses). This started after part 1, because during Observer, those who were twisted or darkened or made villains were disposed of instead of saved (Ushiwakamaru in Babylonia for example, or all the Servants affected by madness in Orleans). Because it was not important during part 1, but it is for part 2.

(in a nonsubtle way).

IMO, the Greek Lostbelt was also a climax to voice what Mash’s (and Guda’s) wants. Mash finally breaks out and says she wants to meet Roman again and thank him for everything after the Person of Chaldea appears. They aren't speculating about his identity or his warnings, rather they are emotional about how he can't be the Doctor because his eyes are different and wish to meet him again in an emotional My Room scene. Olympus was for Olga, after U Olgamarie appears and they are left confused by her actions, that is Olga but she's their enemy, a Beast, but still they want to help her. Because that's always been one of their biggest regrets. Greek Lostbelt kicks the course of their personal emotional catharsis arc: Olga is there, but she's an enemy; an ally who resembles Roman appears but he's not their doctor. Man of Chaldea and U-Olga have the same function: to be different kinds of emotional hurdles Mash and Guda face, aside from their role in the plot (obviously they are more important than just angsty plot devices). So it begins their personal goal: meet Roman again, save Olga. Atlantis and Olympus also have a little of both. Olympus with that dream which had an emphasis Guda's feelings toward Roman, among all their losses, while Atlantis with the subplot of Corday and the nanomachines (which the priestess witnessed).

To wrap up, this is merely tangential, but this scene was translated at last, so I might give context to those who don't know it:

This weaver is "Miss Crane", who appears in Waltz in the Moonlight Lostroom, a special game released on anniversary with the plot by Nasu. Just to show how tied is Roman's story and Benienma's event narrative. The doctor created the Moonlight Room, that became a harmless singularity that exists linking past and future, similar to the Inn. Crane manages it by his request and one of Crane's goal is to reward him, even with the little she could do for him. Roman gets the broadcast of the Ball Crane arranged for him in the game’s ending. This foreshadowing that leads back to Roman was included in the same chapter Beni tells us her backstory and her wish to thank and meet that man again. And she did, in the very end, as a personal reward for her efforts, and his.

(Fate/Grand Order is a story of many meetings and departures, and meetings again).

Note that because I interpret that Mash’s and Guda’s emotional catharsis arc require: needing to help Olga (to exercise their regrets), and meeting Roman in the end (as reward), it doesn’t mean that Olga or Roman will be alive or playable in the end. Olga could sacrifice herself as Corday or Ophelia did after being saved (her choice is going to be important, because it seems build up for her to finally make a stand she wants), Roman can be met in a death-state or in the Lostroom/Moonlight room as connection of past and future. It’s just that those things needed to happen for the emotional closure and they have had a built up before the Greek Lostbelt.

Mortal Kombat: 15 Most Powerful Characters

https://ift.tt/2RLKtZ8

At the end of the day, Mortal Kombat is about a bunch of characters beating the crap out of each other for supremacy. Sure, they toss in stories about tournaments to protect Earth and wars against invading realms, but it all boils down to martial artists brutally punching the hell out of each other until one explodes into a pile of viscera and five ribcages.

Being a fighting game, you expect all the fighters to be on the same level. Even forgettable losers like Hsu Hao and Kai should stand a chance against gods and otherworldly overlords. A nigh-invincible megalomaniac villain can lose to one of their bumbling underlings just as easily as they can lose to the game’s main hero. At least, that’s ideally how fighting games should be balanced.

Storywise, it’s different. Certain characters are straight-up in their own leagues compared to others. Does Jarek really stand a chance against Shinnok? Would Li Mei last five seconds against Blaze? Does Kobra have what it takes to take down Raiden? Not on paper, no.

So here’s a list of the top 15 most powerful characters in the Mortal Kombat series. With this list, there are two main rules:

1) I’m going with the characters at their most powerful, not how powerful they are most of the time.

2) I’m going with the canon storyline. Otherwise, the list would just be made up of Mortal Kombat: Armageddon endings. No DC Universe crossover stuff and no guest characters in general. Sorry, Spawn.

Now let’s see who has the most juice in all the realms.

15. GERAS

This guy is so frightening that his power is more of a curse than a blessing. Geras has near endless experience, having lived through countless timelines over and over again, and is skilled enough to fight off Liu Kang and Kung Lao at the same time. He is also be completely unkillable, as his mastery over time reversal will undo whatever wounds befall him. Granted, Shao Kahn beat him into a blob of red pulp and Geras hasn’t been heard from since, but I’m sure he’ll be back to his old self soon enough.

The rough truth regarding Geras is that being unkillable doesn’t mean he’s unstoppable. In the initial Mortal Kombat 11 timeline, Raiden knocked Geras into an endless ocean of blood in which where Geras was doomed to sink for eternity. Yeah, I’ll be fine over here with my mortality.

14. SINDEL

In the early days, Sindel didn’t seem so tough. She was just a plot device in desperate need of pants. Then Mortal Kombat 9 happened and we got that scene where Shao Kahn empowered her with Shang Tsung’s soul and set her loose. Suddenly, Sindel turned into an Edenian John Cena and cut through most of the heroes like a hot knife through butter. Sub-Zero, Jax, Smoke, Kabal, Stryker, Jade, and Kitana all died by her hand in mere moments while Nightwolf had to sacrifice himself to take her off the board.

This is why Shang Tsung aimed to resurrect her in Mortal Kombat 11: Aftermath. Who else was going to help him get past Cetrion? And while Sindel did win one-on-one against Cetrion, the scene itself looked more like she stunned Cetrion enough for Fujin and Shang Tsung to capitalize and put her on the shelf. Had they not been there, I feel like Sindel would have eventually been overwhelmed. At least, that’s my interpretation.

13. CETRION

Cetrion is Mother Nature. That alone tells you what you need to know. Shinnok’s virtuous (yet still kind of evil) sister would be considered his equal if only she had a final form like him. Regardless, Cetrion is such a threat that Jax and Jacqui Briggs can only stand up to her for a limited time by wearing Kronika’s crown at a detriment to their own health. She also wiped out the rest of the Elder Gods, although that happened completely off-screen.

12. SHINNOK

Here we have Mortal Kombat’s version of Satan. Shao Kahn would later talk shit about Shinnok’s fighting skills, but he’s an Elder God and rules this reality’s version of Hell. He’s an absolute heavy hitter.

He also looks like a total dork when he’s in his base form, but thankfully his Corrupted Shinnok form makes up for that. Corrupted Shinnok is no joke, especially in Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero, where you’re better off cheesing it back to Earthrealm than fighting him head-on.

11. RAIDEN

Raiden was the guy so jacked up that they had to make up a reason for why he couldn’t take part in the first couple games’ tournaments. He was just there to give advice and moral support. What else would you expect from a god among men? He also thwarted Shinnok back in the day to save Earthrealm, meaning he was already a major piece of work by the start of the first game.

Raiden’s apex form is triggered whenever he wields Shinnok’s amulet. It doesn’t make him unbeatable, but it does put an extra pep in his step. The drawback is that it turns his eyes red and he becomes a total dick. Still a step up from him constantly tripping over his own feet on his way to consult the Elder Gods.

10. CASSIE CAGE

Cassie’s is one of the most powerful Mortal Kombat characters but there’s an asterisk. Seemingly more competent and driven than her father, Cassie is so skilled at using her green glow to the point that she was able to defeat Corrupted Shinnok. That’s because the Cage bloodline was bred and trained for the sole purpose of creating mortals who could slay gods. Her DNA is like kryptonite to the likes of Shinnok.

She does have some other impressive wins, like taking down revenant versions of Sindel and Liu Kang. Her Mortal Kombat X ending (which isn’t explicitly canon, but I have no reason to think it isn’t) has her kill Shujinko. Many fans consider that to be a bit on the bullshit side, but this Shujinko would have been 20 years older than the one from the previous continuity and wouldn’t have been powered up by the events of Mortal Kombat: Deception, so it’s not a big stretch (or a big enough deal) that Cassie could take out a martial artist Mr. Burns.

9. QUAN CHI

This sorcerer doesn’t have the raw power of the other main villains, and he gets completely clowned in Mortal Kombat X, but he is smart and sneaky enough to get what he wants most of the time. While overshadowed by Onaga, you also can’t forget that in the conclusion of Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance, Quan Chi and Shang Tsung took down a handful of Earthrealm’s strongest warriors, defeated Raiden, then turned on each other with Quan claiming ultimate victory.

Various endings show that while he is working under Shinnok, he has the means to overthrow him if need be. This is especially apparent in Mortal Kombat 9, where Quan Chi has the rights to use necromancy on all of those slain during Shao Kahn’s invasion. He has a whole army of revenants at his disposal, and there are some serious heavy hitters mixed in there.

8. ONAGA

The Dragon King’s introduction came with so much hype that you could almost hear the other characters soil themselves in unison when he stomped onto the scene. On his own, Onaga was a wrecking machine, but in Mortal Kombat: Deception, he had the Kamidogu pieces, which made him completely unstoppable. Unstoppable enough that he shrugged off attacks from the united forces of Raiden, Shang Tsung, and Quan Chi. Add to that his ability to resurrect the dead and mind-control them and you had the ultimate threat.

EXCEPT…those Kamidogu pieces weren’t exactly unbreakable. I don’t know how hard those things are supposed to be, but in-game they would shatter just by walking into them. Either way, Shujinko was able to shatter them all himself and that depleted Onaga’s power enough to to end him. Being a reptilian juggernaut means only so much when you have such an overt off switch.

7. SHUJINKO

The most gullible hero of the Mortal Kombat franchise spent his entire life questing and fighting for what ended up being Onaga’s resurrection. In return, Onaga blessed him with Taskmaster powers. Shujinko can copy fighting styles from other warriors and has been doing so for decades.

That ended up being Onaga’s undoing, as Shujinko absorbed the abilities and fighting skills of just about every playable character in Mortal Kombat: Deception. After shattering the Kamidogu artifacts and removing Onaga’s invulnerability, Shujinko had no problem thrashing him. While experience was his ultimate weapon, the only thing really weighing him down was his aging and human mortality.

6. BLAZE

Blaze, by design, is a top tier beast. He’s the final boss in Mortal Kombat: Armageddon, a game that brings back every Mortal Kombat character in one massive roster. When guys like Onaga and Goro are playable and they’re working their way up to take on Blaze, it really says something about what this guy’s about. Not to mention he’s the catalyst for ultimate power, turning whoever can slay him into an enhanced, godly version of his or herself.

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While it seemed at first that new hero character Taven would be the one to end Blaze, Taven was instead slayed and the real winner was Shao Kahn. Unfortunately, this is where things get a little hairy because we don’t know if Kahn would have truly been able to defeat Blaze one-on-one or if, say, Taven wounded Blaze and Kahn took advantage. Either way, it looks like Blaze straight-up took the L and wasn’t the be-all/end-all after all.

5. SHAO KAHN

Shao Kahn has always been the go-to villain of Mortal Kombat, and as the recurring villain, he’s taken his lumps. He’s suffered defeats at the hands of Liu Kang, Raiden, and Kitana. When he took over Outworld, he killed Onaga by poisoning him because battle was too risky. So yes, Base Shao Kahn may be tougher than most, but he’s not invincible.

But then you have Mortal Kombat: Armageddon, which was Kahn’s real showcase. After dominating the free-for-all, Kahn was grabbed and taken away by Onaga. As foreboding as that would seem for Kahn, he not only bounded back from that, but he also ended up being the last man standing after slaying Blaze. That enhanced Shao Kahn’s strength even more and turned him into a multiversal threat, thwarted only because of Raiden’s desperate use of time travel.

4. KRONIKA

After years of telling us that Elder Gods were the ultimate beings, NetherRealm decided to reveal another tier of beings called Titans who rank even higher. So far we only know Kronika, the Keeper of Time, who is so overpowered that nearly everyone on the roster should have absolutely zero shot against her. She controls time like it’s nothing. Overcoming that isn’t like dodging a fireball.

Thankfully, Kronika has one major weakness: while she can rewrite history, she can’t omit the gods. She can’t create a world without Raiden. Raiden still can’t beat her one-on-one, but it’s through that loophole that Kronika ultimately meets her downfall.

2. LIU KANG (TIE)

The series’ initial protagonist was always fighting above his weight class. He spent the first four games taking down Goro, Shang Tsung, Shao Kahn, and Shinnok. His canon deaths came in the form of an ambush perpetrated by Shang Tsung and Quan Chi, and later an accidental frying from Raiden’s hand. In fact, he spent multiple continuities clashing with Raiden.

That was nothing compared to what he became at the end of Mortal Kombat 11. Two Liu Kangs from different parts of history merged together into one being, with Raiden handing over his godly power, giving us an incarnation of Liu Kang that was not only a god but had control over both electricity and fire. This was the upgrade needed to destroy Kronika and put Liu Kang in control of time itself.

2. SHANG TSUNG (TIE)

As it turned out, Fire God Liu Kang wasn’t equipped to wield Kronika’s magical hourglass for long without her crown, or else time would eventually collapse. Shang Tsung popped in to explain all this, making it clear that he was reality’s only choice. Liu Kang and Fujin realized that they had to give into Shang’s obvious trickery to save everyone.

By the end of his adventure, Shang Tsung had re-killed Kronika and wore her crown while empowered by the souls of Kronika, Raiden, Fujin, Shao Kahn, and Sindel.

Then Fire God Liu Kang popped in to take over. The two rivals faced off and the player was given the choice of which character they wanted to play as. As it is right now, we don’t know who won the epic battle in official canon, so consider Liu Kang and Shang Tsung to be tied until further notice.

1. THE ONE BEING

The most powerful being in Mortal Kombat is not playable in any of the games, nor has it appeared as a boss. In fact, the One Being is presumably too powerful to be portrayed in humanoid form at all. It’s the Galactus of the Mortal Kombat universe, though honestly even more threatening.

The One Being existed at the beginning of time, along with the Elder Gods, and initially fed off of them. The Elder Gods struck back and were able to break the One Being apart into the various realms. If the realms were to be merged back together, it would awaken the One Being once more and destroy all of existence. Despite their desire to be top dog, guys like Shao Kahn, Onaga, Shinnok, and Shang Tsung are unknowingly being influenced by this ominous force.

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More Dragalia Lost liveblogging under the cut where I talk about my Halloween summons, the upcoming version update, and my thoughts on high dragon trials now that the HDT weapons are a thing to work toward.

First off, I can’t remember exactly how many summons I’ve done on the Halloween banner, but I got all of the Halloween units except for Elly and Maritimus, and as much as I want to get H-Maritimus, I think I’m gonna wait until they announce the next banner to see where I want to put my resources. I have a feeling we’re going to get a water banner next that might give us our first 5-star water blade, which might be really tempting. So I’m gonna wait it out for now.

I also got Lin You as a random pity break along the way, which was really nice, since I was considering dream summoning her in the future. Now my wind roster is pretty much fully rounded out, except that I don’t have Wedding Elly yet. And funnily enough, regular Aeleen is still the only 4-star in the summoning pool that I don’t have yet.

And on the topic of dream summons, I decided to go ahead and get Xander from the current one. Which really took me by surprise since I figured we weren’t getting one anytime soon, since they didn’t announce it during the anniversary, but here we are. I felt a bit awkward about how just a few hours later we found out that the new Halloween banner was gonna have a new stun-res water sword on it, but I don’t regret getting Xander. My water team really needed him.

At this point there’s only a handful of units in the regular pool that I’d be interested in dream summoning eventually. It’s basically just Delphi, Ramona, and Lucretia at this point. Mainly Delphi at this point. I’m still salty about how I got a dupe Wedding Aoi in the last banner instead of him. And to make things worse I also got a dupe Ezelith during my Halloween summons, lol.

I was really surprised by the new Halloween units being a mix of flame and water ones, but they all serve nice roles, even if they’re awkwardly useless for the Halloween event itself. I also ended up being completely wrong about which characters would get alts for this in the first place. Mostly since I wasn’t expecting them to branch so far outside of the launch unit pool. I vaguely thought we might get a Mym alt, but I figured that it’d go to a different party member instead. But I’m actually happy that H-Mym is a thing, because I didn’t have a flame axe built up before I got her [which is why Ramona’s still high on my priority list for dream summons], and axes are one of my favourite weapon types to use. Sadly it sounds like G-Mym is better than her, but I’ll probably still just use H-Mym since I like her more as a unit.

Most of all I love and adore H-Lowen. He’s the best thing ever and he’s never leaving my flame team, lmao. On the one hand I still dislike it when units get alts where the only real difference is their element type, but I’ve been specifically hoping for us to get a good sleep-res flame healer for ages, so I can’t complain. He’s also just a really great healer all around, aside from not having the right resistance for HMS. He at least seems equally as good if not better than Verica. His kit is less specifically focused on healing potency than hers, but he has some really valuable support utility, especially since he has skill prep. I actually ended up using him last night in my very first HDT clear, against standard HMS. He doesn’t have the right resistance, but he can easily pass the HP check, and with his skill prep he can get off his defense buff and his HP buff, which is really nice. It doesn’t seem super essential for standard HMS, but for expert and master it might be a lot more important, like why Choco Thaniel is so important to HBH. And honestly even though H-Lowen’s sleep res, I found that it was pretty easy to avoid getting hit in the first place after the opening blast.

I still have my Xania set up as a DPS-focused alternative to use in HMS, but I really like using H-Lowen, and I’ve kinda resigned myself to the fact that Xania probably won’t be very good for anything above standard HMS. I have units like Mikoto, Sarisse, and both Myms who I can use in the fight instead if I need to, but I like Xania so I want to use her wherever I can.

Even though I’ve been playing this game for like six months, I’m only just starting to get into HDTs, lol. Part of it’s just that there really hasn’t been that much of a need to do them in the first place before they introduced HDT weapons recently, but mostly I’ve just been going through the typical motions of performance anxiety that you get with online co-op stuff like this.

I’m still really happy that I got my first clear, but I was kinda surprised by how relatively . . . simple standard HMS ended up being, in spite of knowing in advance that it had been heavily powercrept as the game’s gone on. I don’t really know what I expected, though, especially after knowing that the void dragon fights were specifically designed to prepare people for the HDTs. I really shouldn’t have been surprised that in the end, the HDTs would just feel like harder versions of the void dragon fights I’ve already done, lol. I actually feel like Void Zephyr almost feels harder than standard HMS right now, from what little experience I have with the latter, since Void Zephyr has way more unavoidable damage, and the tornadoes and stuff are a lot more frequent and get in the way a lot.

I might just stick to HMS for a while, but I have units I can use for the other ones. For HMC I have all the meta units except for W-Elly, but I’d lean more towards using Noelle or Lowen since I prefer playing as ranged units for these sorts of fights. For HBH I have a Choco Thaniel set up, but I don’t have a great dragon for him [which is why I’d like to get H-Maritimus but I can live without him], though I also have Lily, Summer Celliera (and I’ve promoted Elly and Orsem]. For HJP I have Gala Cleo, who I’ll probably stick to since I prefer ranged units, but I also have Curran, Heinwald, and Natalie. And then for HZD I have Gala Euden, and then Fleur and Yachiyo who I haven’t promoted. I’m kinda hoping we get better 5-star units I can use instead, so I’m not interested in investing a lot of resources into those two, so I’ll probably stick to Gala Euden. Sadly ranged units don’t seem to be very in favour for HZD, but I have S-Cleo in back-up.

I’m way too early to be thinking about the whole expert HDT thing just yet, but thankfully I have Noelle and a 2UB Freyja who I can use to get my foot in the door with expert HMC when the time comes.

I have mixed feelings overall about the entire concept and implementation of expert/master HDTs [and the time attack rankings are their own whole mess], but I can’t really say much about them since I’m so inexperienced with this whole part of the game in general. I do get the feeling that they gave us too much too fast, though.

Mostly I just hope that they don’t start balancing new endgame content around the assumption that everyone has HDT weapons, since that’s just not going to be the case for the most part, and it’d just be boring if new content becomes effectively locked to anyone outside of the top 1% or whatever of players. In the short term, I’m worried about how the new wave of humanoid endgame bosses they’ve teased at will go. They’re said to be ‘harder than high dragons’, but it’d really suck if they’re basically gated behind expert HDTs. Getting a whole new wave of permanent endgame content that I can’t even begin to access for who knows how long would just be kinda . . . demoralizing. I really hope that, even if they’re presumably harder than standard HDTs at least, they instead exist parallel to those fights, and you can basically get into one or the other first, instead of one being gated behind the other. That way it wouldn’t take as much grinding for people to be able to even start challenging the new bosses.

I also have a feeling that, like how you can grind the HDT fights to get the high dragons from the trade store, you might be able to grind the new endgame bosses in order to obtain them as playable adventurers. Which on paper I like the sound of since they at least seem to have really neat designs, but I can’t help but worry that it’d be like the HDT weapons where they basically create their own meta in the community, while suffering from a sort of ‘key in a locked box’ scenario where you’re expected to have those units/weapons/etc in order to even start doing the content you need to grind to obtain them. Which definitely seems to be a problem with HDT weapons, with how there seems to be barely any wiggle room for entering the expert HDT grind cycle if you don’t have a HDT weapon.

I’m at least assuming that the new bosses will be basically the same as HDTs in terms of being co-op content with four players using one unit each against a single boss. In which case it’d be pretty easy for similar issues with the meta and whatnot to arise with it. I kinda hope they shake it up a bit, though. It’d be pretty nice if it was actually solo content that plays out more like facility event bosses. We really need more solo endgame content in general. But I think it’ll probably still be co-op focused.

And then there’s the new version update coming out in a week or so. Which mostly just seems to be quality of life improvements and stuff, but I’m really happy about the improvements to the regular log-in bonuses. Getting five times more wyrmite from it is pretty neat. Which reminds me of how they’ve recently started implementing tenfold vouchers as rewards for clearing raid/facility bosses for the first time. So overall we’ve been getting a lot more regular access to summoning resources, which is nice.

I’m also happy that we’re getting the ability to put facilities into storage while keeping their effects. I recently maxed out my elemental altars and slime facilities, so it’d be nice to put them all in storage to free up space in my halidom.

We’ll see what happens at the start of November when the Halloween event ends and we get our next This Month In Dragalia Lost post, but I hope we get a Celliera event rerun next, both so we can get a good new water banner, and so I can finally get OG Celliera since she’s one of the few event units I don’t have yet.

Making Spirit of Justice's Character Arcs Stronger

I blame @lilietsblog for making me think about all this. 😛

I think the most recent two Ace Attorney games have suffered from letting Phoenix be the playable character in the cases that he was in. DD hurt for it less so than SoJ, so I'll focus on SoJ.

Phoenix's big character arc already happened. Twice. We saw his growth during the original trilogy, then we saw his fall and rebirth through AJ and DD - and I think this would have been just as well accomplished by only having Phoenix playable in the extra case in DD, since that's the one where he 'redeems' himself by having earned his badge back.

I think SoJ would have worked better like this. Keep in mind this is a rough idea, and various and sundry case elements may have to be swapped around or modified as necessary.

Case 1 - have Phoenix be playable. Introductory case, sets up Khurain, sounds good. Then at the end of the case, Phoenix gets arrested for violating the weird defense attorney act or on some other BS charges and the case ends.

Case 2 - no changes. Apollo takes on Trucy's case versus Nahyuta and Roger Cretinz. I mean Retinz.

Case 3 - I'm moving this one after case 4. See below.

Case 4 - no changes. Athena takes on Bucky's case, aided by Simon. I like Nahyuta prosecuting this one, but I also wouldn't mind seeing Klavier take a role here - it's a case about performing, and Athena is the only member of the WAA who hasn't taken a case against this guy. Plus I like Klavier.

Case 3 (for real this time) - Maya returns to the States and comes to the WAA, saying that something happened to Phoenix. Athena is the only member of the office in at the moment, and decides to accompany Maya back to Khurain (after making sure to leave a note for Apollo, c'mon, she's not TOTALLY irresponsible). While there, Maya gets framed for murder. Same basic structure of the case though, although if they decided to not make the first trial of the case completely useless, that'd be fine by me. I swear, Datz. We can see some of Athena's growth from the last case on display here, and if the last case IS handled by Klavier, this can be where we see her showdown with Nahyuta.

Case 5, part 1 - Apollo takes the civil case in Kurain Village, after being contacted by Dhurke. Events proceed like normal, until we get into trial and have the reveal that the lawyer representing Atishon is Phoenix, which hits harder because we've seen nothing of this guy since Case 1. Over the course of the case, Apollo realizes that Phoenix is trying to throw the case without being obvious about it, and when Apollo wins, we find out - probably by Paul blabbing or something - that Paul entered into a deal with the Khurainese regime wherein they got the Founder's Orb and he got his position as Alderman or whatever. The Khurainese regime has been controlling Phoenix by holding his, Maya's, and Athena's lives in the balance - and they sent him in particular to represent Atishon because they knew Apollo was involved via Dhurke, and involving Phoenix would be the surest way to get Apollo to Khurain. (Garan, in this version, already knows of Apollo's relationship to Dhurke, and knows Dhurke is trying to reach out to Apollo, and so she figures that by bringing Apollo to Khurain she can kill/imprison/otherwise defuse the situation.)

Case 5, part 2 - Proceeds as normal, except Apollo doesn't have Phoenix as co-counsel. Maybe he just has Trucy, in a call-back to Apollo Justice. Edgeworth still comes along, since OF COURSE he keeps track of what's going on with Phoenix and, in this version of the story, the amount of time since Phoenix disappeared and now wouldn't be very long (think the distance between cases in the AAI games).

DLC case - Proceeds as normal. After the entire game, we finally get to play as Phoenix again.

Some of this would need some tweaking, obviously, and it's been a while since I played, so I don't remember all the specific details, but what it basically boils down to is that I think by making some changes in the order of the cases and the attorney in charge of said cases, you can make Apollo's and Athena's character growth stronger without really negatively impacting Phoenix's.

Also Klavier can be there too.

Cullen Rutherford            Character Analysis

"Whatever happens, you will come back. The thought of losing you... I can't."   Cullen Stanton Rutherford, former Ferelden Templar and current military adviser to the Inquisition, is a strong, loyal, and compassionate man despite his mental illness and substance addiction. During the course of the main 3 Dragon Age games (Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age 2, and Dragon Age: Inquisition) we see his character go through a lot of development due to his heart breaking story and, depending on the choices we chose to make in Inquisition, he either recovers from the tragedies he faces, or falls to them.   During the first game in the series, we come across Cullen serving his Templar duty in the Circle of Ferelden, a place where Mages are sent to learn about their magical ability, to practise in safety, but also a place where they're never able to see the light of day again. Due to a demon possession in the tower, some of the mages tried to break Cullen mentally. Though he was strong enough to withstand their mental attacks, once the Hero of Ferelden (the playable character in Dragon Age: Origins) freed him, he was left with PTSD and a severe hatred for Mages.   We don't see much of Cullen in origins, even though the game marks the start of his story, but we do see him make a return in Dragon Age 2, where he has been transferred away from the conflicts left in Ferelden and had taken a place as a Templar in the Circle of Magi in Kirkwall, also named the City of Chains. During this time, Cullen is seen as a bitter man who still has a hatred for Mages due to the abuse he suffered in Ferelden's Circle, however he tries to not let his personal grudges interfere with his work.   For example, when he is asked about his opinion on whether or not they should use the Rite of Annulment in the Kirkwall Circle, he questions whether it's necessary or not. He saves the lives of 3 mages, and even when his superior officer Knight Commander Meredith asks whether he would take responsibility if they are found to be blood mages (mages that use an illegal form of magic), he says he would gladly do so. This proves just how compassionate he is, and also invokes his sense of justice. Another time this is shown is at the end of Dragon age 2 when Knight Commander Meredith orders Hawke's (the playable character) execution. Cullen orders her to stand down due to the fact they were only meant to arrest him. Together with Hawke, he then fights Meredith. He later stands down after Meredith's fall.   Due to the fall of the Kirkwall Circle and Mages, both opposing sides have started a war with one another. This has caused death and destruction over the land of Ferelden, and so the Grand Enchanter of Ferelden's Circle, and the Knight Commander of Ferelden's Templars agreed to have parties go forth to hold a Conclave, in hopes of finding a middle ground and to restore peace. However, due to an explosion in the Conclave, it made things even worse. Especially with how the explosion caused a breach in the sky, sending demons across all the lands, and the only one who survived the explosion is the only one with the ability to close the tears in the fade and the breach in the sky with what seems to be a magical mark on their hand. With the Divine (head of the Chantry, a fictional parallel to the Pope of our real-life Church) dead, her left and right hands Cassandra Pentaghast and Lelliana along side the lone survivor created the Inquisition, an army that would surpass both the Chantry and Templars in order to restore order to Thedas, and ultimately close the breach.   After the chaos in Kirkwall, Cullen had rallied up the remaining Templars to help restore order to the chaos. Impressed, Cassandra hired Cullen as the Inquisition's Military Advisor, a role which he was happy to help in since he felt as though the events that happened were also his fault. During the events of Dragon Age Inquisition Cullen plays a pivotal role helping the sole survivor, later titled the Head of the Inquisition, and has quite a lot of screen time, thus we're able to see a lot more of his character in this game. At the very beginning he states how because of how the Mages had treated him, he felt as though he pushed his anger wrongfully onto them and how he was going to try to change that. He also shows concern, saying how he wants the mages to have some safeguards not only for others but also to protect them from demonic possession.   Later on in the game, we get to see a side of him, and the Templars, we don't see in the other games. Templars get their powers to repel magic (used to protect themselves against mages in their Circles as well as to stop Mages from harming themselves and others) through Lyrium, a magical, addictive mineral. Due to Cullen's time being a Circle Templar, he had his fair share of Lyrium, but before he joined the Inquisition he vowed to stop taking it, despite the withdrawals and the possibility of death. You can either encourage him to continue not taking it, or you can tell him to go back on the lyrium. This decision has dire consequences which I will go into later.   If you chose to partake in a romance with Cullen, especially if your Inquisitor is a mage, you find that he is a loving man who has never had anyone else in his life. He's loyal, always looking out for his family, even if he neglects to talk to them as often as he should. He's also very shy when it comes to romance, tending to deflect complements by chuckling softly and scratching the back of his neck; however the more the two characters grow close to each other, he has such a passion for the Inquisitor that he can't help but show it wherever they may be. He even gives you sentimental gifts as opposed to expensive ones, and in everything he does he slows his heart is yours. It's heart breaking during the last sequence in the game, when you're about to face the final boss, not knowing if you'll make it, where he doesn't even beg you to survive the fight, but orders you. He doesn't even want to think there's even a possibility that you won't make it out alive.   If you chose to romance him, at the end of the DLC he and the inquisitor can get married and adopt a dog, living a happy life together for as long as they can, always visiting Cullen's family. If you chose to force Cullen to take the lyrium, however, he turns into a husk of his former self, going to the streets to beg for the drug. Even worse is in some reports, it's unknown if he was given a blade or someone did the deed for him, but it is implied that he either killed himself from the addiction or someone else put him out of his mystery - leaving a heartbreaking end for the man who had been so strong up until that point.   Overall, Cullen is a man who is loyal, kind, compassionate, and someone who puts others always above himself and his feelings. He has a strong sense of justice and hates cruelty to others, even though he himself has been guilty of doing so. He tries to fix his mistakes, always trying to become better, to get over the mental illness his history has given him, trying to get over his own personal hatred, and by doing so it shows he is a strong individual who is willing to keep on going, even when he hates everything about him.   Design wise, his looks have changed over the series, so I will focus primarily on his current style and concept art for DA:I.  

Cullen's armour and furs beautifully represent his heritage and status, as well as characteristics. The red and gold patterns on his over cloak suggest he is of importance, and also that he is dangerous. These colours alarm people, making him stand out from the crowd, however they're not ornated. They also happen to be the colours of Ferelden, showing his passion and loyalty for his kingdom.  

His overcoat also has a thick, furry mane around the neck area, and this was intentional to give him the look of a Lion. His helmet that had to be cut from the game was also in the shape of a lions head. The symbolism of a lion tends to be universal; ask anyone and they're most likely to tell you a lion is strong, a passionate leader, and most of all loyal.  

His vambraces have the Templar symbol engraved into them; a sword with trails of light appearing from either side. Whilst he is no longer a templar, this shows he has not left his history behind him. He is still loyal to Templars, knowing their joys and annoyances, and thus he carries them like a hopeless romantic; on his sleeve.  

When it comes to his facial features, he has bags under his eyes; both from his age and all the stress he has been put through over the years. A scar upon his top lip shows he has seen his fair share of fights as well. But he still takes care of his appearance, for it is mentioned in Inquisition that he styles his hair every chance he can get; and from the past games, fans are glad to see why.

Darksiders Genesis PC Review

Every so often a game comes along that completely redefines whatever we thought was possible within its genre. Sometimes it finds a highly innovative use for a simple mechanic, or invents a new form of gameplay altogether. Either way, this game leaves players floored, and it sets a new standard for the genre from then onwards. Well, nothing in the Darksiders series has ever been that game.

Instead, the main selling point of the Darksiders franchise has always been how tried and trusted mechanics within the hack-‘n-slash genre could be joined in the best, possible combination. Whatever their faults were, the gameplay in Darksiders I through III always tried to engage the player on multiple levels of gameplay. They were the very definition of becoming more than the sum of their parts.

The final Horseman, Strife

Therefore, I find myself not quite sure what to make of Darksiders Genesis. Airship Syndicate made a substantial departure from the third-person, Zelda style of the previous games, and tries to embrace an isometric, dungeon-crawler design. Unfortunately, Genesis fails to commit towards this new direction in certain ways which makes it difficult to recommend over other more established games of this sort.

To Hell and Back

The overall narrative and lore of the Darksiders franchise has become so vast that the games have spawned their own Wiki site. Genesis, to its credit, is perhaps easier to digest than previous titles, but that’s like saying a fractured femur is better than a fractured skull. I still had only the vaguest idea what was going on despite this being a series first with a codex for the characters and events in the world.

What I eventually learned (after enough research on the Darksiders Wiki to warrant a PhD) is that Genesis is a prequel to the first game, though I have yet to discover what exactly ‘Genesis’ in the title refers to. Anyway, the story follows two of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse – War, and newcomer Strife – on their mission to confront none other than Lucifer himself in the realm of Hell.

Strife gets a berserk mode with his guns where they switch to maximum power for a few seconds.

For the unacquainted, The Four Horsemen are enforcers of the Charred Council – a multifaceted entity that has taken on the task of ensuring a balance between the realms of Heaven, Hell, and the kingdom of mankind. It seems the demon lord Lucifer, naughty boy, has secretly been smuggling powerful artifacts out of Eden as favours to four lesser demon lords residing in Hell.

The Charred Council therefore sends War and Strife to see what ol’ Lucy is up to since they fear the demon overlord could represent a serious threat to the balance if left to his own devices. As you’d expect, the two Horsemen yet again find themselves in the midst of a theological soap opera in which every step closer to Lucifer adds increasing complexity to their mission.

The game is as such divided into 16 chapters where the player completes one dungeon mission to the next with puzzles, boss fights, secrets and loot to gather. It is the classic, dungeon crawler modus operandi, really. Thankfully, you don’t have to complete missions to save your progress as the game will happily drop you right back where you left off for players who need a coffee break.

In between missions, the player yet again has the option to trade currency with one of my favourite characters, Vulgrim, and his new accomplice, Dis, for all sorts of damage perks and combat moves. The classic arena mode also returns where facing off against several waves of enemies allow players to hone their combat skill, but also to farm some currency like souls and creature cores.

Literally between angels and demons

What sets Genesis apart is not just the withdrawn camera, but also the fact that there are two, playable horsemen for the first time in one game. Throughout all the dungeons and areas of Hell for the player to explore, there is always the option to switch instantly between either Strife or War. This holds true even for boss fights, and players also have the option of joining with a co-op partner.

From a single-player perspective, the interchangeable nature of the Horsemen adds to the variety in combat. War deals more damage through melee strikes up close and personal with his colossal sword. A surprising number of classic combos and attacks from Darksiders have accompanied War’s appearance in this game which felt pleasantly nostalgic during the moments I switched to him.

Strife, on the other hand, is the ninja of the duo with quicker and more agile sword moves, which go with a choice of several ranged attacks from his guns. It is upon switching to Strife that the gameplay in Genesis begins to lean towards the more classic, ‘bullet hell’ type shooter. Strife can use several different types of ammo, but the charge shot and the ‘laser beam’ remained my best friends for the most part.

The purple and orange globes are the creature core players can grind in the Arena. You need several purple shards to make one core.

My general take-away from the combat is that it plays… fine I guess. The combos offer a decent variety of attack possibilities, and the option to swap between two protagonists ensured that I always had access to an alternate strategy to mix things up. Unfortunately, it is when comparing this system to others in this genre that the shortcomings in Genesis’s structure go from negligible, to glaring.

On those sticky points

My main issue with Darksiders Genesis is how it feels suspended between two genres. It plays like a classic in the original series by THQ Nordic, but it is as if Airship Syndicate decided at the last minute that Genesis should be an isometric action game, so they shifted the camera angle without fine-tuning the rest. The result is a game which has feet on both sides of the fence without really enjoying the green grass on either side.

Take the environments and graphics, for example. Genesis is practically just as gorgeous as any non-isometric Darksiders game, and the levels have a similar scale which favour a flat design. Both War and Strife therefore often became obscured behind certain environmental objects, and even on my 24 inch monitor, the viewing distance made me forget which horseman I was playing sometimes.

Don’t try to hide from me!

I know that fans of the game have been very vocal online about the fact that Genesis is not trying to be Diablo… but perhaps it could learn a thing or two from Blizzard. Diablo III is a masterclass in isometric level design as the paths sort of curve in on themselves to imbue the game’s dungeons with a sense of verticality and depth.

In Genesis, levels feel more one-dimensional and linear, which in turn make them less interesting than they could have been, and combat suffers from a similar issue. A particular advantage of having a withdrawn camera is that the player can visually appreciate their character’s badass moves more holistically. You feel empowered as you get a full view of how the protagonist’s fighting affect everything in their surroundings.

In my experience, War and Strife feel too underpowered. On normal difficulty War would chop away enthusiastically at even some of the weaker enemies only for their health bars to drain at a complete snail’s pace. Strife is even worse. In a game that was supposed to be his debut, I actually preferred to avoid playing as Strife because he is surprisingly ineffective in close quarter fighting.

This is War’s chaos form where he gains immunity from damager and delivers maximum damage too. Strife turns into a giant scorpion with a tail mounted machine gun.

My point is not that Genesis ever felt overly difficult. The problem is that this type of gameplay would have been more suitable for a traditional, third-person fighting game where stats are less important than your timing and your fighting techniques. To place fighting that requires this much input from the player into an isometric game seems like forcing a square peg into a round hole.

The rough in the diamond

So the point is therefore to explore dungeons, find loot, grind it out in the arena, and then apply them to your character, right? The thing is that loot in Darksiders Genesis is not that interesting. The levels can offer good replay value since the abilities that War and Strife will gain later act as metroidvania-style keys to finding new items.

Yet, the loot that I did find throughout my incessant explorations of all the dungeons felt like it had a very subtle impact on gameplay. Enemies mostly drop health, ammo or souls, and I never felt like I stumbled upon that truly rare or ‘legendary’ piece of loot. What I did find mostly felt like it was passively adding small increments to abstract numbers running in the background.

Newcomer Dis who sells extra moves and combos to War and Strife

Where’s the fun in that? A varied and robust loot system is an utterly crucial component of all dungeon-crawlers, and the rather limited variety in Genesis shows its importance for the incentive to explore. Also, don’t get me started on the skill tree and the creature cores I meantioned earlier. It is dull, it is unintuitive, and I barely noticed a difference in gameplay.

Back to the drawing board then

Frankly, I am not the biggest fan of isometric RPG’s. It just happens to be a genre that I inexplicably neglected in my portfolio as a gamer, and all I can put down as experience is Diablo III, and a healthy dose of the Divinity series. The faults in Genesis are probably more obvious to me than players who have more patience and investment in this area of gaming.

I am, however, utterly fanatical about Darksiders, and I am sorely disappointed that this is how they chose to give Strife his debut. He was the most mysterious and most anticipated horseman for players to meet, and this game does not do his introduction to the series justice. As a long-time player, I must be honest and say Genesis leaves too much of what made previous games enjoyable behind. I feel absolutely no connection to it as a fan.

Yet, Genesis cannot rightly be called a terrible game. In fact, I might even have difficulty calling Genesis a bad game. Forgettable is perhaps the defining word I would use. By itself, Genesis would have made for a decent hack-‘n-slash title. It’s true moment of failure is trying to squash itself into an isometric, action mould: It simply doesn’t fit.

Nice graphics

Great voice cast

Great settings

Arena mode

Boss fights

Lackluster loot

Buggy combat

Repetitive enemies

Strife’s debut

Too different from other games

          PC Specs: Windows 10 64-bit computer using Nvidia GTX 1070, i5 4690K CPU, 16GB RAM – Played using an XBox One controller

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