- "Consider yourself saved."
- — Azwel
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?).
Biography[]
Soulcalibur VI[]
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...
Other Soul Chronicles[]
It was Azwel who treated Grøh after he was defeated by Nightmare, but the researcher secretly infected him with malfested energy. Later, Azwel infected Curtis with a fragment of Soul Edge and transformed him into a malfested, forcing Grøh to kill his best friend. He then fought the enraged warrior but managed to escape.
At some point, Azwel wrote documents about the Evil Seed under the title, “scholar of the future.” In 1589, after his supposed death by the Conduit, Azwel met with the man who had gotten a hold on his documents: Raphael Sorel. He learned of the nobleman’s goal to obtain Soul Edge and give it to the nobles, so that they would fight and kill each other for the sword and Raphael would create the ideal world for his adoptive daughter, Amy. Seeing how easily he manipulated the nobleman, Azwel fought Raphael to test his resolve, and later gave him a medicine to stop Soul Edge’s poison from infecting him before departing.
In 1586, Azwel visited Lord Dumas and informed him of the Aval Organization’s supposed actions of betrayal. As he was about to leave, he found Amy eavesdropping on their conversation and took an interest in her and her psychic abilities. Later in 1590, Azwel lured Amy into a trap and had a group of malfested attack her to ascertain her powers. Afterwards, the researcher revealed Raphael’s plan of obtaining Soul Edge, and its flaw of the nobleman’s madness. Azwel easily irked Amy into fighting and paralyzed her with a magical orb. With the orb, the researcher discovered her future self, Viola, and tortured her with a nightmare of Raphael becoming malfested. Wanting to make her into his doll in the future, Azwel erased Amy’s memories of their encounter and allowed her to be found by Maelys.
Libra of Soul[]
While preparing to carry out his plan for the Ultimate Seed, Azwel sensed the powers of the Conduit and changed his plan because of that. Eventually, the researcher was found by them, Grøh and Zasalamel, and he revealed to all his plan to bring about the Ultimate Seed before making his escape. After being chased west, Azwel absorbed an astral fissure at the Shrine of Eurydice and fought the Conduit. He defeated them with ease but was then challenged by Grøh, who grabbed him and caused both of them to fall into a ravine.
Azwel survived and gathered his followers, the Qualifiers, in Ostrheinsburg. There, he was confronted by the Conduit again, and told them that he needed the energy they gained from closing the astral fissures to channel them into Soul Edge and Soul Calibur. Then, Azwel would mix their powers and finally unleash the Ultimate Seed. But he was refused by the Conduit who defeated him in both of his forms. Azwel is then finished by the Conduit, who used either Soul Edge or Soul Calibur to defeat him once and for all.
Physical Appearance[]
Azwel is a middle aged man of average size with sickly pale skin and scar-like markings stretching across his body, many of which meet at the center of his forehead and shoulder length purple hair. When Soul Charged, his markings glow purple and his eyes a bright yellow, with arms covered in a red and blue crystalline material.
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 an irredeemably cruel, self-aggrandizing, spiteful, and sociopathic sadist. His warped idea of "love" for humans is merely a front for his own self-gratification and can be likened to psychological abuse and emotional manipulation, which he mercilessly inflicts on his victims, especially through his experiments. He also showed no hesitation in remorselessly murdering any high-ranking members of the Aval Organization when they became suspicious of his disloyal schemes, including Grøh's master, Orzal.
Costumes[]
Azwel wears a dark robe, the lower portion of which has several yellow tails covering the legs, and the upper portion of which has a golden stole around it. Both his upper and lower portion feature an eye decoration. His weapon, the Palindrome, appears as a pair of golden gauntlets with fragments of the cursed and spirit swords embedded on the back of the hands.
His Color 2 recolors his outfit to white and gives him blond hair. It also recolors his stole red and blue depending on which side his hand glows.
His Color 3 recolors his robe yellow and stole purple while giving him white hair.
His Color 4 recolors his entire outfit all white, while retaining his black hair from Color 1.
Weapon & Style[]
This style grants the unique ability to produce dual swords, a giant axe, and a spear-and-shield combination out of thin air. Not technically a fighting style per se, the combat techniques used here are a product of Azwel's "martial philosophy and theory," and the weapons crafted from a special device he made in his pursuit of "saving" the human race.
Beyond simple slashes and strikes, this style boasts a host of unorthodox techniques-weapons are turned into projectiles, and blades are even manipulated mid-air to fall upon a surprised opponent in one deadly rush.
Because an opponent has no idea what they will have a tough time anticipating just what sort of attack will come at them next. On the other hand, it requires intense concentration to create and maintain weapons, making it hard for a wielder to move their physical body while controlling them.
Once a weapon has been produced, it can be reproduced more quickly (the weapon "modes" referenced in the move list), adding a layer of depth that must be considered when forming a long-term strategy. Azwel also has certain moves that put him in an "Almighty" state in which all attacks are executed with maximum speed; normally this only lasts for a limited time, but Soul Charge puts Azwel in Almighty Mode for its entire duration.
Understanding this is the key to unlocking a whole world of potential.
Palindrome[]
The right gauntlet-like device is fitted with a fragment of the cursed sword; the left, a fragment of the spirit sword. Mechanisms send carefully tuned waves to the fragments, and data (martial philosophy and practical theory) retrieved from them—formulated from memories of past battles—are translated into physical movements. In addition to simply replicating combat techniques, the device can also be used to manifest weaponry out of thin air. However, in the early stages of its development, the weapons took too long to fully form, and so the device was unsuited to practical use. With a few improvements though, Azwel is now able to produce dual swords, a giant axe, and a spear and shield quickly enough to use them in combat. Even in its current state, creating new weapons can be a slow process, but if Azwel can effectively link together data for multiple combat forms, he can produce different weapons with great speed.
A palindrome is a word that reads the same both forwards or backwards. While Azwel's reasons for naming his device this are unclear, it may have something to do with his success in tapping into the power of the cursed and spirit sword fragments, and manifesting their data as text. With this information, perhaps he noticed the similarities between the two swords, despite their antithetical existence. Thus, the name "Palindrome" hints that he understands something of the fundamental of the swords.
Techniques taken from martial philosophy and theory[]
Azwel uses vastly different fighting techniques than an average fighter.
He has studied the cursed and spirit swords deeply—particularly their power—and realized that they operate in a similar way to waves. (The concept of waves and their ability to cancel each other out had been known for some time by this point.) While part of the Aval Organization, Azwel formulated the theory that the sword's waves could be manipulated. This revelation would help lead him to his final aim: creating the Ultimate Seed. Through his research, Azwel also discovered that within each sword lies the memories of past battles, stores as a sort of data (which he calls "martial philosophy and theory") can be induced as a form of reaction, then retrieved and used to replicate actual fighting moves. According to Azwel, the fragments are a condensed mass of information, somewhat like a dictionary.
Azwel's fighting style involves him creating a weapon and style appropriate to the situation he's in by drawing on the martial philosophy and theory contained within the swords fragments. When Azwel began planning to leave the Aval Organization, he knew his lack of fighting ability was a fatal weakness. However, once his research into the cursed and spirit swords was complete and he could harness their powers, that was no longer a concern. All he had left to do was put his plan into motion...
Critical Edge[]
From Science, With Love: An extremely quick upward sword slash while in dual swords or Almighty mode. He then guides his two swords as they continuously slash at the airborne opponent before summoning numerous red and blue energy blades that converge on them and explode violently
I Shall Save Humanity!: Only available in Soul Charge. Azwel generates a burst of energy that launches them in the air, then proceeds to pull a projection of Soul Edge and Soul Calibur from his body and spins them around the opponent in a swirling vortex of energy before smashing them together, causing a massive eruption of energy.
Weapons[]
- Chaos & Order
- Motion & Stillness
- Joy & Despair
- Imprecation & Exaltation
- Bias & Equity
- Aspiration & Tribulation
- Eternity & Ephemerality
Stages[]
Soulcalibur VI[]
Astral Chaos: Tide of the Damned
Quotes[]
Soulcalibur VI[]
- "Time to save the human race!" — Character Selection, 1P
- "I am looking forward to this." — Character Selection, 2P
- "You shall be sacrificed for the human race." — 1P entrance
- "You impress me. Shall we begin the experiment?" — 2P entrance
- "Disgusting! Your odor turns my stomach." — Spoken when fighting against Nightmare, Cervantes or Inferno
- "It has been a while, hasn't it? Are you well?" — Spoken when fighting against Grøh
- "Time to check in on you again." — Spoken when fighting against Amy
- "What a marvelous invitation!" — Spoken when blocking Reversal Edge
- "I'm honored to share the stage with you!" — Spoken when blocking Reversal Edge
- "Okay...breathe..." — Spoken when blocking Reversal Edge on low health
- "I'm touched..." — Spoken when blocking Reversal Edge on low health
- "Oh, the drama!" — Spoken when blocking Reversal Edge on low health
- "Let's take the stage together!" — Spoken when initiating Reversal Edge
- "Curtains up!" — Spoken when initiating Reversal Edge
- "You will not escape!" — Spoken when initiating Reversal Edge
- "How about this?"
- "How thrilling!"
- "Onto the next act!"
- "Act 2."
- "Take note."
- "Encore!"
- "Crescendo!"
- "Oh! That odor!" — Spoken when finishing O, Fallen Scholar against Nightmare, Cervantes or Inferno
- "Worthless swine!"
- "This can't be!"
- "Study complete." — Spoken during Disillusionment
- "Damn you!" — Spoken during Disillusionment against Nightmare, Cervantes or Inferno
- "I will hunt you down!"
- "You're blessed."
- "What an anomaly!"
- "What an original hairstyle!" — Spoken when engaging in a Reversal Edge against Maxi
- "You impure brute!" — Spoken when engaging in a Reversal Edge against Nightmare, Cervantes or Inferno (landing initial attack)
- "Back off, monster!" — Spoken when engaging in a Reversal Edge against Nightmare, Cervantes or Inferno (blocking initial attack)
- "I can diagnose you." — Spoken when engaging in a Reversal Edge against Grøh
- "This looks promising." — Spoken when blocking a Reversal Edge against Grøh
- "As I expected." — Spoken when dodging a Reversal Edge against Nightmare, Cervantes or Inferno
- "It's in your eyes." — Spoken when countering a Reversal Edge
- "Feel the power... of reason!" — Spoken when activating Soul Charge
- "Hope... for humanity!" — Spoken when activating Soul Charge on low health
- "You can do better... young Amy!" — Spoken when activating Soul Charge on Amy
- "Can you stand the test?" — Spoken when activating Critical Edge
- "Accept this from me... My love!" — Spoken during Critical Edge
- "Turn pain into resolve. And resolve into strength!" — Spoken during Critical Edge against Amy
- "You passed." — Spoken upon finishing Critical Edge without knocking out the opponent
- "Excellently done." — Spoken upon finishing Critical Edge after knocking out the opponent
- "This is the savior's power!" — Spoken when activating Soul Charged Critical Edge
- "Now is the time... for progress!" — Spoken during Soul Charged Critical Edge
- "Stupendous!" — Spoken during final hit of Soul Charged Critical Edge
- "Any thoughts?" — Spoken at end of Soul Charged Critical Edge
- "Consider yourself saved." — Spoken at end of KO Soul Charged Critical Edge
- "A dose of medicine!"
- "Stick with me!"
- "The final act!" — Spoken when winning a Reversal Edge
- "It's love!" — Spoken when winning a Reversal Edge
- "Begone!" — Spoken when winning a Reversal Edge against Nightmare, Cervantes or Inferno
- "How cathartic!" — Spoken upon finishing Critical Edge in Soul Charge without knocking out Nightmare, Cervantes, or Inferno
- "It appears I have grown used to my enhancements."
- "The curtains have fallen... on your performance."
- "What an interesting reaction. Thanks to you, my research has made advances."
- "What a thrill to see a human on the brink of death abandon their sense of reason for despair or hope! It is like the sweetest nectar to me! I could never grow tired of the human race!"
- "What a wonderful day! I have rid the world of an affliction to the human race! And with this... I am another step closer to becoming its savior!" — Spoken when defeating Nightmare, Inferno, or Cervantes
- "How irksome! I swat these bugs time and time again and yet they keep appearing! I shall exterminate them all... until humans look to me as their savior!" — Spoken when defeating Nightmare, Inferno, or Cervantes
- "Only real lives... have value." — Spoken when defeating Nightmare, Inferno, Cervantes
- "It appears the experiment... was a failure." — Spoken after defeating Grøh
- "Your continued cooperation is appreciated." — Spoken after defeating Amy
- "Interesting specimen." — Taunt
- "A worthy performance." — Taunt against KO'd opponent
- "You inhuman monster!" — Taunt against Nightmare, Cervantes, or Inferno.
- "Heheh. Comrade!" — Taunt against Raphael
- "Can you stop me?" — Taunt against Grøh
- "Heheh. I'll enjoy this!" — Taunt against Amy
- "Heheh. Still going strong, I see!" — Taunt against Amy, upon Amy maximizing perception gauge on red and white roses
- "I refuse to accept this!" — Suffering a Ring Out
- "What a joke!" — Suffering a Ring Out
- "HAHAHAHAhahahaha..." — KO'd by Amy
- "The final...curtain..." — Standing KO
- "The show goes on!"
- "It worked!"
- "Oh, my dear!
- "The power of reason!"
- "The power of truth!"
- "My performance was a tragedy." — Spoken after losing by Time Out
- "How could I lose to a monster?" — Spoken after losing by Time Out to Nightmare, Inferno or Cervantes
- "Oh no, I must've lost track of time!" — Spoken after losing by Time Out to Raphael or Amy
- "The experiment was a success!" — Spoken after losing by Time Out to Grøh
- "You missed."
- "Do not... hold back." — Spoken during Modify the Weak throw
- "Waste gets... disposed of!" — Spoken during Modify the Weak throw or Soul Charge activation against Nightmare, Cervantes, or Inferno
- "I'll dissect you, Grøh!" — Spoken during Transmigration throw against Grøh
- "I'll dissect you, Raphael!" — Spoken during Transmigration throw against Raphael
- "I'll dissect you, young Amy!" — Spoken during Transmigration throw against Amy
- "I'll dissect you, The Conduit!" — Spoken during Transmigration throw against Amy, upon Amy maximizing perception gauge on red and white roses
- "Sweet dreams."
- "I have yet to reach my goal." — Spoken during decisive round
- "A happy miscalculation." — Spoken during decisive round against Grøh
- "I'm pushing my limits." — Spoken during decisive round against Nightmare, Cervantes, or Inferno
- "Even I have limits."
- "Show me more!"
- "Oops!" — Spoken during recovery roll
- "So close!" — Spoken during recovery roll
- "Keep it up." — Spoken during recovery roll
- "It's not over." — Spoken during recovery roll
- "Filthy fiend!" — Spoken during recovery roll against Nightmare, Cervantes, and/or Inferno
- "Death is nothing when there is love!" — Spoken when activating Soul Charge while fighting Raphael
- "So proud!" — Spoken after being KO'd by Raphael
- "You shall never evolve with such a weak will." — Spoken after defeating Raphael
- "Come to me, Soul Calibur!"
- "Show yourself, Soul Edge!"
Relationships[]
- Former member of the Twelve with the Aval Organization before defecting.
- Saved Grøh from a life-threatening injury before secretly infecting him with malfested energy in his left arm. He would soon find out his plot and become his worst enemy, after the incident leading to Curtis' death.
- Infected Curtis with a shard of Soul Edge in front of Grøh‘s eyes, leading to the latter’s personal vendetta against the traitor for infecting Curtis.
- Leader, founder, and master of the Qualifiers (Daniel and Valtro among them).
- Killed Orzal.
- Manipulated Raphael into searching for Soul Edge.
- Assaulted Amy and discovered her future alter-ego.
- Enemy of the Conduit.
Trivia[]
- Though Palindrome is the official name of his weapon, none of his weapons' names are palindromes.[1]
- 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.
- 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.
- 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 and animations 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.
- Azwel was designed by Hiroaki.[2][3][4]
- According to Hiroaki, Azwel's design is derived from an older design of Grøh's.[5]
Gallery[]
Soulcalibur VI[]
Video[]
References[]
- ^ https://www.strawpoll.me/16500090 A poll refering Azwel's weapons
- ^ @soulcalibur (June 6, 2021). アズウェルのコンセプトアートです。ヒロアキさん@SUPER_HIROAKIにデザインしていただきました。 (Tweet) (in Japanese). Retrieved August 11, 2024 – via Twitter.
- ^ @soulcalibur (June 6, 2021). "This is the concept art for Azwel. It was designed by @SUPER_HIROAKI." (Tweet). Retrieved August 11, 2024 – via Twitter.
- ^ Yoshinori Takahashi [@masuooyama] (June 7, 2020). アズウェルは格闘ゲーマーならお馴染み、イラストレーターのヒロアキさんのデザインです!Aswell was designed by illustrator Hiroaki. He also draws the main character in story mode. (Tweet). Retrieved August 11, 2024 – via Twitter.
- ^ a b Hiroaki [@SUPER_HIROAKI] (November 19, 2020). そう今回のボスキャラ「アズウェル(Azwel)」です。笑 彼のデザインもこのグローのデザインからスタートしました。 (Tweet) (in Japanese). Retrieved August 11, 2024 – via Twitter.
- ^ Hiroaki [@SUPER_HIROAKI] (June 7, 2021). アズウェル様ー!お誕生日おめでとうございます‼︎ (Tweet) (in Japanese). Retrieved August 24, 2023 – via Twitter.
New Timeline Characters | |
---|---|
Playable Characters | Amy • Astaroth • Azwel • Cassandra • Cervantes • Grøh • Hilde • Hwang • Inferno • Ivy • Kilik • Maxi • Mitsurugi • Nightmare • Raphael • Seong Mi-na • Setsuka • Siegfried • Sophitia • Taki • Talim • Tira • Voldo • Xianghua • Yoshimitsu • Zasalamel |
Other Notable Characters | Bolta • Curtis • Daniel • Dion • George von Krone • Gerhilde von Egilmar • Gorozaemon Yamabuki • Gyobu Kokonoe • Iska Acht • Johan Dürer • Kunpaetku • Kyam • Lingyu • Lucius • Lyla • Natalie • Orzal • Plata • Rothion • Seong Han-myeong • Sakan Inobe • Shugen Kokonoe • Valtro • Vercci de Burg • Wilhelm von Krone • Won Gabok • Xiangfei • Xianglian • Xiuqiang |