- "I have... absolutely no intention of dying here."
- — Chester
Chester (チェスター Chesutā?) is a fictional character in Namco's Soul series of fighting games. He appears in Soulcalibur III’s side-quest mode Chronicles of the Sword as one of the player's enemies. He's also an unlockable Bonus Character in the main game. He represents the "Dagger" Create-a-Fighter discipline.
Biography[]
Chester is portrayed as a man without desires or goals. Everything he achieves is meaningless to him, turning into nothing seconds after having obtained it. He feels he's alive only on critical moments, those when his life is on the line, but even then, its unfulfilling at the end.
For one day he was traveling inside a war-stricken town, he spotted a girl with a doll and remembered his younger days and how he enjoyed playing with dolls. At that moment, he thought on playing at a large scale, using the kingdoms and their leaders as tokens of his own game.
He started his plans convincing the younger member of the Halteese's Royal family, Demuth, to rebel and form a kingdom of his own. He then worked as advisor for Dalkia's queen while serving Demuth as Prime Minister. Chester moved the pieces, assuring Maletta's growing into an independent kingdom while diverting Dalkia's attention towards Grandall. When the time was right, Chester backstabbed Demuth and seized Maletta as his own, but his plans were ultimately foiled by the apparition of the player, who defeated all his units and Chester himself on Chronicle 10.
A year later, Chester appeared as emperor Strife's advisor and tactician, helping him taking care of the player. Even though Chester planned various officers to kill him, the player defeats every enemy and finally confronts and kills Chester at Grandall's capital city, Parousia, at 19th chronicle once and for all.
Profile[]
"If a prerequisite of desire was purpose and motive, then it could be said that I was a person without desire. If pleasure was defined as an emotion that was charged by desire, then I might be a person that cannot feel pleasure."
He pondered such thoughts next to the corpse that was human a few seconds ago.
Duels, gambling, fraud, murder, women, nothing seemed to satisfy him.
At times he felt satisfied, but the feeling was always immediately followed by emptiness.
The only moment he could feel life was when his life was on the line, the final moment between black and white.
He had stopped having a purpose, having desires.
Even if he fulfilled those purposes to satsify his desires, they would all turn to emptiness.
He was able to, more or less, obtain everything he wanted. But it all got old too quickly.
...Was it right after the war?
As he prowled the town where flames still kindled, he saw a child with a doll crying.
He remembered how he used to play with dolls when he was young.
Dolls have no soul and could be controlled to one's every whim.
At times, there were dolls that would not move exactly how he wanted.
But the dull sound which resulted from applying more pressure satisfied him just as well.
It was these moments, perhaps, that he enjoyed more.
If he was going to have fun, why not do it with live dolls.
If he was going to have fun, why not have a stage as big as this continent.
Why not make them act out an epic drama full of life and death, tears and inspiration.
He started humming.
He closed his eyes and delightfully waved his knife like a conductor's wand.
Stages[]
Romanian Valley - Castle Siege (in chronicle 3)
Lost Cathedral (in chronicle 10)
Lost Cathedral - Ruin (in chronicle 19)
Gameplay[]
Chester uses the Dagger discipline, which involves him using that alongside bombs. His style is a more unique one, as it's compromised of quick strikes with a small dagger he uses to quickly strike his opponents. His speed is generally good, and attacks are varied, having easy ways to easily keep his foes open with his lows he can use swiftly to keep his foes from stand guarding. He also has a few unorthodox moves he can use as well too, such as a tackle like dash and even a backflipping stance he is able to use a deceptive low from or a mid vertical strike.
Possibly one of the best things about Chester's style is the inclusion of bombs that he can toss at his opponent to launch them, dealing damage and even guard breaks if they block the charged versions; He has both a high and a low variation of these bomb tosses, with them both having good reach to keep opponents away when wanting to not directly engage them up close. He also has an aerial aimed version of the bombs that allow him to hit foes launched from a prior bombs.
While varied and being well rounded, Chester suffers from general unsafety from some of his attacks, and his dagger reach isn't good, as well as his general reach unless using his slower attacks. His bombs can make up for the lack of reach, but they can be easily avoided by correctly ducking or low guarding from afar, and it's possible to sidewalk them too. Chester can be considered a more gimmick based discipline style that's still formidable, and also being easier to use.
Weapons[]
Quotes[]
- How absolutely laughable.
- What happened to your earlier enthusiasm?
- The weaker they are, the louder they bark.
- I like your cries.
- Take... this!
- That look suits you.
- I have... absolutely no intention of dying here.
- All right, all right...
- He he... surprised? Well, it's just as you see. I must protect this country.
- I had this brilliant plan of pitting Grandall and Dalkia against one another, and then rise to power during the resulting chaos, but... because of your unexpected meddling, my plan is in ruins.
- You will pay dearly for this.
- You're irritating.
- Go ahead and die!
- Suffer!
- You're not going anywhere!
- Die!
- How about this?!
- You can tell the story of this day in the afterlife. This day when (the player's/Cadet's) forces were wiped out!
- You are puppets for my amusement. Who ever heard of puppets acting of their own free will? -- Chronicle 19
- Yes...that's it. That's the face I like to see. There's nothing I enjoy more than to see the anguish on your face! --19th Chronicle
- It's been a long year, friend. Having to curry favor with that fool of an emperor has really gotten on my nerves. But that, too, ends today. I finally have the opportunity to crush you! --19th Chronicle
- What...? Is it over...already? Good grief. --After his death in 19th Chronicle (At the End of the Beginning)
- "If a prerequisite of desire was purpose and motive, then it could be said that I was a person without desire. If pleasure was defined as an emotion charged by desire, then I might be a person who cannot feel pleasure." --One of many of his personal thoughts.
Trivia[]
- Chester's entire costume is made from Create-a-Fighter parts. He has no original parts or features.
- While he has three different costumers through the Chronicles of the Sword mode, only two of these can be selected when playing him as a Bonus Character. He, like the other COTS characters, has two different versions in the game's code, one for the COTS mode, and one for Bonus Character selection in any other mode. The COTS version does have all three outfits available, the one where he is '????' being his first one, his normal form's first outfit being this version's second, and so on. One would need to use a cheat code to select costumes beyond one and two.
- Strangely, Chester is referred to as 'King Chester' in the Chronicles of the Sword opening. This could just be a reference to his short rule over Maletta after betraying Demuth.
- In Chronicles of the Sword, Chester is the boss in Chronicles 3, 10, and 19.
- In Chronicle 3, Chester's name is ????, but he's still easily recognizable.
- Chester is one of a few characters in Chronicles of the Sword to have their hair color changed while wearing a second costume. Curiously, Chester loses his scar in this second costume (Probably due to his scar being replaced with a monocle, in character creation).
- Chester switches sides in Chronicles of the Sword, being that he switches from being a Brigand Leader, to Malettan Officer, to a Grandall Officer.
- Chester, along with Luna, are the only characters in Chronicles of the Sword to have their birthplace unknown. It is possible that he hails from Dalkia, as his 1P costume features yellow and white; the same colors on the Dalkia flag.
- Chester can be seen in the Chronicles of the Sword opening movie in the background blackened.
- Chester's Destined Battle during Quick Play is Raphael Sorel.
- Chester's job in Chronicle 3 and 10 is a Thief, while in Chronicle 19, he's a Sword Master.
- Chester and Luna are the only Chronicles of the sword bonus character that their fullname remain unknown.
- There is another Namco character named Chester, that's Chester Barklight, from Tales of Phantasia, although they are not the same character.
- The Dagger discipline is also one of few custom disciplines which feature moves from Tekken. The move in question is Heihachi's Shadow Step.
Series' appearances[]
Gallery[]
References[]
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j "SOULCALIBUR III". Soul Archive. NAMCO BANDAI Games Inc. Archived from the original on February 3, 2012. Retrieved February 24, 2023.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j キャラクター｜チェスター (in Japanese). Bandai Namco Entertainment Inc. Archived from the original on December 14, 2007. Retrieved February 24, 2023.
- ^ https://web.archive.org/web/20130929215149/http://www.jaylerner.com/resume.html/
| Bonus characters | |
|---|---|
| Soul Edge | Siegfried! • Seong Han-myeong • Sophitia! • Sophitia!! |
| Soulcalibur II | Lizardman • Assassin • Berserker |
| Soulcalibur III | Abelia • Amy • Arthur • Aurelia • Chester • Demuth • Girardot • Greed • Hualin • Hwang • Li Long • Luna • Lynette • Miser • Revenant • Strife • Valeria |
| Soulcalibur IV | Angol Fear • Scheherazade • Shura • Ashlotte • Kamikirimusi |
| Soulcalibur V | Devil Jin (Katsuhiro Harada) |