Kunpaetku

Kunpaetku
Biographical Information
Alignment	Evil
Physical Description
Gender	Male

Kunpaetku (クンペトクー, Kunpetokū; written as "kyumm mrl py eltzk" in the Upper Priest language) is the High Priest of the Fygul Cestemus sect and was the one who created Astaroth at Palgaea's request.

History

Soulcalibur and Soulcalibur VI

Originally just the priest of Mercury within the cult of the Fygul Cestemus, a cult that worshipped Palgaea (another name given to the God of War, Ares), he was promoted to the role of Grand High Priest upon having direct contact with Palgaea—the first person in the cult's history to do so^:91—and was given the name "Kunpaetku", a name given to all who reach the highest position in the cult. Palgaea ordered Kunpaetku to create a mighty warrior and search for Soul Edge, Kunpaetku created the golem, Astaroth, in order to seek it out. The success of creating life, an act something only gods could achieve, made Kunpaetku believe that he too could become just as powerful as a god himself. He planned to keep Soul Edge for himself. Unfortunately for him, Ares' agent of death, Ker, dwelled inside the monster, meaning that the one that actually controlled the golem was Ares, not Kunpaetku.

Whilst the golem was successful in finding the cursed sword, it was not strong enough to please the God of War, so he helped to gather more souls in order to strengthen it, which eventually lead to the golem's death at the hands of Maxi. However, thanks to Ares' powers, Ker, and the cursed soil of Ostrheinsburg, Astaroth was able to be revived four years later and continue his search for Soul Edge.

Soulcalibur III

Kunpaetku sensed that the golem was not acting as he instructed and casted a spell that would force Astaroth to return to the Kunpaetku Shrine, though Astaroth was able to resist his commands thanks to the powers of Ker and a shard of Soul Edge. Considering the cult to now be an obstacle in his path, Astaroth returned to the shrine anyways in order to destroy it. Astaroth chased Kunpaetku to the deepest depths of the shrine and had him cornered but narrowly missed. Before he was able to make his escape, he revealed that Astaroth was modelled after the "White Giant".

Maxi had been pursuing Astaroth and, following rumours of a giant that wielded a giant ax, came across the now-destroyed shrine in the desert. Seeing that Astaroth had already left, he began to search for clues of his whereabouts, upon which he came across the pitiful sight of Kunpaetku sitting in the ruins. After initially ignoring the man and finding no other clues, Maxi eventually decided to try and question Kunpaetku, who had seemingly not noticed Maxi until he had uttered Astaroth's name, upon which he cursed Astaroth for being a failure. Upon realising that Kunpaetku had created Astaroth, the monster that murdered his crewmates, a flood of anger overwhelmed Maxi and he questioned Kunpaetku in his role of Astaroth's creation. Kunpaetku did not respond, so Maxi readied his weapon to strike Kunpaetku. Before he did so, the shard Kunpaetku was clutching in his hands began to glow; Kunpaetku realising that Maxi has a shard of Soul Edge inside him and became excited at coming across a "marvellous specimen." Before Kunpaetku could finish his sentence, Maxi struck him twice, knocking him out and almost killing him, before kicking away the shard into a hole, falling deep underground.

Surviving Maxi's attack, Kunpaetku managed to cling onto life by going inside the same tube which had birthed Astaroth.^:91

Soulcalibur V

Kunpaetku's sudden disappearance caused turmoil within the cult, causing the deaths of many of the other planetary priests and their followers. Upon Kunpaetku's return, he was able to suppress the unrest within the cult and assigned new planetary priests to replace those that were killed or went missing. At some point, he had also replaced parts of his body with that of golem parts.^:119

After much conflict, he was able to claim Astaroth's core for himself, which was brought back by Ashlotte after the golem had once again been slain by Maxi. With it, he was able to continue his goal of creating life and ascending to godhood, eventually being able to create a new Astaroth and then mass-produce them into a hoard.^:88

Profile

Soulcalibur VI

The Grand High Priest of the malevolent cult, Fygul Cestemus. The name "Kunpaetku" is given to all who reach the cult's highest position, and roughly translates to "Great Seer."
The most celebrated priest in the cult's long history, this particular Kunpaetku was also the first person since the group's formation to speak directly with their god, Palgaea the Executioner, who ordered him to create a mighty warrior. After many experiments, Kunpaetku successfully created the golem Astaroth. His success convinced him he had accomplished a feat only the gods were previously capable of: creating life. Emboldened, he sent the golem to retrieve Soul Edge. But while the Grand High Priest pretends to be obeying his god's will, he harbors a terrible ambition in his heart; if he can get his hands on the cursed sword, he believes he can become as powerful—if not more so!—than the very god he purports to worship, and seize the mantle of divinity for his own.

Gallery

Kunpaetku from Astaroth's ending in Soulcalibur

An image of Kunpaetku, along with the cult's planetary priests, from Soulcalibur’s Art Gallery.

Soulcalibur (Chinese Manhua)

Warning: The following information is considered to be non-canon.

• In Volume 5 (Act.32), Kunpaetku collects the soul forces to revive and recover Nightmare once again. (Nightmare is in his second outfit)
• In Volume 5 (Act.33), Kunpaetku along with his companion was captured alive by Edge Master.

Non-canon information ends here.