Heishiro Mitsurugi (御剣 平四郎, Mitsurugi Heishirō) is a character in the Soul series of fighting games. He is a mainstay of the series and one of most iconic characters in the franchise.
Physical Appearance[]
Mitsurugi appears as a well-built Japanese man with slightly long black hair and black eyes.
Personality[]
Mitsurugi has only one goal in mind: To seek out the strongest warrior and challenge them to a duel then become the strongest warrior in history. He is never satisfied at the opponents he defeated in battle. Aside from being annoying and too good, Mitsurugi is the kind of a person who sticks to his words; he's not all show. Being a ronin, he fights with honour and kills his opponents in an honourable fashion, and several of his endings reveal that he has a moral side. As shown in one such ending, he is shown to believe that true strength lies within a person and not from the weapon. He is considered a neutral character.
Weapons[]
Primary Weapons
Weapons introduced in Soul Edge
Weapons introduced in Soulcalibur II
Weapons introduced in Soulcalibur III
Weapons introduced in Soulcalibur Legends
Weapons introduced in Soulcalibur IV
Weapons introduced in Soulcalibur V
Other weapons
Stages[]
The Pirate Fortress (SE)[]
The castle owned by Noto Murakami and the Settouchi Pirates (also called the Mori Sea Force). This castle is built on the whole island, and act as a port and a barrier in the seas. It also supplies pirate ships between raids. Mitsurugi comes here seeking a boat to the mainland.
Takamatsu Castle (SC)[]
Mitsurugi's stage in Soulcalibur, and based on the real-life Siege of Takamatsu, orchestrated by Toyotomi Hideyoshi after he constructed a 3-kilometer bank around it in order to stop the flow of water and produce a flooding. Mitsurugi, as a trusted mercenary on the base of Mori's Murakami Navy, was assigned the defense of the castle during the conflict. The stage consists on a wooden raft amidst battle, with the castle as background and flaming arrows constantly flying around.
Xiwei Siege Ruins (SC2)[]
Mitsurugi's stage in Soulcalibur II, situated in Xiwei at the west border of the Ming Empire. It is said to be a vital stronghold for the Empire's keep of the western territories. As explained in Xianghua's profile, the castle was attacked when the Emperor believed the castle was hiding Soul Edge. The stage is shared with Xianghua for the same reason.
Battle in the Strait (SC3)[]
Mitsurugi's stage in Soulcalibur III. The stage resembles slightly his Soulcalibur stage, albeit this one is set atop a half-sunken battleship amidst a naval battle. As said in his game profile, the stage shows one of many sea battles held between the Murakami Navy and Hideyoshi's Kuki forces. It is said that the Murakami started with the advantage, but were eventually pressed back and defeated.
Jyurakudai Villa - Virgin Snow (SC4)[]
Mitsurugi, Setsuka and Yoshimitsu share this stage.
Jyurakudai Villa - Twill Damask and Brocade (SCBD)[]
The same as Virgin Snow, though instead is set in Autumn.
Conqueror's Coliseum: Underground Fight (SC5)[]
The underground fights at the Conqueror's Coliseum only take place under the cover of night. The floor of the fighting stage is suspended with chains attached to the four conqueror statues. The combatants are forced to face each other in a very small and confined space. The somewhat flimsy-looking fence can make the difference between life and death for some fighters.
Theme Music[]
Series Appearances[]
- Soul Edge/Soul Blade
- Soulcalibur
- Soulcalibur (Chinese Manhua)
- Soulcalibur II
- Soulcalibur III
- Soulcalibur Legends
- Soulcalibur IV
- Soulcalibur IV (DC Comics)
- Soulcalibur: Broken Destiny
- Soulcalibur Mobile
- Soulcalibur V
- Soulcalibur: Lost Swords
- Soulcalibur: Unbreakable Soul
- Soulcalibur VI
Appearances in Other Media[]
Outcast Odyssey[]
Misturugi appears as a card in Outcast Odyssey. He appears roughly the same as he does in Soulcalibur IV, he also has a brand new topless costume. He is a Limited time card, available until 7 September, 2015.
Pro Baseball Famista[]
Mitsurugi appears as a playable character in Pro Baseball Famista 2011 along with Siegfried.
Namco x Capcom[]
Mitsurugi is a playable unit in Namco x Capcom along with Taki, while Charade appears as an enemy unit.
Tales of Vesperia[]
Mitsurugi's Soulcalibur IV costume is present as DLC for Yuri Lowell.
Ridge Racer 6 and 7[]
The poster car the MITSURUGI Meltfire is based on Mitsurugi and features decals referencing other Soulcalibur characters such as Astaroth.
Etymology[]
- The name Heishiro means "flat, broad, level, even, peaceful" (平) (hei), "four" (四) (shi) and "son" (郎) (ro).
- Heishiro's surname Mitsurugi roughly translates as "honorable" (御) (mi) and "sword, blade, saber, bayonet, sting, clock hand" (剣) (tsurugi).
Trivia[]
General[]
- Mitsurugi is based on real-life swordsman Miyamoto Musashi.
- Mitsurugi and Voldo are the only characters to have an official playable appearance in every main entry Soulcalibur game to date.
- Mitsurugi's Japanese voice actor is Toshiyuki Morikawa who has voiced multiple notable fighting game characters including Ryu and Charlie Nash in multiple Street Fighter titles and Hwaorang in the Tekken series. Outside of fighting games he's also known for voicing Dante from the Devil May Cry series, Leon S. Kennedy in the Resident Evil series, Griffith from Berserk, and Sephiroth from the Final Fantasy franchise. Coincidentally Griffith was later voiced by Takahiro Sakurai who voices Grøh and Cloud Strife, the rival to Sephiroth.
- In both the Tekken and the Soul series, Yoshimitsu borrows some of Mitsurugi's moves as well as Mitsurugi borrowing one of Yoshimitsu's moves from Tekken. It can also be noted that although Yoshimitsu is supposedly a ninja, he portrays a military samurai, just like Mitsurugi portrays a ronin samurai. On another note, in Tekken 2, Yoshimitsu's tachi closely resembles the one that Mitsurugi uses in Soul Edge. Also, if Mitsurugi loses in Soul Edge, his losing animation is him sitting down Indian style and banging the hilt of his sword on his knee, Yoshimitsu does this same exact thing in Tekken 2 if he loses when time is up.
- Samuel Rodrigues from Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance shares some similarities and moves with Mitsurugi.
- Mitsurugi's joke weapon is always a wooden katana (bokken). It is possibly another reference to the fact that Mitsurugi is based off of Miyamoto Musashi, as Miyamoto was famous for always using bokken in all of his duels.
- Despite his appearance in every game, he has yet to encounter Soul Edge in the series canonical story. However, his story for Soulcalibur V confirms that he did encounter Soul Calibur in his fight with Algol.
- His proud and reckless attitude made him similar to Paul Phoenix from the Tekken universe. Ironically, both of them are frustrated for not being able to reach their objectives.
- Their similarities are further reinforced in Hwang's launch trailer for Soulcalibur VI, where Mitsurugi dons Paul's outfit from Tekken 7: Fated Retribution.
- His fighting style change from Tenpu-Kosai-Ryu-Kai (Kai for improved) in Soulcalibur IV to Shin-Tenpu-Kosai-Ryu in Soulcalibur V. This likely means he has mastered the "true" version of his style.
- With the exception of Soulcalibur II and Soulcalibur IV (in which, his arena and theme are shared with other characters), Mitsurugi's theme musics had always shared some traits. These traits are heard in Soul Edge at at 0:50, in Soulcalibur at 0:40, in Soulcalibur III at 1:47 and in Soulcalibur V, 0:41.
- Mitsurugi's primary weapon has changed throughout the Soul series. His first weapon was Korefuji in Soul Edge, then Shishi-Oh from Soulcalibur to Soulcalibur IV (and then back again in Soulcalibur VI), and finally to Muichimonji in Soulcalibur V.
- Mitsurugi's 2P outfit in Soulcalibur has the Siddhaṃ character hāmmāṃ on his hakama. hāmmāṃ is the seed syllable used to represent Acala, known in Japan as Fudō Myōō. In Soulcalibur V, the dōgi he wears in his 1P outfit has images of Acala strewn across it.
Soul Edge[]
- It can be assumed that Mitsurugi was originally intended to be the main character, as he appears the most prominently in concept art and the character selection screen.
- Mitsurugi has the Kanji for "Tiger" (虎, tora) written across the back of his haori.
- In Soul Edge Ver. II, Mitsurugi's ending accidentally uses the illustrations from Hwang's ending.
- In most versions of the original arcade release of Soul Edge, Hwang was a secret character that could only be used by inputting a code. However, in a few other versions, Hwang and Mitsurugi swapped places. As such, both Mitsurugi and Hwang share very similar movesets albeit with minor differences, although Soul Edge Ver. II would give Hwang more unique attacks to further differentiate the two.
- Hwang would lose most of Mitsurugi's moves in Soulcalibur, keeping only a few of them (such as Burial Slice and Twin Heavens) while replacing the rest with those of Xianghua's.
- Mitsurugi's backstory is strikingly similar to Toshiro Mifune's character (Kikuchiyo) in The Seven Samurai, including that he was raised by farmers that were killed, became a swordsman, has a cocky and angry yet funny demeanor, and earned the title of a true samurai by his valor and fighting prowess.
- In Soul Edge, Mitsurugi and Hwang shared the same voice actor; Toshiyuki Morikawa would do both characters' voices in the Arcade version, and Wataru Takagi would both of them in the Playstation version. In every game since, Toshiyuki Morikawa would be Mitsurugi's only Japanese voice actor whereas Wataru Takagi would voice Hwang in Soulcalibur before getting replaced.
Soulcalibur II[]
- Mitsurugi's 2P costume makes him greatly resemble Haohmaru from the Samurai Shodown series.
- Mitsurugi portrays Edgar in Weapon Master Mode.
Soulcalibur III[]
- The Soul of Mitsurugi discipline is available to created characters of the Samurai class.
- In his ending, Mitsurugi can wield Soul Calibur and Soul Edge simultaneously - this can be done by selecting Soul Edge as his weapon for the Tales Of Souls mode, and choosing Soul Calibur in the quicktime event. As he faces off against Taki, he will pull both out.
Soulcalibur IV[]
- Mitsurugi is featured in a short movie with Darth Vader. The two of them defeat a few enemies individually, and then they confront each other. They draw their weapons and begin to fight. After a while, they clash their weapons, and Darth Vader says to Mitsurugi, "You are powerful. But now you must be destroyed!" The movie ends, as the two of them still have their weapons in bladelock. The movie takes place outside of Algol's tower. Their relationship appears to be a reference to Toshiyuki Morikawa's status as the voice of Obi-Wan Kenobi in the Japanese dubs of Star Wars.
Soulcalibur V[]
- His current appearance makes him resemble Japanese actor Toshiro Mifune, who coincidentally has played Miyamoto Musashi several times in his illustrious career.
- According to his profile, Mitsurugi defeated a mysterious female swordsman but lost Shishi-Oh as a result.[1]
- Mitsurugi is one of only three characters to show physical signs of aging from the time skip. The others are Siegfried and Hilde.
- In early demo versions, Edge Master's theme, 'Master of Edge', was listed as 'Mitsurugi's Theme'.
Soulcalibur VI[]
- In regards to the official artwork of Mitsurugi in Soulcalibur VI, the official Soulcalibur twitter account comments that "the background of Mitsurugi's work depicts a raging lightning bolt and a tiger roaring toward the sky. These are motifs that symbolize his strength. Mitsurugi himself may have a yearning for tigers, as he has worn tiger-related costumes in past titles."[2]
References[]
- ^ SoulCalibur: New Legends of Project Soul. Richmond Hill: UDON Entertainment Corp. February 2014. p. 57. ISBN 978-1-926778-95-2.
- ^ @soulcalibur (June 9, 2021). "The background of Mitsurugi's work depicts a raging lightning bolt and a tiger roaring toward the sky. These are motifs that symbolize his strength. Mitsurugi himself may have a yearning for tigers, as he has worn tiger-related costumes in past titles." (Tweet). Retrieved October 6, 2023 – via Twitter.
| Soulcalibur |
|---|
| Soulcalibur • Legend of Soulcalibur • Soulcalibur: Spirit Sword • Soulcalibur (Chinese Manhua) • Soulcalibur Original Soundtrack |
| Characters |
| Arthur • Astaroth • Cervantes • Edge Master • Hwang • Inferno • Ivy • Kilik • Lizardman • Maxi • Mitsurugi • Nightmare • Rock • Seong Mi-na • Siegfried • Sophitia • Taki • Voldo • Xianghua • Yoshimitsu |
| Stages |
| The Colosseum • Chaos • City of Water • Emperor's Garden • Harbor of Souls • Hoko Temple • Kunpaetku Shrine • Maze of the Dead • Money Pit • Ostrheinsburg Castle • Palgaea Shrine • Proving Grounds • Shrine of Eurydice • Silk Road Ruin • Takamatsu Castle • The Adrian and The Fortress • Valentine Mansion • Water Labyrinth |
| Soulcalibur II |
|---|
| Soulcalibur II (HD Online) • The Art of Soulcalibur II • Unlockables • Soulcalibur II Original Soundtrack • Weapon Master |
| Characters |
| Assassin • Astaroth • Berserker • Cassandra • Cervantes • Charade • Heihachi • Inferno • Ivy • Kilik • Link • Lizardman • Maxi • Mitsurugi • Nightmare • Necrid • Raphael • Seong Mi-na • Siegfried • Sophitia • Spawn • Taki • Talim • Voldo • Xianghua • Yoshimitsu • Yun-seong |
| Stages |
| Chaos • Egyptian Crypt • Egyptian Ruins • Eurydice Shrine Gallery • Hwangseo Palace - Phoenix Court • Imperial Capital Ayutthaya • Kaminoi Castle - Sakura-Dai Gate • Labyrinth • Lakeside Coliseum • Money Pit - Top Tier • Ostrheinsburg Chapel • Palgaea Shrine - Lowest Level • Pirate's Alcove • South France Mansion - Library • Village of the Wind • Xiwei Siege Ruins |