New Timeline

The New Timeline is the universe of the Soulcalibur series starting from Soulcalibur VI onward.

Little is currently known about what the New Timeline entails as a whole, as thus far it's main story has shown to follow the events of the first Soulcalibur closely but with certain deviations, immediately followed by the new Libra of Soul story mode. This new setting will be told as far as 1590 A.D. trilogy from Soulcalibur II - Soulcalibur IV in Soulcalibur VI.

It is explicitly a separate timeline from the original that started in Soul Edge to Soulcalibur V, but it is confirmed that the Original Timeline still happened elsewhere.

Deviations from the Original Timeline

• Certain characters that weren't yet introduced, such as Zasalamel, Tira, Hilde, and Setsuka appear sooner than they originally did, with their Soul Chronicles detailing their activities between the events of the ending of Soul Edge and the beginning of Soulcalibur II.
• Others that are completely new, such as Grøh and Azwel, appear for the first time and alter the story from what was originally told.
• Changes involving the fighting styles of some characters are in place, to keep them in line with later appearances. This includes Nightmare holding Soul Edge with one hand (something that Siegfried originally never did as Nightmare. Inferno did however carry Soul Edge with only one hand in Soulcalibur III and Soulcalibur IV after he became the new Azure Knight), Yoshimitsu carrying a wakizashi, which is, in fact, the Fu-Ma Blade that his successor, Yoshimitsu II had in Soulcalibur V, and Tira having the Jolly and Gloomy identities earlier which is different to the original timeline's story where her soul split into the said two identities in the events of Soulcalibur IV.
• New story elements, such as the Aval Organization that the aforementioned Grøh hails from, are introduced.
• The events of Libra of Soul occur during and after the New Timeline's equivalent of the first Soulcalibur’s story.
• Some characters have had their backstory partially or completely changed, altered, or expanded.
  • Tira was originally freed from the Bird of Passage due to the release of the Evil Seed burning her master's mind, she was then adopted into a family who named her Tira, before murdering them and becoming a servant to Soul Edge. This time, however, Tira abandoned the Birds of Passage after her leader went mad. She then traveled across the world slaughtering anyone who got in her way. Additionally, Tira is older than she was in the original timeline - being seventeen at the time of the Evil Seed. She already has two split identities earlier prior to the last of 1590 AD trilogy game Soulcalibur IV.
  • Hilde was given an additional backstory involving her struggle in becoming Regent to Wolfkrone after her father went insane due to the Evil Seed. Her Soul Chronicle also revealed that she was trained by Johan Durer and clashes with him and his army after he becomes malfested, and that Wolfkrone and the Aval Organization have established relations since ancient times. None of these happened or are mentioned in the original timeline.
  • Setsuka was given an additional backstory involving her clashing with the Kokonoe Clan after her master, Shugen Kokonoe's death, where she learned how to surpass her master in skills and coming to terms with her relationship with him. Furthermore, Shugen's backstory, as well as the context of his duel with Mitsurugi, are given in more detail. Aside from the brief mention of Shugen dying to Mitsurugi in a duel, none of these events happened or are mentioned in the original timeline.
  • After Siegfried's downfall, the Schwarzwind is led by Salia, who then reforms the group into a group of mercenaries that help the innocent, and they also wait for the return of their leader. Meanwhile, in the original timeline, the reformation only happened before Soulcalibur V (shortly after the events of Soulcalibur IV, in 1592), and by Siegfried's hand after his return.
• Some characters have their story expanded due to changes in the new timeline, which may affect the story of the series going forward.
  • Zasalamel receives a vision from his future self, who some speculate to be his Original Timeline counterpart, that causes him to change his plans from trying to achieve death to collecting both soul swords to unite humanity for a better future. Notably, this happens before Zasalamel enacts said plans at all.
  • Amy has been given a story expansion involving her encounter with Azwel that confirms and ties into her transformation into Viola in Soulcalibur V. She also decides to go on a journey herself to stop Raphael from gaining Soul Edge after receiving visions. In the original timeline, none of these happened or was told; she had simply left on her own to search for Raphael.
  • Cassandra ends up in Astral Chaos upon visiting the Shrine of Eurydice and grabbing the tainted blade of Sophitia. There, she encounters her Original Timeline counterpart, driven insane by her sister's death and the countless years spent in the realm. After being defeated, this Cassandra becomes lucid enough to warn her New Timeline self of a future dark and cruel; Sophitia will die trying to save Pyrrha from the shard of Soul Edge, who will be abducted by evil forces to become Soul Edge's next vessel. She pleads for Cassandra to save Sophitia before these events could occur before disappearing.
  • In the Original Timeline, upon his return to Korea, Hwang had rejoined the military in order to prepare for an oncoming invasion by Japan. He would later be tasked with finding Soul Edge once again. However, while attempting to infiltrate Ostrheinsburg, he would be seriously wounded by Sophitia. In the New Timeline, after the power struggle between the Easterners and the Westerners had begun to intensify, Hwang would be severely injured after attempting to infiltrate the "Society of Salvation", a group made up primarily of Westerners and led by a man named Won Gabok. Thanks to Zasalamel, Hwang's life would be saved by a woman named Won Soo-hyun, who would teach him many Taoist techniques and reveals that his battle with Won Gabok had planted a "seed of evil" inside him. She would assign him the title of "Secret Royal Inspector," and would task him with investigating and eliminating anything that would threaten Korea.

Trivia

• Zasalamel and Cassandra are the only characters confirmed to have any knowledge of the events of the Original Timeline.
  • Cassandra is the only character from the Original Timeline who's directly interacted with someone from the New Timeline, this case being the alternate version of herself.
    • Cassandra is also the only character from the Original Timeline to appear, thus far, in the New Timeline; she appears in both Cassandra's Soul Chronicle as well as in Libra of Soul.
• Astral Chaos is suggested to serve as a void existing in the space between the Original and the New Timelines.