SoulCalibur is another titanically huge fighting game series that sort of faded from view in the last decade. SoulCalibur II was most people's introductions into the franchise and also one of the best entries into the series, but since then it has gone up and down.
We've rarely heard anyone talk about SCIII or SC: Broken Destiny, yet SC4 and SC6 were big hits. In any case, most of the games share a good 70-80% of the roster with some new additions securing a spot for future games or characters that only made it into one entry. Our job today is to peruse through all of the designs and pick the best and worst. Not their usefulness in game mind you, just how aesthetically pleasing certain designs are.
10 Best:Â Almost Every Astaroth Design
First and foremost is Astaroth, the other heavy character with a gigantic weapon who isn't Nightmare. Astaroth is a golem either created by the gods themselves or by a cult depending on the game. "He" is a weapon of destruction that is constantly on the hunt for the Soul Edge which the whole series is centered around. Because he's a creation, his design can change radically from game to game, yet they always seem to be B+ designs at the very minimum. Our personal favorite is SCII Purple Bunny Astaroth, but we know plenty of fans who have a real soft spot for the overly edgy design in SCIV or the simplistic executioner one in SCV.
9 Worst: The Majority Of Voldo Designs
Voldo is another fan favorite because of how horrifying over-the-top he is. Obviously, this guy's designs are based on sadomasochistic impulses and aesthetics, and it's safe to say it all comes off as a bit much. Voldo was originally the right-hand man of a weapons collector in Italy. Things happened and Voldo became... well, this. Honestly SC does a great job with both its main story and character stories. While we hate his design, it does absolutely nail what it's trying to achieve theme-wise, so we can't give it too much flak. But we'll always remember the SCV design that covers him in fur in order to show off their new "fuzz" technology.
8 Best: Nightmare's Default From SoulCalibur II
Maybe we're crazy, but this design for Siegfried/Nightmare is the one most people conjure up in their heads when they think of the mainstay character. Both Nightmare and Astaroth in this game are just so simple yet memorable design-wise.
Even still, we think this is his strongest design because after SCII the developers started to go overboard with it. Each new iteration seems to add more on top of his design rather than fine-tuning what it already has. Now, in SCVI, they've finally reigned it back a bit, but it still doesn't quite rank up against his PS2 era perfection.
7 Worst: Astaroths Alternate Look In SoulCalibur III
Now, we couldn't be unfair. We can't throw shade at all of Voldo's designs yet also say Astaroth is perfect as a character. The dude has had some bad alternate costumes for sure. His original SoulCalibur alternate is awful, robo Astaroth in SCV is mediocre at best, and SCIII's metal pompadour look is hilarious. Personally, we think SCIII's alt skin is one of his best, but we realize our personal biases play into that, and as a whole people don't seem to like this look. And, in-game, it just looks like the guy has a big metal stamp sticking out of his head. We literally can't look past that.
6 Best: Mitsurugi's Default Apperance In SoulCalibur IV
Mitsurugi is probably one of the most bog-standard character concepts in SoulCalibur. Yes, he looks rad, but he's just a poorly outfitted samurai. The guy always just looks like he put on 65% of his armor, and forgot the rest. And, like Astaroth, most of his default designs look pretty great. His alternates are hit or miss but most of them are passable. Yet his best design in our opinion is in SCIV. SCV has no ponytail and baggy pants so it's out, SCVI has him wearing something that covers both nipples so that's out, and all the early designs feel a bit too simplistic. It's only in SCIV that we felt they nailed down what they wanted to achieve with Mitsurugi's look. Miyamoto Mushashi would be proud of this homage, to say the least.
5 Worst: Kilik's Alternate Costume From SoulCalibur II
Kilik is a pretty polarizing SC character. For us personally, we despise him as our friends tended to play as him in the early days of SoulCalibur and his long reach and easy execution combos made for a frustrating match. The guy has always been insanely good combo wise, but how about his designs? Frankly, they're pretty good too, with most of his defaults being passable to fantastic.
But his alternate costumes rarely seem to have the same quality that his default has (other than in SCIV). But, the worst of them all in our opinion is his alt in SCII. At least in the artwork, SCII Kilik is the best he's ever looked, the guy looks like a Belmont crossed with a Shaolin monk and we love it. But his alternate? Big oof.
4 Best: Ivy Valentine's Alternate Costume From SoulCalibur II
Oh Ivy, where did your clothes go? Ivy has to be one of the most commonly drawn, cosplayed, and homaged female characters in all of video games. Her strict attitude and revealing clothes quickly made her a fan favorite, plus she's the daughter of another beloved character, Cervantes. Ivy is a warrior, a magician, and an alchemist who fights with a sword she can turn into a whip. And while we love how confidently she struts her stuff, her SCII Alternate Costume is basically perfection. This costume feels like what Ivy would look like if she was designed in an age where giving "fanservice" to gamers wasn't one of the biggest aspects of development.
3 Worst: Dampierre's Design In General (SoulCalibur V)
Dampierre, otherwise known as the Kroger Brand Will Zepelli from JoJo's Bizzare Adventure, is an odd character. He's based on a variety of figures from film and history, but none of them probably dressed as horribly as he did. The guy wears a full-body sleeveless suit with a tiny jacket on top and a bright green long sleeve underneath. If that wasn't enough, he has a giant top hat, bright blue bow, and a comically big necklace charm.
Dampierre is a scumbag pretending to be noble, and his fighting style using two daggers primarily involves him using shady moves and pretending to be hurt to lower his enemy's guard. He's horrible, and it's why he's only shown up in two games.
2 Best: All Of Yoshimitsu's Designs
Okay so it was a bit unfair to talk mess about all of Voldo's designs, it was more unfair to heap praise onto the majority of Astaroth's incarnations. But, what is justified and not even a bit unfair is saying that Yoshimitsu's designs are all killer. SoulCalibur has a ton of guest characters in each of its games. Yoshimitsu, in particular, is a character from the Tekken franchise that has routinely shown up in SoulCalibur as a staple as well. It's a different Manji Clan head behind the mask most of the time, but each Yoshimitsu costume looks amazing. Our personal favorites are his SCVI Sentai/Power Armor inspired look, the Squid Yoshimitsu alt costume from SCIII, and the classical look in SCII.
1 Worst: Algol's Default In SoulCalibur V
What is it about fighting games and making their most deadly characters basically nude? Ivy at least wears shoes! Yet Algol, the main "antagonist" of the franchise and the original holder of Soul Edge, seems to like to dress in a diaper, shoulder pads, and a scarf. How imposing. The guy looks great design-wise. His shredded physique and "good" looks prove that he's aiming to be the peak of perfection and while stereotypical its a good design mentality. Yet, in SCV, his design is just so barebones. It's only made worse by the fact that his first design in SCIV was just plain awesome.