Assemble! - Fighting Game Archetype Roster - The Weapon User

This is Assemble, where we look at several different characters across multiple series to form a perfect team-up. Whatever the case may be, whether it’s a fighting game roster or an RPG adventuring party, we’ll find the best team for the job. In a change of style from the more long-form articles featured here, these articles will be shorter entries, focusing on one or two characters each, and spread out over time until the complete roster is formed.

What would a fighting game be without a roster of several different, powerful, and engaging characters? In this batch of articles for Assemble, we will be assembling a fighting game roster using characters from several different fighting games based on different character archetypes.


The picks will be based on where the characters fit in terms of game mechanics and their place in the story and world of the game. Only characters that originated in fighting games will be observed here. That means no guest characters, no licensed fighting games (unless their roster includes original characters), and no crossover titles. Finally, I’ll only be discussing games or characters that I am at least somewhat familiar with. While this means I won’t discuss all the fighting games out there, there should be at least some variety from just the major titles.

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THE WEAPON USER

A lot of you know the phrase, “You never bring a knife to a gun fight.” This character brings a knife to a fist fight. More than one character may use some kinds of weapons in their fighting game movesets, but the Weapon User stands out because their main weapon of choice is a core design element of their character. It forms the basis of their regular moves as well as their special moves.

As with a couple of earlier entries, our pick for this slot comes from a game filled with Weapon Users. The Soul Calibur series, starting with the game Soul Edge for the arcade and PlayStation 1, is a fighting game series focused on characters armed with swords and other different kinds of melee weapons. So, to stand out from the crowd, the weapon this character uses should be powerfully distinct or distinctly powerful compared to everyone else’s.

Our choice for the Weapon User is…

Nightmare from Soul Calibur.

As mentioned, Nightmare’s inclusion is mostly for his weapon and what a weapon it is. His sword, the Soul Edge, is the main driving force of the plot of the Soul Calibur series. Soul Edge is a demonic sword, rumored to grant immense power to whoever wields it. While the rumors are true, the catch is that the spirit within the sword possesses whoever holds it and feeds off their soul as it drives them to slay more people to feed on their souls as well. In fact, Nightmare himself is the result of a human knight named Siegfried allowing himself to be corrupted by Soul Edge.

Does this look like the kind of sword where using it is a good idea?

Soul Edge has proved to be so dangerous in this world that a different sword, the eponymous Soul Calibur, was created specifically to destroy Soul Edge, and its wielder is none other than Siegfried himself, after he was able to break free from Soul Edge’s grasp. Nightmare is still able to walk around though, with the demon within the sword possessing an artificial body wearing the original Nightmare armor, though he still desires the souls of the living.

For using a sword that serves as the basis of his fighting style and that sword being the lynchpin of the entire series’ story, we now add Nightmare (and by extension, the Soul Edge) to the roster.

ADDED!

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What did you think about this article? Want to see what other characters get picked for our roster? Do you think someone would fit this role better besides whoever got picked? Make your voice heard in the comments below. Thank you for coming.