Johan Dürer (ヨハン・デューラー, Yohan Dyuuraa) is a knight from the Holy Roman Empire who is introduced as a background character in Soulcalibur and Soulcalibur II, and later appears as an enemy in Soulcalibur IV. He claims to protect his country with honor. He fought in many wars, was married, and had children. His elite army is also a clan of knights with different fighting styles.
Johan was titled "Greatblade".
Story[]
Soulcalibur/Soulcalibur VI Background Story[]
Johan Dürer was born in Konstanz, Holy Roman Empire, on September 18, 1542. At a young age, he took the path of the sword due to the harsh times, and eventually turned into a mercenary. He participated in every war he could, and when there wasn't one he worked as a bodyguard for the merchants, usually targets of local bandits. Because he took his enemies' weapons, he developed a form to wield any weapon with ease. He called this style "Riese Apostel" (Giant Apostle in German, translated as Largus Apostolus in Girardot's profile, which has the same style) in honor of the nickname he got in the battlefield, Riese.
Eventually the firearms started to replace swords in war and Johan, frustrated by continuous defeats, finally decided that he couldn't make a life from only onslaughts, and so he joined an elite knight force from a fortified city and settled there. He married a woman, who gave him two sons and a daughter, and, thanks to his past war records, turned into the elite's leader.
Johan was also an emissary from Lord Eckart of Rauchburg and an ally to the Wolfkrone Kingdom as he fought alongside it's king George.
The day of the Evil Seed phenomenon, the lord of the castle was possessed by its evil will. Turned into a bloodthirsty monster, he rampaged the castle until he got captured. The high-ranking vassals of the castle, worried by the situation, sent various undercover groups, Johan leading one, to investigate the strange phenomena. During his travel, Johan met with the Azure Knight Nightmare. Nightmare killed the entire unit, including Johan's sons, excluding Johan, who was left alive and scarred.
Johan returned before regent Hilde and her followers, bearing a frightful scar on his armor. He revealed the information about Soul Edge, its existence and the events surrounding a Spanish port town and Captain Cervantes. Eventually Johan convinced the vassals to allow him to create a hunting unit to retrieve the evil sword called the "Hunters of the Evil Sword". Johan gathered young men and, after weeding the cowards and curious, started an arduous training.
Johan and his group traveled around the world, until the training was complete and they headed back to the castle. The men were no longer knights, for they returned as Berserkers. Johan, finally taken by the evil energy from his wounds, lead his unit to assault the castle. Johan himself freed the captive beastly lord and executed the vassals, soon discovering the evil powers inside him asking for souls. Johan set the castle aflame and left with his lord and students into the eastern forests.
Soulcalibur IV[]
He appears in Soulcalibur IV as an Ostrheinsburg soldier under Nightmare, though not with the berserkers. He now uses Nightmare's fighting style, wielding the Claymore sword.
He survived the events of the game.
Soulcalibur V[]
Johan continues to serve Nightmare, who has become known to the public as 'Graf Dumas'.
Despite this, he appears to sympathize with Tira.
Profile[]
Soulcalibur VI[]
Johan Dürer[]
Johan Dürer was born in the city of Konstanz of the Holy Roman Empire. As a young man, he chose a path befitting the turbulent times. Wherever there was war he fought as a mercenary, and in times of peace he worked as a bodyguard guarding merchants from bandits, or in rougher cities as a sword for hire. In his ambitious quest for greater strength, he was never far from a fight. Dürer honed his fighting instincts in countless battles, and his skill was such that he quickly and methodically got the better of all who faced him. He swung his sword much more than the average warrior, becoming so strong in the process that his weapons would often break in the middle of battle. Weapon unusable, he would then wreat a new one from the fallen, for no man aft unarmed could survive the bloody battlefields he walked. Because of this, he eventually became proficient in a wide variety of weaponry. People soon took to calling him Riese—giant, for his style of looting and fighting on made him as fearsome as any titan. Dürer later embraced this epithet, and even named his fighting style—Riese Apostel—after it.
However, the development of firearms changed the face of war, and individual skill could no longer determine the outcome of a battle. Suffering ignominious defeat after defeat, Dürer soon fell into despair. It was only natural, for his life's purpose had been seemingly made obsolete. However, the world had not abandoned him yet; his wanderings led him to the fortified city of Rauchburg, where a band of knights who had heard of his achievements offered him a place among them.
Dürer thus began his new life. Soon, he married a woman who bore him two sons and a daughter. The new father won respect and glory from his peers, and eventually rose to become knight captain of the order. He took up a sword he could call his own—something he never could do as a young man—penned a book of his experiences titled "Wisdom of the Unconquerable," and spent his time tutoring young knights—among them his sons. It would seem he had finally found a lifestyle that suited the changing times. During this period, he also forged a friendship with the valiant King George of Wolfkrone. He even taught the basics of combat to Princess Hide, who would one day shoulder the destiny of Wolfkrone, and Wilhelm the Lightning Lance. Dürer had become a widely respected knight of the empire. However, perhaps he was simply trying to avert his eyes from the hole yet remaining in his heart.
In the year 1583, disaster struck. The path of slaughter the Azure Knight carved across Europe threatened to swallow Rauchburg in its wake. Dürer brought to bear all of his wisdom and ability to protect the fortified city he called home, but even that was not enough. Knowing their cause was hopeless, he led his men forth on a suicidal surprise attack against the Azure Knight in the hopes that he could seize victory from the jaws of defeat. The brave company fought with dogged determination...and eventually, the Azure Knight and his troops were driven from the city.
But the price for this miraculous victory was steep: every last knight under his command, including his two sons, had perished. Dürer himself sustained grave injuries and barely escaped with his life. And yet soon after, he began training an elite force to hunt the cursed sword. Their strong souls were their greatest and only true weapon against the wicked-eyed knight and the evil blade. The warriors Dürer trained soon set out from Rauchburg to destroy Soul Edge. As he watched them set off on their harsh journey, memories flashed across Dürer's mind—memories of the day when the deep scars he bore were carved into his body.
The flesh of his subordinates, the broken fragments of his brethren's helms and armor lay illuminated in the bluish-white moonlight. Not only his two sons, all of them had been like family to him. Though they did not share the same blood, they had forged a bond between them stronger than that of mere comrades. He had watched over them like a father as they took to their harsh training and grew into fine warriors. And now in front of him stood a knight in blue armor, back to the bright moon, the cursed Soul Edge in his hand dripping with the blood of his many sons and daughters. The desperate gambit had failed, his knights destroyed to a man. Dürer, armor and body rent near in half, was not long for this world. If the Azure Knight would only come a few steps closer, then he would take at least one last strike... But to his dismay, Nightmare only turned and left, never granting him the honor of one final blow.
When Dürer resurfaced from his memories, the last of the Hunters of the Evil Sword was just disappearing over the horizon. His eyes glinted, their depths burning with the warrior's greed of his youth...mixed with a touch of madness. It was all clear to him, it had been for some time: the Azure Knight was the very warrior he had once dreamed of becoming, a dream he had once given up.
"Fight many battles, and see your spirit grow ever stronger. For I desire the souls of the mighty...and so does Soul Edge."
Most of the elite soldiers he had trained and sent out to hunt the cursed sword were destined to fall in battle, mere gristle to feed Soul Edge. The few who remained would become malfested and serve under Dürer as his twisted underlings. His moniker "Greatblade" would soon be feared across the land as the name of a disciple of darkness. As if sensing something, Johan Dürer swept his gaze slowly over his surroundings. Then, he stepped forward, the sinister miasma of nightmares swirling around him.
"Greatblade" Johan[]
One of the "sword malfested" serving under Nightmare. A handful of malfested have held on to their consciousnesses after transformation, but Johan's leadership skills are a cut above the rest, allowing him to have some command over even the willful seven of the sword. He possesses both the cunning and cruelty for devious plots—disguising himself as a human, he orders his own soldiers to take out Nightmare, only to sacrifice them to chaos and add the survivors to his malfested troops. His activities include traveling around the world to survey the powerful warriors searching for Soul Edge, and gathering information for his human experiments on the creation of powerful souls. The Aval Organization considers him one of the most dangerous outsiders known.
Johan's attendant Zwei takes the form of a young boy. Though Zwei is more powerful than other attendants, he doesn't seem to enjoy fighting, so Johan makes it a point to complete missions without his help. Perhaps it's an act of pride on Johan's part, or perhaps he sees in Zwei the son he lost to Nightmare back when he was human—depending on the answer, Zwei could serve as the key to taking down this fearsome malfested.
Creation Formula[]
Soulcalibur IV[]
- Name: Durer
- Style: Nightmare
- Weapon: Claymore
- Physique:
- Muscularity:
- Voice: Male Voice 6, Pitch: 0
- Hair: Balding
- Face: Male Face 9
- Hair, Eyebrows & Eyes
- Skin:
- Death's Spaulders
- Usurper's Suit
- Demonic Gear
- Leviathan Gauntlets
- Nightmare Fauld
- Lord's Greaves
- Attack: 146%
- Defense: 127%
- HP: 55%
Weapons[]
Quotes[]
Soulcalibur IV[]
- If you don't leave, I will have no choice.
- You're wasting time with your rhetorics.
- Put your weapon down if you wish to live.
- Very well then, I shall fight you.
- Seems we're both destined for hell.
- Let's see how well you fight.
- Now watch!
- I guess I should ease off a little.
- Sorry, but I don't have time for this.
- An empty victory!
- The difference in our goals was a deciding factor.
- I shall take in your resentment.
- Accept your fate.
Soulcalibur VI[]
- "Allow me to teach you."
- "You have sealed your fate."
- "So, you desire to fight?"
- "Watch closely."
- "My specialty!"
- "Feeble."
- "You're finished!"
- "Death is... your only release."
- "Try again tomorrow. I'll gladly take you on!"
- "Your conviction holds much promise."
- "Give it your all, or don't bother showing up."
- "You're a disappointment."
Trivia[]
- His weapon of choice is a long sword named Misery.
- In a short, special movie in Soulcalibur IV, he is one of the enemies that Mitsurugi defeats before he and Darth Vader fight each other.
- Johan Dürer originally appeared in the Japanese Soulcalibur Official Guide published by Axela. Despite never appearing playable in any game, he's considered an official character, with his own profile and even an "ending". He is referenced in the Berserkers' profile as their leader and also appears in the introduction of Weapon Master Mode, alongside other "missing" characters from Soulcalibur II like Edge Master, Arthur, Li Long, Hwang, and Rock.
- Johan Dürer can be created in both Soulcalibur IV & Soulcalibur: Broken Destiny, but not quite perfectly as he appears in Soulcalibur IV due to having noticeable gashes in parts of his armor (reflecting his story) that are not available in the creation modes of either game.
- In Soulcalibur IV Dürer resembles Girardot Argezas, whose lance style was named after Dürer's sword style.
- Johan Dürer's fighting style, "Riese Apostel" is a mistranslation from the German phrase for "Giant Apostle". Correctly, it would have to be called "Riesenapostel".
- He trained Hilde at some point in his life.
- During Soulcalibur IV, he served under Tira, rather than directly serving Nightmare.
Soulcalibur (Chinese Manhua)[]
Johan Dürer from Soulcalibur Manga Comic Volume 3
- In Volume 3, from the first page, Johan Dürer and his Roman armies rage to attack on armies of Lizardmen, Astaroth, and Nightmare. Although all the Roman armies were killed by the armies of Lizardmen and Astaroth, Johan Dürer didn't survive and were pierced to death by Nightmare. The Soul Edge that Nightmare held absorbed every soul spirits from Johan Dürer and his whole roman armies that already died.
Gallery[]
