- "This should be a good fight!"
- — Xander
Xander Alondite is a character in the Soul series. He made his first appearance in Soulcalibur III and has returned in Soulcalibur V.
What lies in his soul is Justice.
In Soulcalibur V, he is referred to as The Knight of Valor.
History[]
Soulcalibur III[]
Like many heroes before him, Xander had very humble beginnings. Born to a veteran of war and a retired thief, Xander originally planned to live as a guard in his town. Somewhere in northern Germany, nestled in the woods, was where his story began.
Xander began his training at a young age, preferring heavier weapons to the ordinary short swords used by the trainees at his academy. His father had retired from active duty to become guard captain, but despite the other students' beliefs, Xander received no special treatment. Instead, he was pushed harder to prove himself. He spent his entire childhood and teenage life in the academy, and was preparing for graduation when a strange messenger arrived. A woman dressed in black, spreading word of a powerful sword that took the very souls of the men it slayed. Despite promises of power, both physical and political, the town's leader had no interest in joining forces with the woman and sent her on her way.
The next week, the town was attacked by a small army of Malfested. Xander was one of the first to sprint to action, using his training sword to cut down many weaker Malfested. His father and mother fought alongside him, and along with the rest of the guards, they saved the village with relatively few casualties. Xander's father was injured in the battle, and despite his wife's pleas, insisted that he find out who was responsible.
Xander had a better idea, or so he thought. He would take up his family's sword, the Alondite. Apparently forged by a goddess, the blade was imbued with holy power. While initially resistant to the idea, Xander's father finally agreed to let the boy go. After giving Xander the uniform he was meant to wear as a guard and their family's sword, he allowed Xander to begin his quest.
Wielding a blessed blade and dressed in the finest armour his village could forge, Xander felt a sense of immense accomplishment. Now, he would be a hero. He'd make something of himself, save the world, and become a legend. The dream of every boy in his village was becoming true for him.
He traveled fruitlessly for a while, helping those he could with menial tasks to make some money. Boredom was overtaking him, and he found no leads towards the ones who attacked his home until he'd been searching for nearly a month. While staying in a tavern, he heard legends of someone called "The Azure Knight," who wielded an incomplete soul-eating sword. Something called "Soul Edge."
At the very mention of the sword's name, the gem in the Alondite glowed. Xander took it as a sign that this was what he was looking for, and that if he found the Knight, he would find the woman who unleashed the Malfested on his village. Xander left the next day, and began his investigations again.
Soulcalibur IV[]
It was another month before anything particularly significant happened. While traveling down a road through the woods, Xander was attacked. A group of armoured Malfested, dressed in strange blue metal, rushed him while he was preparing camp. One of them had a note on their bodies.
"Your brothers failed me last time. Make sure you kill the one who left before he finds any leads. That sword of his could prove useful. If you fail, I'll be sure our master gets your souls."
The note was signed with a stylized "V." Xander kept the note and traveled more, stopping to search every time he passed a settlement. He eventually caught wind of a wizard named "Varoth," who was experimenting on the properties of souls. This must have been the one responsible, possibly the superior of the woman who had sent her Malfested on his town.
He began traveling east, to the kingdom where Varoth "served" as a court wizard. In reality, Varoth had taken control of everyone, using the power from a shard of Soul Edge. The king, an Eastern European warlord named Ranis Drakan, was now under Varoth's control as his Malfested general.
Xander fought many groups of Malfested on his journey, attempting to purify those he could with the Alondite's blessing. Most of the Malfested died from their wounds before he could even try, or during the process. The few that did survive were not completely purified, and regressed to Malfestation after Xander left them.
One survivor told Varoth of Xander's approach. He immediately dispatched his most powerful Malfested soldier, a Japanese man that had been captured by Drakan under suspicions of him being an assasssin.
Koja Tengu, the Malfested soldier, quickly traveled toward Xander. Fueled by souls, he needed no sleep or food. Despite the distance he had to travel, he crossed paths with his target within two weeks.
The attack came quickly and without warning. Koja attacked with extreme ferocity and percision, nearly killing Xander before he got a grip on his sword. By the time the fight was over, both men were heavily wounded and near death. Koja had been stabbed through the stomach, and Xander through the lung. They both held onto the Alondite's handle as they slumped toward the ground, and their lives began to fade away.
When Xander's blood touched the gem in the Alondite, it glowed intensely, and an aura shot through the room. Both men were filled with an intense burst of energy, and once the weapons were pulled out of them, their wounds healed. Koja's malfestation was cured as well, though its side-effects remained in the form of miscoloured eyes and pale skin.
While the effects of the energy wore off, the two men conversed. Xander told Koja of his quest to find whoever was responsible for the attack on his village, and Koja revealed that he was looking for an old friend that had been passing through the area. The two agreed to travel together, and Koja told Xander everything he could remember about where he had been before his Malfestation.
The two left, heading in the direction of Drakan's castle. It took them almost another month to arrive, but when they finally did, Drakan and Varoth were waiting for them. They fought past an army of Malfested, and the final battle against the warlord and wizard nearly killed them both.
Drakan fought hard, but was finally slain when the Alondite pierced his heart. The blade purified him, giving him a final moment of peace before his soul passed on to the next world.
Varoth refused to go down so easily. The wizard was nearly killed, and in desperation, used his shard of Soul Edge to empower himself. He was almost instantly Malfested, but a combination of his own magic and the Alondite's aura prevented him from turning completely. He used magic to bind the shard to his weapon, giving it power nearly rivaling Soul Edge itself.
Just before striking the final blow, Xander's sword and Varoth's scythe collided. The crystal in the Alondite purified the shard in Varoth's scythe, but the crystal was shattered in the process. Now without any way to keep his power over the kingdom, he had only one option; to escape. Varoth sealed himself in a pocket dimension he'd created with a powerful spell, and apparently disappeared.
Victorious, Koja and Xander left the kingdom's ruins. Xander would have to get his weapon reforged due to the damage it had taken, but it was a sacrifice well worth it. The two traveled together, eventually finding Koja's friend.
Soulcalibur V[]
Xander had successfully made a decent living for himself after defeating Varoth. He moved to Italy, where he formed a mercenary band called the Blades of Valor. While mostly independent, they occasionally worked together with the Silver Phoenix, sharing contracts and sending warriors to aid each other.
The Alondite, in its reforged state, lost most of its energy over time. It retained a holy aura, and still had some slight purifying effects, but was otherwise a normal sword. Without its full power, Xander had to rely more on his own skill, and trained regularly to make sure his strength didn't degrade.
He commonly took contracts personally rather than just sit around and guide his band. His recent one was suspicious, but he still took it. Investigation of Ostreinsburgh, as presence of dark energy had been reported. When he arrived, there was little more than a Will-of-the-wisp, and he quickly destroyed the unholy creature. When he was preparing to leave the next day, he saw a familiar face. Leandra Scott was also at the city, though she'd lost her copy of Soul Edge. She was apparently looking for someone, but refused to accept help.
While he was worried, Xander understood. Instead of forcing the subject, he offered Leandra a place in the Blades of Valor. She was initially hesitant. Regardless, the two agreed to travel together again, in case they could find anything that might help them both. While they were gone, Leandra mentioned her son Luke, who was at home caring for himself.
When they visited Leandra's home, the Alondite reacted negatively. A burst of holy energy pulsed through the sword, as if a powerful evil had been in the area. He was suspicious, but couldn't see or feel anything that could be a possible threat. Regardless, he remained prepared. The Alondite eventually calmed down, and the evil presence was gone.
He parted ways with Leandra eventually, and returned to Italy to choose the contracts that would be accepted. While he sifted through the letters requesting aid and passed them on to the band's generals, he noticed one from Leandra. Instead of a contract, she had sent a plea of help, saying that her son had gone missing. Xander immediately set off to help her.
When he arrived the next week, he sat down with Leandra and the two spoke of what might have happened. He comforted Leandra to calm her down, and noticed his sword was reacting even more negatively. There was no denying it anymore. Varoth had returned. He told Leandra of his experiences with the mage, about how he'd malfested a kingdom and how Xander fought him and destroyed his copy of Soul Edge.
The two geared themselves for the journey. Xander replaced his old armour with a newly forged suit often used by demon hunters, and had the Alondite treated with holy water. Leandra did the same, and Xander had bought her a belt of magical bullets for her pistol sword.
They traveled together to Varoth's castle, where they found the wizard in the process of stealing the boy's body. His soul was transferred into Luke, and without a soul, his body fell over dead. Luke fell into a coma, but was otherwise unharmed. They got him home and watched him closely.
As time passed, Xander monitored Luke closely. The boy showed signs of budding magic, and the Alondite reacted around him. When he woke up, he showed strange changes in personality. Leandra contacted him after she'd been assaulted by her son, who ran off. Xander knew that he was possessed now.
Leandra joined the Blades of Valor and became their second leader. With Xander, she trained soldiers to become extremely powerful, and the bands followed Luke's path. He moved as if he were searching for something, and eventually found the remains of Varoth's scythe.
Xander and Leandra kept chasing him, finally meeting the possessed boy in the ruins of Ranis Drakan's kingdom. How the battle ended is still unknown.
Personality[]
Caring, friendly, and very confident in himself. Always puts the safety of others before himself, and never leaves a man behind in a battle. He has a passion for fighting held by few, and a strong sense of justice that he strictly follows. He tries to save everyone he can, which unfortunately makes him easily manipulated.
Weapon and Fighting Style[]
The Alondite is Xander's primary weapon in Soulcalibur III. Since it was not included in Soulcalibur IV, it has been replaced with the Gram. In his story, it represents the Alondite after its reforging.
The Alondite, a sword forged by a goddess, contained a large chunk of crystal in the hilt. Unknown to Xander, the crystal was a large purified Soul Edge fragment, with abilities similar to Soul Calibur. It was much weaker than the spirit swords, but still a formidable weapon.
In the battle with Varoth, the crystal was broken when the sword destroyed the evil wizard's scythe. It deactivated the spell over the kingdom, but the Alondite was also broken. Xander had it reforged, and while it lacked its crystal, it still had some magical power.
In Soulcalibur III, Xander was of the Knight class, and used the Iron Sword fighting style. In Soulcalibur IV and Soulcalibur V, Xander uses Siegfried's fighting style.
Theme Music[]
SCV ~ Xander Alondite Theme Song "Blades of Valor"
Blades of Valor, Xander Alondite's theme song. Special thanks to Leshain of the 8wayrun forums!
Critical Finish[]
Xander slashes upward, knocking his opponent into the air. His sword glows with blue energy as he then strikes them down. As they get to their feet, Xander raises his blade and a holy aura consumes it. The aura seems to lengthen the weapon's already impressive size, but Xander effortlessly twirls the blade behind him, and delivers a final blow. His enemies are enveloped in crystals created by the aura, and are ignited with blue flames. As they fall to the ground, the aura fades and Xander sighs with fatigue.
Critical Edge[]
Like his critical finish, Xander raises his sword and it becomes enveloped in holy energy. With a powerful thrust, he stabs the blade into the ground, and the energy pulses forward along the ground. Its path becomes enveloped in crystal, and his enemy is pushed away.
Stages[]
Ostrheinsburg Castle Throne Room[]
Xander's home stage in Soulcalibur IV. Represents the castle he fought Varoth in.
Free Imperial City Center[]
Xander's home stage in Soulcalibur V. Represents the city he lives in after forming a mercenary band.
Relationships[]
- Son of Rorek Alondite and Sarah Alondite.
- Best friend of Koja Tengu.
- Leader of The Blades of Valor, a mercenary group stationed in Italy.
- Sworn enemy of Varoth Varacougar.
- Close friend of Leandra Scott.
- Is one of Ishaiya Johnson's teachers.
Trivia[]
- Met Leandra Scott during his travels
- Has an intense distrust of wizards and sorcerers
- His sword functions as a Pseudo-Soul Calibur, able to purify malfested and slay unholy creatures
- Originally had a normal zweihander; replaced it with the Alondite when he began his quest
Costume[]
Xander's outfit is built for a combination of protection and maneuverability. His short gauntlets and greaves leave his limbs somewhat exposed, but the reduced weight of the armour give him greater freedom of movement and speed. This was more prevalent in Soulcalibur III, where his fighting style involved more acrobatic moves than his style in Soulcalibur IV. In-story, it is a modified version of his village's guard armour.
In Soulcalibur V, Xander's outfit will consist of heavier armour over his clothing. His alternate costume will likely resemble a typical nobleman's outfit.
Gallery[]
Soulcalibur IV[]
Soulcalibur V[]
