- "I knew I wouldn't walk away from this fight without a scratch."
- — Xianghua
Chai Xianghua (チャイ・シャンファ, Chai Shanfa, Chinese: 柴香華, Pinyin: Chái Xiānghuá) is a character in the Soul series of fighting games. She made her debut in Soulcalibur and went on to appear in all other main installments (as well as a few spin-offs) except for Soulcalibur V.
In Soulcalibur, she is nicknamed "Flower In The Breeze".
What lies in her soul is Love.
Biography[]
Pre-Soulcalibur History[]
Xianghua's ancestors, the Chai family, have groomed men and women alike into seasoned warriors of China for many generations. The Chai family was born in the heritage of General Ming. The woman who would become Xianghua's mother, Xiangfei, was sent to the prestigious Ling-Sheng Su Temple to learn the art of swordplay. She diligently trained and became supremely skilled with the jian, surpassing many of the monks at the temple.
Following her father's passing, Xiangfei forged a forbidden romance with a monk at the temple, Kong Xiuqiang, thought to be the most prominent candidate for inheritor of the holy bo staff, Kali-Yuga. Not until the illegitimate birth of their first daughter, Xianglian, was their love made known to the other monks. The monks remained very strict regarding the temple's edicts and Xianglian was taken from her parents on her second birthday.
Xiangfei became too wrought with grief to remain at the temple. Han Dongxiu, a sworn brother of both Xiuqiang and Xiangfei, urged Xiuqiang to leave with her and start a family with his lover, but Xiuqiang refused, and Xiangfei agreed that it was for the best. But as a final goodbye, Dongxiu helped Xiuqiang sneak the Krita-Yuga to his lover, to serve as a promise the two would one day meet again.
Unknown to Xiuqiang, however, was that when Xiangfei had left the temple, she was pregnant with a second child. She secretly returned to her homeland, was taken in by the Chai home there, and became a soldier in the Ming Dynasty Imperial Guard. Months later, she gave birth to her second daughter, Xianghua, but never revealed anything about the girl's father or his lineage to her.
By this time, the temple had realized that the Krita-Yuga was missing, and found that Xiuqiang had stolen it. He was exiled from the temple, but Xianglian was to remain there to be trained as an orphan. Xiuqiang eventually discovered Xiangfei's whereabouts, but the Chai family asked him to leave her alone, as she believed that he was training and she would be happier in her ignorance. Meanwhile, when monks from the Temple came to Xiangfei, searching for the missing sword, all they found was young Xianghua playing with a battered jian, and they gave up the search years later. Only Xiuqiang had known that the jian Xianghua had been holding was actually the Krita-Yuga in disguise.
As time passed, Xianghua had learned to use the jian just as well as her mother when Xiangfei died sometime after Xianghua's eleventh birthday. Five years afterward, Xianghua became a member of the Imperial Guard.
Soulcalibur[]
Eventually, the emperor of Ming Dynasty China had become displeased with the search for the "Hero's Sword"; he never heard back from any that had ventured out, including close friends. So he sent members of his Imperial Guard to help the quest advance more quickly. The guards traveled under the guise of a traveling opera troupe, with Xianghua to be the main attraction, so as not to raise suspicion of their true motives.
Xianghua, as she appears in Soulcalibur (1998)
As Xianghua prepared for her journey, she recalled her mother's dying words—that she was born to complete an important task and that she must cut her path through an uncertain future. With her mother's keepsake tai chi jian, she left on her own. Before she set out on her journey, she did what any honorable girl would, she cut her hair short like her mother's. On her journey, she encountered a member of the Ling-Sheng Su Temple in China, Kilik, and a Japanese pirate of the Ryūkyū Kingdom, Maxi. Told of the sword's evil nature by Kilik, she agreed to aid both of them in their journey to destroy the evil blade, not knowing all the while that her long-lost older sister, Xianglian, had been accidentally killed by Kilik as he had been consumed by a berserker rage on the night of the notorious Evil Seed .
With Kilik and Maxi's help, Xianghua stormed Ostrheinsburg Castle. Maxi stayed behind and defeated the castle's guard, Astaroth, disappearing soon after. Kilik and Xianghua together slayed the enemy hordes and reached Soul Edge. Kilik used his holy bo staff Kali-Yuga to defeat Nightmare, but immediately afterward, the combatants were pulled into an ethereal void where they stood opposed to Inferno. His prior battle had left Kilik too weary to fight. As Xianghua readied herself, her mother's keepsake sword unveiled herself as the holy sword.
After a fierce struggle, Xianghua defeated her opponent with Soul Calibur's protective power. As the void started to collapse, she carried Kilik out of it, though her mother's keepsake sword was left behind.
Xianghua screenshot from Soulcalibur II (2003) just before her destined battle with Kilik.
Soulcalibur II[]
After destroying the sword she was sent to find, a mysterious man approached her and awarded her with an unnamed jian in return for the great deed she had done. Once she returned, Xianghua fell in disfavor with the Emperor because of her failure to find Soul Edge. She was stripped of her rank and reassigned to a menial position. Xianghua kept her role in Soul Edge's destruction secret and never reported it.
Four years later, news reached her that the emperor had attacked Xiwei (present-day Xi'an), which had been the center of government in the Ming Dynasty's western territory. The emperor believed that the fortress had been withholding Soul Edge from him, and when the fortress guards killed his envoy in annoyance of his blind obstinancy, he ordered that the city be summarily destroyed and all the citizens executed, under the public justification of a revolt.
When the castle fell and the sword was not found, the emperor summoned Xianghua in his stupor and asked her to investigate the ruins, as her experience could be useful in locating the sword among the rubble. Xianghua found out the truth behind the attack from Ming spies. Though she believed that she had destroyed Soul Edge, her investigation proved otherwise, and pieces of it were rumored to exist in this place. If this story had been true, Xianghua needed to find every fragment and destroy them.
Xianghua left on a second journey alone, convinced that this was a burden she had to bear, since she failed to destroy Soul Edge completely the first time...
Soulcalibur III[]
"I couldn't do anything..." The pain of defeat clutched at Xianghua's heart. During her adventure, Xianghua was once again reunited with her companion, Kilik. While on their journey, the two of ran afoul of a "man with a scythe" (Zasalamel), who wished to eliminate people who had the potential to destroy Soul Edge. Zasalamel attacked and defeated Kilik. Afterwards, Xianghua took the gravely injured Kilik back to his home, where she heard that Kilik would make full recovery.
After leaving a letter for Kilik, she departed, seeking an old general whom Edge Master had arranged for her to meet. Training with the old general, Xianghua's skills improved significantly. However, no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't shake off an overwhelming feeling of inadequacy due to her failure to help Kilik. She told herself, "Don't be afraid!!!" in meager attempts to convince herself. The old general noticed her anxiety and provided sage advice:.
"Sometimes, the path of the warrior requires letting in dark feelings, weighing them, then letting them go."
Xianghua then began to train her mind. Rather than becoming weak, she would be more fluid and allow her heart to filter in both the good and the bad. After months of training, she felt that she was ready and bid farewell to the general, beginning her journey anew. So she left the temple to fight by herself.
Soulcalibur IV[]
While traveling west on the Silk Road, Xianghua reunited with Kilik. Together they traveled to India to find Maxi. However, he did not join them. Xianghua was worried that he was searching for Soul Edge so he can have his revenge on Astaroth. She knew she had to stop him.
Meanwhile, Xianghua had no idea of what kind of feelings Kilik had for her. But her feelings for him were clear. However, she could never tell him of those feelings. They had to destroy Soul Edge. Because they did not destroy it properly last time, a lot of calamities were happening all over the world. But she was determined that they would eliminate the evil sword once and for all.
When she saw a meteor shower heading west, she knew the final battle was coming.
Soulcalibur: Broken Destiny[]
(Non-canon)
She appears on Chapter 21, in Soulcalibur: Broken Destiny's The Gauntlet mode, looking for Kilik but ends up fighting the player after a possible misunderstanding. After accomplishing Chapter 21-1, she slaps Kilik for being a jerk and Cassandra jokingly says that her slap was "Unblockable".
Soulcalibur V[]
A year later, she reunited and connected with Kilik, but he considered this the result of an unfortunate destiny, and eventually disappeared from Xianghua's side.
Returning to her homeland with a broken heart, she eventually came to the realization she was pregnant. However, her grandfather and patriarch of the Chai house was furious at this, as she was the second generation of women from such a distinguished family to bear the child of an unknown man. Xianghua was ordered to kill the child and marry into another family.
Knowing of her situation, Xianghua was rescued by the heir of the Yan family, Yan Wujin. He discussed with Xianghua's grandfather and issued a condition for marrying Xianghua and not revealing the scandal, to allow the child, Xiba, to live.
Soulcalibur: Unbreakable Soul[]
(Non-canon)
When the player and Cassandra encounter her for the first time, Xianghua is guarding the emperor's palace and she mistakes them for intruders, attacking them instantly. After she is defeated, she reconciles and directs them to Japan to find the fragments of Soul Edge. Later, after Kilik is defeated in the Coliseum, Xianghua stops the fighting and clears the confusions of her friends, telling them that the player and Cassandra are allies.
Personality[]
Chai Xianghua is a cheerful young woman. She is kind and seems to sound a little childish. She never gives up and is faithful to her friends. She shares many similarities with Ling Xiaoyu of Tekken and Lei Fang of Dead or Alive.
Costumes[]
In Soulcalibur, her first outfit is a light pink qipao top, light pink sleeves, blue pants with aqua bows and blue slippers. Her second outfit is a red short-sleeved qipao top, dark red short shorts with light green linings, green bracelets and red and green shoes. Her bonus costume is white cropped jacket, a black bustier top with yellow linings, white short shorts, a white headband, a black choker, white leggings and blue shoes. Her jacket and short shorts have blue flames on it and only her jacket has red flowers on it and a picture of an aqua butterfly on the back on her jacket.
In Soulcalibur IV, her first outfit is similar to her bonus costume from the original Soulcalibur, except with some changes. Her outfit is entirely light blue and has a different pattern on it.
Endings[]
Soulcalibur[]
The Krita-Yuga she wielded revealed its true form as if it heeded the call of destiny. The sword gave her unparalleled strength and in return, Xianghua channeled her pure spirit through it. The interminable battle came to a close with Xianghua's victory.
a picture from Xianghuas ending in Soulcalibur
The brooding clouds that covered the firmament until now broke apart to reveal shafts of sunlight from above.
Xianghua: Mother... was this the destiny I was meant to fulfill?
She narrowed her eyes as the brilliant sunlight caressed her innocent, childlike face...
Soulcalibur II[]
Soul Calibur 2 - Xianghua's Ending
Soulcalibur II Xianghua's Ending
After defeating Inferno and recovering her mom's sacred sword once again, she promises never to lie again as she journeys home.
Soulcalibur III[]
Xianghua and Kilik both face Soul Edge. Kilik offers to destroy the sword, but Xianghua insists that she do it. She walks up to Soul Edge and stabs it with her sword.
Soul Calibur 3 - Xianghua - Ending B
Soulcalibur III Xianghua's Ending B
Input Ending The screen fades,and then shows Xianghua sitting on a rock in a forest while Kilik trains in the background. "Hey Kilik... where do you want to go next?" Xianghua asks. Kilik replies by saying that he would like to visit his master. Xianghua says it would be a good idea to travel together. Kilik agrees by saying "Yeah, especially since you're such a good sparring partner. Xianghua, unhappy with Kilik's response, bows her head in disappointment. Xianghua says that there is someone she's interested in, hinting to Kilik that that "someone" is him. "Oh." Kilik replies, and then gets back to his training. "Do you understand what I'm trying to say?" Xianghua asks. "Huh? Yeah." Kilik answers.
With a sigh, Xianghua lays back and says "You're hopeless." As Kilik walks up to her and asks if she's ready to leave, Xianghua jumps into his arms playfully and exclaims "I won't give up on you that easily!"
Soul Calibur 3 - Xianghua - Ending A
Soulcalibur III Xianghua's Ending A
No Input Ending Xianghua shatters the sword and gets shot backwards with great force into Kilik's arms. When she awakens, she asks if Soul Edge is really destroyed. She then stands up and walks over to her sword and Kilik follows her. Suddenly, Xianghua and Kilik's weapons disappear. "So it's finally over." Xianghua says reassuringly. Kilik says "yeah" afterward.
Soulcalibur IV[]
Soul Calibur IV Xianghua's Ending(JP)
Soulcalibur IV Xianghua's Ending
Xianghua is shown looking at both Soul Edge and Soul Calibur on each side of her. Kilik walks up towards her and says that this is his responsibility now. He chooses to take over from this point on, and just wants Xianghua to leave and live an ordinary life filled with happiness. "What about your happiness?" Xianghua asks. After Kilik responds by saying that he doesn't deserve to be happy, Xianghua tells him that he is what makes her happy and he is all she needs. She then asks him why he can't understand that. Kilik, who is deeply saddened by the choice he must make, tells her, "You don't know how that pains me. I hate myself for not being able to answer you. I want to be with you, too, but there is just no way." He then grabs Soul Edge and begins to show signs of pain as the sword glows. Xianghua runs up to him and hugs him from behind. Kilik tells her to leave, but Xianghua refuses and says that she is going to stay with him.
As the screen fades to white, Kilik's voice can be heard saying, "Thank you, Xianghua."
The text-only epilogue reveals this: The two disappeared together. The two powers rested in peace and never stirred again.
Gameplay[]
Soulcalibur IV[]
Tower of Lost Souls[]
Xianghua appears in Tower of Lost Souls as a boss in the Ascend mode under the floor "Mind Reading Shield" and also appears as a sub-ordinate under the floor "Uber Airhead".
- TOLS Ascend Mode
- Mind Reading Shield (Boss)
- Uber Airhead
- Skills On "Mind Reading Shield"
- Auto Impact S
- Impact Heal
- Impact Edge
- Strong Impact
- Skills On "Uber Airhead"
- Evil Sword Berserk
- Double Edged Sword
- Hyper Mode
- Default Skills
- Charge Cancel
- Strengthen Horizontal
- Soul Gauge Rate Up C
- Descend Mode Skills
- Soul Gauge Recovery C
- Will Power
Fighting Style[]
Xianghua's fighting style resembles that of a Wushu practitioner, although some of her moves were derived from Hwang. She is known for being unpredictable and confusing for an opponent as she has a lot of feint attacks in her arsenal. Her speed is on par with other quick Soulcalibur characters, allowing her to punish attacks more easily. However, most of her attacks lack damage and range, but once she catches her opponent off guard, she can connect combos to maximize damage. She also has a repertoire of auto guard-impact moves to further put opponents off guard and open further options. Given these combination of strengths and weaknesses, she is considered versatile by many players.
Xianghua can cancel most of her attacks and attack with a different one immediately to put the opponent off guard and exploit its weakness. A great example of this is her Silent Xia Sheng (SXS) stance (introduced in Soulcalibur IV) in which keeping the button held down with certain inputs places her in a stance and allows her to use a different attack. An "invisible meter" is filled depending on her actions in SXS. Once the "meter" is filled to a certain point, she will begin flashing and the properties of her attacks will change, opening up new combos and possibilities. The "meter" will go down when she uses an attack while flashing. Xianghua can fill it up again with actions from SXS.
What Xianghua lacks is strength; but her combos that veteran players use deal impressive damage to make up for this weakness. In tournaments, she is considered a high-tier character.
Soulcalibur IV[]
Sword style passed down from her mother[]
Although Xianghua did not know it, her mother, who was born from the lineage of General Ming, had studied the sword-arts at Ling-Sheng Su Temple. After leaving the temple and returning to the Ming family, her mother gave birth to her (Xianghua). Perhaps because of some difficult part of her training years, Xianghua's mother would not speak of it when she was growing up. No one knew what secret lay in the mother's heart. However, before she left this world, she passed on her sword to her daughter along with some short words.
"Cut open your own path through this ever-changing future."
She took those words of love along with her, and the sword she received was actually the Krita-Yuga. Xianghua knew nothing about the fate of this sword and continued to think of it only as a memento from her mother. As a sword to "cut open her future."
Critical Finish[]
Torrential Chi Blast: Attacks her opponent rapidly with her feet and blade before delivering what appears to be a blue energy bubble explosion.
Quotes[]
- I've got to win!
- Destiny will prevail!
- I said no mercy!
- That's all there is to it!
- Thanks again!
- Justice will prevail! Just kidding!
- Ahem! How's that?!
- You're finished!
- You're mine!
- Here's a freebee!
- I got you!
Relationships[]
- Long lost sister of Xianglian.
- Friend of Meimei, Li Long's sister.
- Former lover and previous travelling companion of Kilik.
- Close friend and previous travelling companion of Maxi.
- Defeated Nightmare and Inferno in Soulcalibur.
- Mother of Leixia and Leixin.
- Wife of Yan Wujin.
- Estranged Mother of Xiba.
Soulcalibur (Chinese Manhua)[]
- In Volume 2 (Act.10), Xianghua met Edge Master in the middle of her journey
- In Volume 3 (Act.14). In the night as Xianghua and Meimei went through the Indian town, the street was littered with the dead bodies that were killed by an army of Lizardmen. Xianghua and Meimei tried to escape but they couldn't and they had to take their chances by fighting every Lizardman that surrounded them. Meimei was however killed by the Lizardmen during the battle and Xianghua was left alone. Suddenly, two men appeared and began to slay the Lizardmen. They were Kilik and Maxi and it was the first time they'd ever seen Xianghua.
- In Volume 3 (Act.15). When Xianghua meets Kilik and Maxi during the battle, the Lizardmen surround them. But Xianghua's blade named "Krita-Yuga" suddenly transforms into Soul Calibur. With the shining force that Xianghua holds it will destroy all the lifeforms of darkness surrounding her. In the end, since all the Lizardmen were dead, Soul Calibur turned back into a normal blade (Krita-Yuga). Xianghua finally asks, "Did my sword enchant with your emblem, Kilik?"
| Original Timeline Main Characters |
|---|
| Aeon (Lizardman) • Algol • Amy • Astaroth (Mass Produced) • Cassandra • Cervantes • Charade • Edge Master • Hilde • Hwang • Ivy • Kilik • Leixia • Li Long • Maxi • Mitsurugi • Natsu • Olcadan • Patroklos (α Patroklos) • Pyrrha (Pyrrha Ω) • Raphael • Rock • Seong Mi-na • Setsuka • Siegfried • Sophitia • Soul Calibur (Elysium) • Soul Edge (Inferno, Nightmare, Night Terror) • Taki • Talim • Tira • Viola • Voldo • Xianghua • Xiba • Yoshimitsu • Yun-seong • Zasalamel (Abyss) • Z.W.E.I. |