Inferno

Inferno (インフェルノ Inferuno) is the central antagonist in the Soul series video games. He appears in Soul Edge/Soul Blade, Soulcalibur, Soulcalibur II and Soulcalibur III: Arcade Edition. He is playable in Soulcalibur II with the use of Action Replay and is available for play on both the original Dreamcast version, and the Xbox Live port of Soulcalibur.

He is also known as Soul Edge in Soul Blade and Soulcalibur III: Arcade Edition. He is non-playable and the only NPC that can be fought before Abyss or Night Terror.

He is the controlling force behind Nightmare, possessing Siegfried in Soulcalibur and Soul Calibur II, and becomes whole in Soul Calibur III after Zasalamel resurrects him, allowing him to walk freely without needing a host.

He was eventually defeated when the armor was destroyed by Siegfried in the end of Soul Calibur IV. However, after 17 years, a new Azure knight rises and acquires a new host, Graf Dumas.

Appearance

In his first appearance, in Soul Edge, Inferno appeared similar to Cervantes, wearing the same chestplate, jacket, boots and gloves, but the rest of his body was entirely composed of flame and his head was a devilish skull.

In Soulcalibur, he returns the fiery composite appearance but his head has taken on a half-dome shape and has developed hardened limbs with claws and two-toed talons with electricity surging around them. This is finished off by what appears to be a scarf of fire on his back. Following the console version, this was removed. As a playable character however, he is given a flexible, somewhat metallic sheen, as if to appear as crystallized magma, due to processing problems that prevented the original version from being playable. In Soulcalibur II, he is given a more tangible appearance with his entire body being a composite of bone and exposed flesh and is as tall as Astaroth. In his head and chest is Soul Calibur herself lodged deep within his body. Transformed by Inferno's influence, she contains an eye and wings sprouting from above the hilt. Flames still cover his entire body but they can now be knocked off although they will still linger on.

In Soulcalibur III: Arcade Edition, his flames are still red in color, he has Metallic Feet, Metallic Shin Guards, Metallic Armor, Metallic Gauntlets and Metallic Skullheads.

History

Although no one knows when or where Inferno first appeared, he definitely exists. He took the shape of a sword in order to devour more souls and came to possess individuals to further his unholy cause. In his sword form, Inferno came to be known as Soul Edge. Those who held the Soul Edge were unable to escape from the curse of his evil powers. He continued to devour in darkness the souls of those who are led astray. Although he burns fiercely with the anguish and regret of the souls he had devoured, his blade shines with an icy gleam.

In the 16th century, Rock's father had bought the sword in an auction, but Cervantes, a pirate in the employ of Vercci, attacked Adams' ship and made off with the Soul Edge. He eventually learned to use his power, and began harvesting souls for the sword to feast on.

For two decades, Cervantes possessed the swords. Under Cervantes' control, Soul Edge often manifested himself as a pair of swords instead of just one. Many ventured to the small port town in Spain that Cervantes used as his base, and Cervantes destroyed them all easily. There was one, however, that proved to be more than a match for Soul Edge's power. This was Sophitia, a sacred warrior who was protected by Hephaestus, Greek god of the forge. During her battle with Soul Edge, Sophitia managed to actually destroy one of the twin swords. Although she was badly wounded, Soul Edge was nearly destroyed, and the loss of control caused Cervantes to lose his next battle to Taki. Another young warrior, Siegfried, stumbled upon Cervantes' body. Realizing that Cervantes was now useless to him, Soul Edge entered Cervantes' body and began a battle with Siegfried. Half of his power was gone, though, and Soul Edge was defeated. The victory turned out to be Soul Edge's, however, for when Siegfried took hold of the demonic blade, the essence of Soul Edge was able to completely possess the unstable young warrior. Soul Edge used his remaining power to shower humanity with the Evil Seed, which he had been preparing all those years when Cervantes was dormant in Spain. The Evil Seed rained down all over the world, causing chaos and destruction unlike any in recorded history.

Soul Edge transformed Siegfried into the foul creature Nightmare, and used his new host to rebuild his strength. The destruction of one of the twin swords and the release of the Evil Seed had left Soul Edge depleted. With the help of several minions, Nightmare was able to harvest many souls to power Soul Edge. As he grew stronger and stronger, Soul Edge noticed that Siegfried's will was increasing as well. Unlike Cervantes, who had gladly accepted the unholy possession, the young knight was actually attempting to resist Soul Edge's control. As Nightmare, Siegfried used some of Soul Edge's power in an attempt to resurrect his dead father Frederick. Although he succeeded in creating an apparition of his father, Siegfried realized it was not real and began to resist Soul Edge even more. He finally freed his mind from Soul Edge's influence and was able to separate himself from Soul Edge. By this time, however, it did not matter whether Soul Edge had a host or not. He had collected so many souls that his power was tremendous, and he was able to finally manifest in his true form.

A trio of warriors, Kilik, Xianghua, and Maxi came to challenge the newly released Inferno. Normal humans would not have been much of a match for Inferno, but Kilik and Xianghua possessed mystical weapons that rivalled Inferno's power. Inferno killed Maxi during the battle (Maxi's death is non-canon), but the combined power of Kilik and Xianghua's weapons proved to be too much for Inferno. But neither Inferno, nor Soul Edge, was destroyed. Inferno had escaped back into the cursed blade, which Siegfried had reclaimed.

Soul Edge would make Siegfried do horrible things in his sleep however. He would kill many asleep, and when he woke up, he had no memory of it, but he would always be surrounded by corpses. Eventually, Siegfried succumbed to Soul Edge's power, and became the Azure Knight once more. One day however, at the Ostrheinsburg Chapel, Nightmare was challenged by Raphael to a fight. Nightmare accepted, and nearly won. However, a small spark of sanity appeared in the Azure Knight's mind once more.

That small spark fought Inferno in the Azure Knight's mind, which caused Nightmare to stand motionless. Raphael mustered what was left of his strength, and stabbed the sword in his eye. This weakened Inferno severely, and Siegfried managed to reclaim his body. He threw off the azure armor that he resented, and he almost destroyed it. Suddenly, Soul Calibur appeared, free from her prison within Soul Edge. Siegfried instinctively took Soul Calibur, and drove the blade through Soul Edge's eye.

Soul Edge still was not defeated, however. It bonded with Soul Calibur, rendering both powerless, and created Soul Embrace. Inferno escaped into the detestable armor that Siegfried once wore, but could not move without a host. Zasalamel appeared, and shared a wordless conversation with Inferno, before conducting a ritual to give the horrible soul of Soul Edge a body. Inferno, as Nightmare, then set out to reclaim himself, Soul Edge.

Eventually, Nightmare and Siegfried met at the Lost Cathedral. The Embrace was finally broken. Siegfried claimed Soul Calibur, while Nightmare took Soul Edge. They clashed, and the two powers leveled the Cathedral. Nightmare fell into a warped dimension, but even then Soul Edge sought power. Because Nightmare had been given a body by the evil and hatred that dwelled there, the sword and body ended up at Ostrheinsburg when they fell out of the void. Soul Edge stretched his evil roots into the azure armor. The shockwave admitted at the Cathedral spread an evil energy that made all of the sword's shards active. Now Soul Edge called out to them and they returned, both small and great. This included both the being Charade and Soul Edge's female half, which was being wielded by Cervantes. These pieces had been scattered by the Evil Seed, but they were now being called home. The sword drank them all in, and for the first time in decades, he was mostly whole again. But he still was not satisfied, and the sword continued to stretch into Nightmare. Now the Azure Knight's body, which had been formed from a lingering hatred and a tormented ghost, truly became Inferno.

Finally, drawn to the sword like a pulsating beacon, the sword's servants began to gather at Ostrheinsburg. The azure armor was no longer enough to contain the evil power, and so the power and mind of Soul Edge sank his roots into the Earth itself, and Ostrheinsburg became a cursed city, a vessel that would consume souls to further strengthen the sword. Siegfried, bonded to Soul Calibur, arrived to confront Nightmare and they fought once more. Nightmare injured Siegfried, forcing him to draw on Soul Calibur's power, Nightmare shattered Siegfried's crystal armor, but was impaled on Soul Calibur, seemingly robbing Soul Edge of its power for seventeen years.

Endings

Soul Edge

After the final battle Soul Edge plunges into the waters of Valencia Port, 400 years pass and the evil sword is seen being discovered by an unsuspecting scuba diver who then reaches for its hilt.

Soulcalibur

A pillar of light pierced through the clouds to herald the event. A powerful sword capable of destroying evil, as if in opposition to the surging evil.

For the demon sword seeking stronger souls to consume, he became the ultimate source of power. The Krita-Yuga was consumed by a wave of evil, and a new sword of chaos was born.

Inferno's cry of joy reverberated as if to reach the entire world. All hope was lost... and now an era of darkness is about to begin...

Weapons

Soul Edge

Inferno uses Soul Edge, his own body, as his weapon to protect himself. Being in the form of dual longswords, most of his moves are reminiscent of Cervantes.

Inferno can be unlocked by either clearing either Arcade Mode or Time Attack Mode as the other ten characters using only their primary weapons or playing for twenty hours total.

All Weapons

Inferno is more or less the soul of Soul Edge, and since being wielded by many people, the memories of the warriors he defeated were crystallized within him. Inferno used the warriors' memories and incorporated them into his own style of fighting. Inferno was even able to create weapons from memory and form them from his body. The anguish of defeated warriors fueled the brilliance of Inferno's disturbing crimson flames. When Inferno's weapon becomes enveloped with that flame, the world would know the meaning of true fear and despair.

By default, Inferno uses Nightmare's style and weapons though he has a couple of exclusive attacks such as Roy D'Effrayeur which causes him to float in the air curled up in a fetal position with his weapon(s) extended and begins to spin around before charging forward in this state and Roy D'Angolmois, a low spinning lunge identical to Cervantes' Iceberg Circular with the added effect of acting as a grab. If it connects, he spirals high into the air with his weapon impaled into the opponent's gut and then comes back crashing down before pulling it out. To unlock him on the Dreamcast, Edge Master must first be unlocked. The player must then purchase both of Inferno's profile pictures, both of Kilik's, and the first of Xianghua's (this will unlock Xianghua's third costume). Then the player must clear Xianghua's Arcade Mode in her third costume and score at least one perfect K.O. on Edge Master along the way. Clearing Arcade Mode this way will unlock Inferno. In contrast, all characters in the Xbox Live Arcade version, including Inferno, are playable from the start.

Playable in Soulcalibur II

Inferno is playable in Soulcalibur II with the use of a cheating device such as Action Replay. He retains his "Roy" moves, but their inputs have been changed to A+B+G plus Up or Down and gains a new powerful throw (Up A+G). While he operates fine in the PS2 version, he is a bit unstable in the Gamecube version. For instance, he will never properly copy who he is fighting. He will copy their style but will always use Nightmare's weapon and this extends to the Extra modes where he will simply use the corresponding weapon/model slot. The game is also likely to crash if he is copying Ivy's style due to its unique physics and structure. In Weapon Master mode, the Inferno model will not load up. Instead, it uses the selected character's model, but they will be covered in flames like normal and use their own voice set. In addition, should Inferno lose a portion of his health, the game will attempt the weapon switch, but the computer opponent will do the animation instead and Inferno will do the time out animation of whoever character he is copying and will continue to loop until the game is reset.

Inferno also uses Charade's Character Exhibition, but if attempted on other characters, their model will glitch about as body parts will elongate to the torso area until the animation finishes up where the parts assemble.

Non-playable in Soulcalibur III

Inferno is non-playable in Soulcalibur III (Arcade Edition). He is the middle bosses (before Abyss and Night Terror) that can be fought in Lost Cathedral - Ruin. He is selected the same moves as the "Soul of Cervantes" for the first round, and then random moves selected in the second and third round.

Stages

Valencia Port- Chaos (Soul Blade)

A place where time and space don't exist. One can see rests of ships and ruined houses floating in the background. Only red embraces the skies.

Chaos (Soulcalibur)

Chaos is a desolate land created by Inferno and filled with hellfire. According to legend, this land is made in the image of the place where the demonic blade Soul Edge shows his true self. This place is the physical manifestation of the pain and suffering caused by Soul Edge as he consumes the souls of his victims. However, those who gaze upon these lands may only recognize this as the mesmerizing, beautiful colored lights that shift and dance in the air. This is the final destination for those who pursue Soul Edge.

(Note: Known as Gap of the World in the arcade version).

Tartaros (Soulcalibur II)

(Note: Spawn uses this stage on his Weapon Demonstration on the Xbox version of Soul Calibur II).

Lost Cathedral - Ruin (Soulcalibur III: Arcade Edition)

(Note: Inferno uses this stage before Abyss appears. However, Inferno only appears in the Arcade version of Soulcalibur III)

Theme Music

Soul Edge

"World Atlas Collapsed"

Soulcalibur

"Immortal Flame"

Soulcalibur II

"Hellfire"

Soul_Calibur_Original_Soundtrack_-_Immortal_Flame_(Inferno_Theme) — Soul Calibur Original Soundtrack - Immortal Flame (Inferno Theme)

Immortal Flame

Soul_Calibur_II_-_Hellfire — Soul Calibur II - Hellfire

Hellfire

Quotes

SoulEdge

A character bearing the name SoulEdge appears in the first game as the final boss. Here he appears as a being composed of fire wearing Cervantes' boots and gloves and possessing the same fighting style, albeit with a few moves of his own, such as a gap-closing dash and a teleporting overhead strike, which would later become a normal part of Cervantes' movelist. He is playable in all modes except Edge Master Mode. He does not make any other appearances again save for Soul Calibur II's Weapon Master mode in the final mission's Extra version where it ironically uses Soul Calibur weapons, using Nightmare's, Talim's and Xianghua's styles.

Relationships

Is the will of Soul Edge.
Has influenced, manipulated, and possessed countless warriors through the ages. Most notably the dread pirate Cervantes De Leon during the events of Soul Edge/Soul Blade, and Siegfried Schtauffen, whose fragile mind he was able to consume completely and turn into Nightmare.
Defeated by Siegfried when he took control of Cervantes' corpse.
Defeated by Xianghua and Kilik in Soulcalibur.
He is the new Nightmare as of Soulcalibur III and Soulcalibur IV.
- Of course, Inferno was always Nightmare. As of the end of Soul Calibur II, Nightmare is simply no longer the Inferno-possessed body of Siegfried and is it's own entity.
Is the counterpart of Elysium.

Trivia

Along with Elysium, he is the only official canon character not to have a what lies in his soul is... feature.
Inferno/Nightmare, Cervantes alongside Voldo are the only antagonists who appeared in all Soulcalibur games.
Most of his voice clips in Soulcalibur are named after the Seven Deadly Sins.
Inferno's costume in Soulcalibur differs on who is using him. When the CPU uses him, he is a head, a pair of arms and legs attached to body of pure hellfire. When selected by the player, he becomes a humanoid seemingly made out of crystallized lava.
In Soulcalibur III home consoles, "Will O' The Wisp" is the duplicate type of Inferno's character as promised that Inferno is only for the Arcade Edition.
In Soul Calibur II, Inferno will always start the battle using the same skills as the player's character, except when the player is controlling one of the three bonus characters (four including Necrid), in which case Inferno simply copies Nightmare's skills.
An Inferno costume for Cervantes is used by CPU in Soulcalibur V's Legendary Souls mode.
- Similarly, the Soulcalibur IV version of Nightmare is an opponent in the same mode, with the dark energies being replaced by fire, essentially becoming something of a proper cross between Soul Edge's manifestations.
In Sophitia's ending in Soulcalibur IV, a male demonic voice, is almost identical to Inferno, talked to Sophita. It is possible that the voice is indeed Inferno's, looking like Elysium/Soul Calibur talking with Cassandra in her ending at the same game.
In Chapter 19 of Story Mode of Soulcalibur V, Pyrrha Ω says: "He needs souls, many souls. He needs human souls!", is possible that she is referring to Inferno.
Inferno's voice is very similar to the Skeleton's in Soulcalibur IV.

Etymology

"Inferno" means "Hell" in Latin, which justifies his form of fire and his position in the history. It's noted that even the names "Inferno" and its counterpart "Elysium" are opposites ("Elysium" mean "Paradiso" and "Inferno" would mean "Tartarus").