Gaming
 

Raphael

From the Soulcalibur Wiki

Raphael Sorel
Raphael Sorel
Raphael, as he appears in Soulcalibur: Broken Destiny.
Birthplace French Empire Rouen, French Empire
Birthdate November 27, 1559
Age 32 (Soulcalibur II-Soulcalibur IV)
Height 5'10
Blood type A
Weapon Rapier
Weapon name Flambert
Fighting style La Rapière des Sorel
Family Relatives, cut all ties
Foster Daughter, Amy
Appears in Soulcalibur II
Soulcalibur III
Soulcalibur IV
Soulcalibur: Broken Destiny
First game Soulcalibur II
English voice actor Paul Jennings (Soulcalibur II)
Charles Rubendall (Soulcalibur III-Soulcalibur IV)
Japanese voice actor Yasunori Masutani

Raphael Sorel (ラファエル・ソレル, Rafaeru Soreru) is a fictional character in Namco's Soul series of fighting games. First appearing in Soulcalibur II, he has returned as a starting character for Soulcalibur III, Soulcalibur IV, and Soulcalibur: Broken Destiny. Raphael is well known for his fencing style of swordsmanship and his mocking, contemptuous persona.

What lies in his soul is Domination.

Contents

[edit] Biography

Raphael, the young master of the Sorel family, grew up with the rapier and medicine as his playmates. His cool, unemotional demeanor created many enemies, but his quick and precise decision-making and execution skills were prominent features of his family amongst the nobility. Unfortunately, Raphael made a critical mistake during the year of the notorious Evil Seed and killed an insane noble in self-defense--a noble supported by his family. His family cast him out of their household and even aided the town in their pursuit of the murderer.

Raphael hid himself in a poor town to escape from his pursuers. There he met a young girl named Amy who hid the weakened Raphael from his enemies. For Raphael, this marked the first time he had ever owed his life to someone else, causing him to feel emotions he had never experienced before--Amy became an irreplaceable presence in his life.

Convinced that the chaos of the war in France at that time was no place to live, Raphael took Amy away. But even with the new surroundings, he could not get Amy to open her heart to the world. Then one day Raphael found a letter with references to the Evil Seed. It wasn't long before he made the connections between the Evil Seed and the insanity of the noble that had attacked him; and he knew that the source of all this evil was a cursed sword called Soul Edge.

He pondered over the consequences that might occur should the pathetic nobles possess the sword; they would destroy themselves from the inside. Raphael decided to retrieve the sword himself so that the war-mongering nobles could be eliminated and a meaningful future could be secured for his foster daughter Amy.

He was determined to obtain the Soul Edge by any means necessary for the sake of this young girl, and he concocted an insane scheme to help him achieve his end.

In his quest for the Soul Edge, Raphael tracked down and pursued its possessor, the Azure Knight Nightmare, at Ostrheinsburg Castle, but after a fierce battle, he was defeated. His body weakened, and his consciousness fading, Raphael looked up towards the Azure Knight about to deliver a finishing blow, and he muttered Amy's name. Emotion overcame Raphael's entire being, and he forced his body to move. The desperate strike he unleashed pierced the center of Soul Edge's eye; and his opponent writhed in pain. That was the last he remembered before losing consciousness. Once he recovered, he found he was alive and that the Azure Knight left without killing him.

Raphael dragged his wounded body back to his mansion. He spent several days on the brink of death, and eventually recovered, but he didn't notice the evil energy that had festered in his Soul Edge induced wounds. He had come across the phenomenon of malignity transformation before in his research, but the transformation was already completed by the time Raphael thought of this.

The symptoms even spread to Amy, possibly infected while she was treating his wounds. Their minds were intact, but they suffered physical symptoms: their skin turned pale and their eyes shone red; they felt weak and sluggish by day, and a powerful thirst by night. Not long before, the neighboring people learned of their strange behavior. Thinking it was some form of plague, they attempted to drive them away. Furious, Raphael thought of taking vengeance, but giving priority to Amy's safety, he instead took her away for good.

They traveled to Wallachia and purchased a castle ruin in the mountainous terrain, taking advantage of the war throughout the land. But Raphael had no intention of living on the run. Since Amy had turned into a being who could not interact with the world, he concluded that instead the world would change for them, and he started spreading his evil plague. Eventually it moved into a great scale, reaching even a neighboring city. One day Raphael found that many of the transformed citizens had been returned to their original selves thanks to something called the Holy Stone, an amulet brought by a recent visitor. Raphael tried to steal the stone, but upon touching it, his hand surged with pain as if it had been burned. Enraged, Raphael destroyed the stone.

But still he wondered if there were any other "Holy Stones" or charms with similar powers in the world. Feeling threatened, Raphael decided to venture away to seek out the stones' true natures and to destroy them completely. But before he could leave, an army noticed the region's abnormality, and appeared at the castle's base. Raphael bid his farewell to Amy before descending to confront the army alone.

In Soulcalibur IV, Raphael gave up his search for Soul Edge. He figured that since the Holy Stone had returned many of Raphael's victims back to normal, there was something more powerful than the evil sword, and so he had to find another way to create the perfect world for Amy. After obtaining some information from some creatures of the dark, Raphael learned of a story that had been passed down by a tribe whose existence had been lost to history: the story of Soul Calibur. Raphael convinced himself that this spirit sword was the key to creating his new world.

All of a sudden, lights dashed across the sky. Raphael followed them to Ostrheinsburg, where he once fought against Nightmare. He knew that Soul Edge was being revived, and soon the spirit sword would arrive to battle the evil sword once more.

Raphael now waits for Soul Calibur to appear so he can obtain her for himself and create the ideal world for himself and his beloved daughter.

Raphael is also mentioned in Cassandra's Soulcalibur IV storyline, in which he fights her for her fragment of Soul Edge. Though defeated, he did manage to steal the fragment. Raphael also remarks that Cassandra has the power to dispel evil, though he says that she isn't as powerful as the Holy Stone.

In Soulcalibur: Broken Destiny, in The Gauntlet mode, he kidnaps Hilde to make her Amy's pet on Chapter 8-1. But the player (Depending on who you're playing as), Dampierre and Cassandra capture him on Chapter 8-3. They reach his castle on Chapter 9-1, where Jacqueline and a doll of Amy(?) are waiting for his arrival and his punishment. While the player fights the doll, he and Dampierre are getting along quite well.

[edit] Fighting Style

Raphael is a fencer who wields a sabre. His fighting style predominantly accommodates thrusting and slashing attacks, which he specialises in. Raphael is a relatively fast character in terms of speed of attacks, and as an added bonus many of his thrusting attacks have an in-built evasion in which Raphael arches his back and swivels to the side. Although these thrust attacks are Raphael's main strength, they are very linear and can be sidestepped with relative ease. Raphael's range of horizontal strikes are much less diverse, and the same could also be said for his kick attacks. Raphael has a reasonable number of low attacks in his arsenal, most of which deal moderate damage and are hard to guard on reaction. Raphael's throw attacks have a noted long range, and are hard to avoid. Superficially, Raphael gives the impression of a very neat and technically correct swordsman in combat. He is generally regarded by the Soul Calibur community as being in the mid-tier bracket.

[edit] Endings

[edit] Soulcalibur II

After defeating Nightmare and Inferno, Raphael came to understand the true nature of the blade that so many sought after. He vowed not to allow the weapon to possess him, as it had its predecessor, and grasped the hilt. Then he began to make his way back home to Amy. The last line of the epilogue text reads, "No one knows what was spared and what was destroyed during that time".

[edit] Soulcalibur III

An infected Raphael is seen stumbling through the forest with Soul Edge in his hand. He then falls to the floor.

Input Ending Raphael gets back up on his feet and continues on through the forest. The screen fades, and then shows a still sick Amy sitting on a table with books scattered on the floor. "Amy, I'm back." Raphael says as he enters the room. As he comforts Amy, he says "Now... let us go... to our very own world." Raphael and Amy walk out of the room.

No Input Ending The screen fades to black, and then shows Kilik healing an ill Amy. As Kilik leaves the room, Amy looks out the window, waiting for Raphael's arrival. The screen fades to black once more, and then shows Raphael continuing through the forest saying "Amy, we're very close... Very soon, we shall have our own world."

[edit] Soulcalibur IV

Having obtained Soul Calibur, Raphael returns to Osthreinsburg with Marienbard and Auguste to create his new world for him and Amy. He says to the sword, "Now, Soul Calibur, create a new world for Amy and me!" After nothing happens, Raphael asks Marienbard, "Is Soul Calibur really the sword they claim her to be?" "Yes," she replies. He then realizes his mistake and kills the two servants at his sides using Soul Calibur. Raphael then says to himself, "As of right now, this world truly belongs only to Amy and me." He then asks his two dead servants, "So, why should the two of you even have been here? The mistake had been corrected!" Raphael then laughes triumphantly.

The text-only epilogue states that a new world was created.

[edit] Weapons

[edit] Critical Finish

He knocks his opponents back with a few hits, and then attacks them by biting their neck, reinforcing the idea the Soul Edge has turned him into a vampire. However, what he says varies depending on who he uses it on. Using it on someone other than Amy, he says (before he bites them), "On your knees! I shall make you one of my minions!" He then bites them on the neck, crouching over them while they scream. After vampirizing his opponent, he gets up, wipes his mouth, and says, "Perhaps I shall make you Amy's pet!" If he does this on Amy, he does not say "On your kness...", and when he's through, he says, "Ah... Sweet Nectar!"

[edit] Stages

[edit] South France Mansion - Library (SC2)

The master of this domicile is no longer alive. The rich lord that lived here was poisoned, and the man who lived here since left this place recently. Other than the wing where the servants and the child that the man brought reside, this mansion is in desolate silence. It is said that the man did not come out of this library until the day he left on his journey. Surprisingly, there are no traces on the bookshelves or anywhere else in the room that give a clue to what the man was doing in this place. The silent mansion awaits the return of its master... or the visitor.

[edit] Romanian Valley - Castle Siege (SC3)

It has been more than 100 years since Vlad the Impaler led his army against the Ottoman Turks and crossed swords with the Sultan in order to protect this land and his home country of Wallachia.

Located somewhere in the deep mists of the southern Carpathian Mountains, this castle was not originally designed for a battle of that nature, but it was now about to face exactly that. The army of the Duchy of Walachia surrounded the castle and, seeing that the master of the castle was not going to give up without a fight, began their attack.

No one knows why the national army initiated such a large-scale move, but the rumors say that a contagious disease that brings with it mysterious symptoms was spreading from beneath the castle, and the country had moved to destroy it at the source.

[edit] Ostrheinsburg Castle Throne Room (SC4)

This stage is set in the throne room of Ostrheinsburg Castle, an enormous elegant chamber. At the far end a platform, accessed by a set of red-carpeted steps and framed by columns, holds a throne. Two statues of golden lions stand on either side of the steps. A long red carpet covers most of the floor. At the rear of the chamber the floor drops away into unfathomable darkness, leading into a pit, and the back wall is an enormous ornate window, through which a fierce thunderstorm can be seen raging. A line of armed knights advance every so often during the stage, lessening the fighting ground with each movement.

[edit] Dark Capital Ostrheinsburg (SCBD)

[edit] Trivia

  • Although it is never explicitly stated, Raphael seems to have transformed to some degree into a vampire. This is made clearer in his Critical Finish animation. He also bites characters' necks as a grapple move. This is probably an explanation of the "powerful thirst" Raphael experiences as part of the evil transformation. On the second stage of the Yoshimitsu Story Mode, the player faces Raphael and his servants, Yoshimitsu states at the beginning of the battle "What art thou? A spectre?". Also, when fighting Kilik in Raphael's Story mode, he says "You are no longer human, are you?".
  • In Raphael's ending on Soulcalibur IV he has two servants that he kills to make the world only for Amy and himself. The servants are Marienbard and Auguste, but in Amy's ending the servants are Marienbard and Jacqueline.
  • In Soulcalibur II, the guest characters' Destined Battles were Raphael.
  • Many of Raphael's weapons are designed almost exclusively for stabbing, including his signature rapier. In spite of this, the majority of his attacks are slashes. Furthermore, his fighting stance is exactly that of a sabreur.
  • Even though many of his swords have names of actual historical weapons, almost none of these resemble their historical counterparts.
  • In Soulcalibur III, Raphael's weapons and fighting style are available under the discipline Soul of Raphael to characters created under the Knight class.
  • Raphael is also a left-handed swordsman. This is likely to be a reference to the famous painter of the same name.
  • Raphael's name is of Hebrew origin meaning "cure-god".
  • Raphael, along with Cassandra, is an unlockable character in Smash Court Tennis Pro Tournament 2
  • From Soulcalibur II to Soulcalibur III, he wanted Soul Edge, but in Soulcalibur IV, he wants the Soul Calibur, in order for him to create a new world for Amy and himself.
  • His second player costume for Soulcalibur III was reused as his Soulcalibur IV second player attire.
  • In Soulcalibur III, Raphael is referred to as the "Dark Lord." In his Story Mode in Soulcalibur IV, he is referred to as the "Lord of the Night." For other characters who fight him, he is referred to as the "Creature of the Night."
  • The "powerful thirst" moves in Soulcalibur IV and SCBD, he will bite the female fighters on the neck and say something like "Mmm, nice taste.", if his opponent is male, he, instead, will stab their gut with his hand and say "Eww! Disgusting!".

[edit] Raphael's Servants

  • In Soulcalibur IV, Raphael has 3 servants:
    • Auguste, a man with a wolf's head. He fights in the style of Yun-seong.
    • Jacqueline, a pink haired maid with a high pitched voice. She fights in the style of Taki.
    • Marienbard, a green haired maid. She fights in the style of Zasalamel. In Raphael's Story Mode, she is the only servant that's playable.
  • All of these servants can be made using custom character parts.

[edit] Relationships

[edit] Series' Appearances

[edit] Gallery

Raphael from Soulcalibur II

Raphael from Soulcalibur II

Raphael from Soulcalibur II

Raphael portrait from Soulcalibur II

Raphael render from Soulcalibur II

Raphael from Soulcalibur III

Raphael art from Soulcalibur III

Raphael art from Soulcalibur III

Raphael wallpaper from Soulcalibur III

Raphael portrait from Soulcalibur III

Raphael in Soulcalibur IV

Raphael's alternate costume in Soulcalibur IV

Raphael art from Soulcalibur IV

Raphael wallpaper from Soulcalibur: Broken Destiny


Main characters in the Soul series
Algol | Amy | Astaroth | Cassandra | Cervantes | Charade | Dampierre | Edge Master | Hilde | Hwang | Ivy | Kilik | Li Long | Lizardman | Maxi | Mitsurugi | Necrid | Nightmare | Olcadan | Raphael | Rock | Seong Han Myeong | Seong Mi-na | Setsuka | Siegfried | Sophitia | Taki | Talim | Tira | Voldo | Xianghua | Yoshimitsu | Yun-seong | Zasalamel
Retrieved from "http://soulcalibur.wikia.com/wiki/Raphael"