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Setsuka (雪華?) is a character in the Soul series of fighting games, starting from Soulcalibur III-IV. She returns again in Soulcalibur VI.

Physical Appearance[]

In her debut appearance, the designers of Soulcalibur III intended to present Setsuka as a unique woman reminiscent of a flower by emphasizing the shape of her silhouette and her glamorous kimono.[1] To represent her Western origin and Eastern upbringing, Setsuka's appearance has a constant east-meets-west theme. In all of Setsuka’s incarnations, she has been depicted as wearing a kimono or a similar robe.

Her first design, as seen in Soulcalibur III, was similar to the Japanese courtesans known as Oiran, who wore cosmetics and clothing similar to geisha but tied their sashes in the front of their belts instead of wearing a backward obi. As part of her geisha theme, her hair is styled into a Shimada adorned with a gold kanzashi. She wears a red kimono that hang loose over her shoulders, as well as a pair of black geta shoes. As part of her east-meets-west theme, her design is also made as a reminiscent to The Queen of Hearts from Alice in Wonderland. Her kimono also has a distinctive Griffin pattern that is seen more commonly in western cultures. Her Soulcalibur III design is notable for being the only time that Setsuka is depicted with black hair.

In Soulcalibur IV, Setsuka's design is given a little overhaul to more emphasize her samurai attributes. She wears a new white and red kimono with cherry blossom patterns that she wears on one sleeve fastened on the hip with a purple sash. Her right sleeve is let loose to allow her to draw her sword more quickly. She sports a new kitsune tattoo on her right arm. She retains her black geta shoes from the previous games. Soulcalibur IV marks the first time where Setsuka is depicted with blonde hair (which is her canonical natural hair color). Her hair is styled into a simple ponytail and adorned with a floral hair clip, which evokes her east-meets-west theme.

In Soulcalibur VI, Setsuka's appearance seemingly differ from her past appearances but retain elements from both. Her blonde hair is now longer and styled into a small roll adorned with a floral kanzashi. Several streaks of her hair are seemingly dyed black, perhaps as part of her attempt to fit in among the Japanese. Her kimono is now less grand, sporting a simple snow pattern and is sleeveless, fastened at the hip with a black corset. Beneath them, she wears a navy blue strap undergarments with matching over-knee socks and fingerless gloves, both adorned with gold floral patterns. Her geta shoes now have western-style heels. Over her shoulders, she draped a black haori with gold trimmings. The haori used to belong to her late master Shugen Kokonoe. Her east-meets-west appearance is evoked by her western-style-corset as well as her heeled geta shoes.

Weapons[]

Stages[]

Trivia[]

General[]

  • Setsuka has one of the fastest fighting styles in the franchise.
  • Since she's not born but raised in Japan, some fans suggest that Setsuka is of European or more specifically of English origin based on her alternate outfit in Soulcalibur IV, which some fans dubbed her "Mary Poppins" outfit. Because the Portuguese arrived in Japan as the first European traders in 1543 [2], it is also possible that Setsuka has roots in Portugal. The name she gave herself, Neve, means 'Snow' in Portuguese or "radiant" in English/ Irish language. Neve is the Anglicised form of Niamh a irish feminine given-name which pronounced just like the Anglicised version of it. Her look post-Soulcalibur IV further increases the possibility of her being from Portugal, Ireland or somewhere in Great Britain. Her blonde hair makes it likely that she is from northern Europe as blonde hair would be uncommon or even non-existent in other parts of Europe and the world at the time period the Soul series is set in. It is known however, that Project Soul is not aiming for a realistic approach to character design.
  • Setsuka's appearance and concept seem to be largely based on Shurayuki Hime (English title: "Lady Snowblood"), a Japanese manga/movie heroine who also wields a blade hidden in an umbrella, seeking revenge for her mother. Also, Setsuka's Soulcalibur IV 1P costume bears a striking resemblance to the character Ochō Inoshika from the 1973 sexploitation revenge features Furyō Anegoden: Inoshika Ochō (English Title: "Sex & Fury") and Yasagure Anegoden: Sôkatsu Rinchi (English Title: "Female Yakuza Tale"). She, too, hides blades in her umbrella and exposes her right arm and shoulder from her kimono sleeve in order to maximize freedom of sword-arm movement.
  • Early concept art released by Hideo Yoshie on Twitter hints that Setsuka might not have been planned as a parasol wielder from the start as it shows her wielding a curved sword and sheath.[3]
  • Strangely, Setsuka's eye color changes in the games. During Soulcalibur III, Setsuka was introduced to having hazel brown eyes, but since Soulcalibur IV, her eyes have changed to blue.
    • Probably the reason why Setsuka has a change in both eye and hair color was to give her a more Western facial appearance.
  • Rather interestingly, Setsuka doesn't change her English Death Cry by the time she appears in Soulcalibur IV. While almost every character has their Death Cry from Soulcalibur III, Setsuka's is an oddity due to the fact that she changed voice actors from Kari Wahlgren to Tara Platt in Soulcalibur IV. She's the only character with this oddity.

Soulcalibur III[]

  • During the development, Setsuka's render reportedly had to be retouched several times by a neighboring Tekken artist because her eyes looked awkward in the original render.[4]
  • According to one of her designers, Setsuka's outfit was designed to have a "Queen of Hearts" theme, even with her hair.[5][3]
  • Setsuka's kimono is decorated with griffins, creatures most common in ancient Greek mythology and represented Nemesis, the goddess of vengeance [6]. The griffins however, are non-existent in Japanese or even East-Asian mythology. This further adds to Setsuka's East-meets-West theme and could possibly hint at her real origin being from Europe.

Soulcalibur IV[]

  • In Chain of Souls, she is shown to be Mitsurugi's enemy since the latter killed her master.
  • Setsuka's arm tattoo and kimono from shows a nine-tailed fox (九尾の狐, kyūbi no kitsune), a common figure in Japanese mythology. In Hokusai's depiction of the story, a samurai called Sakabe Yukitsuna (坂部行綱) with no children picked up an abandoned baby girl mizukume (藻女, "girl of algae") which was actually a nine-tailed fox's transformed spirit, and raised her. This is reminiscent of Setsuka's storyline as she herself was picked up at a young age and raised by her master.
  • Setsuka, Nightmare, Raphael and Yoshimitsu are the only characters that have a new fighting stance.

Soulcalibur V[]

  • In the gap between Soulcalibur IV and Soulcalibur V she lost to Mitsurugi in a fight and became Patroklos' mentor. However, despite the fact that she passed on her style to him, she never appears in the Story Mode.
    • Coincidentally, Setsuka's current voice actress (Tara Platt) is married to Patroklos' voice actor (Yuri Lowenthal).
  • Setsuka is one of two predecessors who has a successor that is not related to them by blood. The other is Taki, whose successor is Natsu.

Soulcalibur: Lost Swords[]

  • Setsuka's 2P costume from Soulcalibur IV, "Snow Drop", was available for a limited time.

Soulcalibur VI[]

  • Soulcalibur VI is the first game to explicitly confirmed Setsuka's nationality in-game. Her in-game bio (which can also be read on the official website) as well as the narration in her Soul Chronicle reveals that she was born to a Japanese father and a Portuguese mother.
  • Setsuka reused her idle fighting stance from Soulcalibur III after being changed in Soulcalibur IV (and retained by α Patroklos in Soulcalibur V), where she slung her parasol on her sides instead of her back. She is notably the only character who received this treatment, as Nightmare, Raphael and Yoshimitsu, who also received a new stance in Soulcalibur IV, retains the same stance in Soulcalibur VI.
    • This was supposedly done to make her fighting style look more masculine,[source?] as many created male NPCs in her Soul Chronicle used her fighting style.
      • All of the created NPCs in Setsuka's Soul Chronicle that uses her style possesses a scabbard as opposed to an umbrella, which is unavailable to be used in normal gameplay. As they lack the umbrella, the NPCs cannot do her umbrella-related moves, making them almost like an incomplete version of her future student's movesets.
  • Setsuka's main weapon Ugetsu Kageuchi is recolored black and given a different pattern in Soulcalibur VI, supposedly to match with her new design. Other characters, aside from Taki, retained the same model and design from past games for their main weapons.
  • When faced against Haohmaru, Setsuka says the same things as she would when facing Mitsurugi, mistaking the two for their similar appearance.
  • The coat Setsuka wears over her shoulders belonged to her late master, Shugen Kokonoe.
  • Setsuka uses much more Japanese expressions while she attacks in Soulcalibur VI than in previous games. She also reuses lines from α Patroklos such as "Marubashi" and "Sange". Some were added to some of her Soul Charge or Three Visions moves. For example, "Zan no Muzan" (斬の無残) which can be translated as "hit without hitting" or "Shira yuki!" (白雪), meaning "White snow!".

Etymology[]

  • The name Setsuka means "snow" (雪) (setsu) and "flower, petal" (華) (ka) in Japanese.

Series' Appearances[]

References[]

  1. ^ Behind the Game: Soulcalibur III from 1UP.com
  2. ^ Portugese arrival in Japan on Wikipedia
  3. ^ a b Yoshie, Hideo [@hidero4ca] (August 17, 2020). 和洋折衷で、ハートのクイーンのモチーフもあしらいました。 (Tweet) (in Japanese). Retrieved August 28, 2020 – via Twitter.
  4. ^ "NewKimagureWatcher【vol.12】". Soul Archive. Namco Bandai Games Inc. Archived from the original on July 12, 2016. Retrieved December 25, 2023. "Speaking of Setsuka, her high resolution publicity artwork wasn't coming along as planned so we asked our neighboring Tekken team for help. So that was actually created by a Tekken designer."
  5. ^ "NewKimagureWatcher【vol.2】". Soul Archive. Namco Bandai Games Inc. Archived from the original on September 3, 2009. Retrieved December 25, 2023. "Her base is an oiran, but the Queen of Hearts is also one of her themes. It's an East-meets-West type of concept."
  6. ^ "Griffins". Myth Encyclopdia. Retrieved August 26, 2011.
Soulcalibur Playable Characters
Introduced in Soul Edge CervantesHwangInfernoLi LongMitsurugiRockSeong Han-myeongSeong Mi-naSiegfriedSophitiaTakiVoldo
Introduced in Soulcalibur ArthurAstarothEdge MasterIvyKilikLizardman (Aeon)MaxiNightmareXianghuaYoshimitsu
Introduced in Soulcalibur II AssassinBerserkerCassandraCharadeHeihachiLinkLizardman (Generic)NecridRaphaelSpawnTalimYun-seong
Introduced in Soulcalibur III AbeliaAbyssAmyAureliaChesterDemuthGirardotGreedHualinLynetteLunaMiserOlcadanRevenantSetsukaStrife AstlarTiraValeriaZasalamel
Introduced in Soulcalibur Legends Lloyd Irving
Introduced in Soulcalibur IV AlgolAngol FearThe ApprenticeAshlotteDarth VaderHildeKamikirimusiScheherazadeShuraYoda
Story only: AzolaGerhildeHelmwigeShadow
Introduced in Soulcalibur: Broken Destiny DampierreKratos
Introduced in Soulcalibur V Devil JinEzio AuditoreElysiumLeixiaNatsuPatroklos (α Patroklos)Pyrrha (Pyrrha Ω)ViolaXibaZ.W.E.I.
Introduced in Soulcalibur VI 2BAzwelGeralt of RiviaGrøhHaohmaru
Soulcalibur III
Soulcalibur III (Arcade Edition)UnlockablesSoulcalibur III Original Soundtrack - Legend of SoundsTales of SoulsSoul ArenaChronicles of the Sword
Characters
AbeliaAbyssAmyArthurAstarothAureliaCassandraCervantesChesterDemuthGreedGirardotHualinHwangIvyKilikLi LongLizardmanLunaLynetteMaxiMiserMitsurugiNightmareOlcadanRaphaelRevenantRockSeong Mi-naSetsukaSiegfriedSophitiaStrife AstlarTakiTalimTiraValeriaVoldoXianghuaYoshimitsuYun-seongZasalamel
Stages
Battle in the StraitChaos - Spiritual RealmClock TowerEgyptian TempleEurydice Shrine - Gate of the GodsGrand LabyrinthIndian PortJyurakudai VillaKunpaetku Shrine RuinLakeside ColiseumLing Sheng-Su Temple RuinLost CathedralLost Cathedral - RuinLotus GardenOld Toledo - Burning GalleryOstrheinsburg Castle - BattlementPalgaea Shrine - RuinsPirate RaidProving GroundsRomanian Valley - Castle SiegeSacred Mt. Fuji - Lava BedSecret Money PitSilk Road RuinUnderground Buddhist SanctumValentine MansionWater Mill Valley
Soulcalibur IV
Soulcalibur IV (Broken Destiny)Soulcalibur MobileSoulcalibur IV (DC Comics)Exciting! Soulcalibur DojoThe Art of Soulcalibur: Broken DestinySoulcalibur IV UnlockablesSoulcalibur IV Original SoundtrackSoulcalibur Broken Destiny Best Of SoundtrackCritical FinishTower of Lost SoulsQuick MatchThe Gauntlet • Trials (Trial of Attack, Trial of Defence, Endless Trial) • Soulcalibur: Broken Destiny Unlockables
Characters
AlgolAmyAngol FearThe ApprenticeAshlotteAstarothCassandraCervantesDampierreDarth VaderHildeInfernoIvyKamikirimusiKilikKratosLizardmanMaxiMitsurugiNightmareRaphaelRockSeong Mi-naSetsukaScheherazadeShuraSiegfriedSophitiaTakiTalimTiraVoldoXianghuaYodaYoshimitsuYun-seongZasalamel
Stages
Challenge of the GodsDistant Marsh (Sleeping Marsh) • Egyptian Temple - Sacred Flame (Egyptian Temple - Sand Cloud) • Grand Labyrinth - Corridor of Suspended TimeHall of the Warrior GodIce Coffin of the Sleeping AncientJyurakudai Villa - Virgin Snow (Jyurakudai Villa - Twill Damask and Brocade) • Kunpaetku Shrine - Dream Remnants (Grand Shrine of Palgaea - Sea of Decay) • Ostrheinsburg Castle Throne RoomOstrheinsburg Castle - Twilight (Dark Capital Ostrheinsburg) • Phantom PavilionSailor's Rest (Sailor's Rest - Twilight) • Star Destroyer Docking BayThesmophoros' Imperial Garden (Thesmophoros' Imperial Garden - Sunset) • Tower of Remembrance - Ancient GateTower of Remembrance - DegradationTower of Remembrance - Encounter (Tower of Remembrance - Omen) • Tower of Remembrance - Spiral of TimeVoiceless Volpe BridgeWolfkrone Monument
Soulcalibur VI
Soulcalibur VISoul ChronicleLibra of SoulThe Art of Soulcalibur VISoulcalibur VI Original Soundtrack
Characters
2BAmyAstarothAzwelCassandraCervantesGeraltGrøhHaohmaruHildeHwangInfernoIvyKilikMaxiMitsurugiNightmareRaphaelSeong Mi-naSetsukaSiegfriedSophitiaTakiTalimTiraVoldoXianghuaYoshimitsuZasalamel
Stages
Astral Chaos: Tide of the DamnedCity Ruins: Eternal ApocalypseCursed Moonlit WoodsFaraway MeadowGairyu IsleGrand Labyrinth - Sealed CorridorIndian Port: Impending StormKunpaetku Temple: Serpentine BanquetMaster Swordman's Cave: Azure HorizonMaster Swordman's Cave: Wicked DepthsMotien Pass RuinsMurakumo Shrine GroundsOstrheinsburg Castle: Hall of the ChosenReplica Kaer MorhenShrine of Eurydice: Cloud SanctuarySilver Wolves' HavenSnow-Capped ShowdownSunken Desert RuinsWindswept Plains
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