WMG / Soulcalibur VI

Guest Fighter Speculation

Guest Fighter speculations

The Guest Fighter is a tradition of the Soul Series and it's doubtful Soulcalibur VI will be an exception. Will show probability of console exclusivity as well.

• Geralt of Rivia: Well-known character who would aesthetically fit in, especially with his mix of weapons and magic. (all consoles or PC exclusive)
  • Confirmed.
• Kylo Ren and/or Rey: They've done Star Wars before, they can do it again. Even though fans likely wouldn't be pleased, it definitely would get attention.
  • It might be difficult that Electronic Arts owns pretty much most of the video game license parts for the games. However, this has changed when EA lost the exclusive license.
• Genji Shimada: A ninja with a sword and shuriken? Perfect. (all consoles or PC exclusive)
  • Small addendum: A cyborg ninja with a sword and shuriken. Whose game is presumably set somewhere in the 2070s according to estimates. So, like 2B below, he's not exactly a perfect fit for a series occurring in Europe and Asia less than a century after the end of the Middle Ages, but since space-time hijinks are the reason all the other guests made it into Soulcalibur, it's not impossible. (And Blizzard could always allow Project Soul to give him an alternate that depicts Genji before Mercy saved his life if they want to give players the option of having Genji not stick out as much.)
  • Miser used a katana and shuriken in SCIII, so there would be no problems to give Genji his own take on that style for SCVI.
• Gabriel Belmont: Like Geralt, he would fit in well with his fantasy aesthetic.
  • Given that the Lords of Shadow continuity is still fairly controversial in Castlevania circles (and concluded with LoS2), a classic, more popular Belmont like Simon or Richter might be a "better" (or at least safer) pick without sacrificing the potential to play off of Soulcalibur and Castlevania's similar trappings. (Konami needs all the help it can get, after all.) That said, the Castlevania timeline would need to be taken into account if there isn't some supernatural force that draws the character from out of their respective era/location (as was the case with all the guests so far), which would be necessary with a non-Dracula Gabriel (11th century), Simon (mid/late 17th century), or Richter (late 18th century) since most of the Soul series takes place in the late 16th century. As mentioned on the main WMG page, this possible restriction could open the door for Christopher or even his son Soleiyu. Likewise, resident Breakout Character Alucard merits discussion due to the sheer popularity of his solo outing and him functionally being immortal, which would make it easy to insert him into a Soulcalibur game. All he'd have to do is awaken from his slumber (Alucard would be sealed away in his coffin at this point in history), and though it may not happen in this continuity, we know from Raphael and Amy that vampires can exist in the Soul series, so Al'd be right at home.
  • Unfortunately Simon and Richter are currently roped in with Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, but Trevor Belmont might be a good choice as well.
• Ryu Hayabusa: Like Genji, a ninja would be welcomed and unlike Dead or Alive, he would get to use his weapons.
  • Kasumi was intended for the Xbox release of SCII, but the dispute between Harada and Itagaki at the time prevented it. Now that Namco and Koei Tecmo are on better terms, it could be possible.
• 2B: Her moveset might make her an interesting addition to the game even though she comes from a game set in the far future. Her game also features clothing destruction, so she could be the first guest character to be able to suffer proper armor breaks like the normal cast as well. (PS4, PC, and Xbox One)
  • Confirmed! (as DLC)
• Dante: He was considered before as a guest for Soulcalibur III. (all consoles)
• A Warriors character: In return for Sophitia being a guest character in Warriors Orochi 3 Ultimate, whether it's one from Dynasty Warriors, Samurai Warriors, or Koei's other Warriors games. (all consoles or PS4/Xbox One exclusive)
• Daenerys Targaryen and Jon Snow: Following the same "popular Western media" template as the Star Wars characters in IV, but in a setting that fits Soulcalibur much better. Dany can be a Puppet Fighter who uses Drogon to do most of the fighting for her (and can therefore be designed circa Season 2 so that Drogon is small enough), whereas Jon can be a standard swordfighter. (all consoles or console exclusive, both characters or a third GoT character such as Tyrion could be on PC)
• Chrom: This is assuming VI gets a Nintendo Switch release, which though not currently confirmed, is likely given its success. It'd make sense to use a different Nintendo IP rather than just using Link again, and it would be good to make up for Chrom getting denied a spot in Super Smash Bros. 4 in favour of Robin and Lucina. (Switch exclusive, obviously)
  • Alternatively, Marth and Lord Lyndis, as it would be awesome to have not one, but two of the iconic Fire Emblem heroes who appeared in their first games of the franchise (Marth's for the franchise in General, Lyn's for the franchise's actual Worldwide debut apart with Super Smash Bros. Melee/Great Fray Smash Bros. DX).
• Sheik or Ganondorf: If they want to go with a Zelda guest again but don't want to just use Link again. (Switch exclusive)
• Monster Hunter (all consoles)
• Bayonetta (potentially Switch exclusive)
• A Tekken 7 character: Possibly Kazumi Mishima, or they could bring back Heihachi. Weapons would be arm guards like in SCII. (all consoles)
• A Final Fantasy character: After Tekken 7 surprised everyone with Noctis, it's only fitting if its sister series does this as well. (All consoles)
  • Cloud or Sephiroth (All consoles)
  • Squall or Rinoa (All consoles)
  • Zidane Tribal (All consoles)
  • Terra Branford (All consoles)
  • Lightning (All consoles)
  • Cecil could fit in with the game's setting. Cecil especially since like Siegfried, he's a conflicted hero that has a Superpowered Evil Side.
• A Dragon's Crown character: Possibly either the Amazon or the Sorceress for Fanservice reasons, though all six playable characters wouldn't look out of place in a Soulcalibur game. (PS4 exclusive)
• Conan the Barbarian or Red Sonja: Like the Game of Thrones characters above, they would be popular Western media characters that fit the setting of Soulcalibur. Also, the latter would make for a good comic book-based guest character like Spawn in SCII. (all consoles)
• Haohmaru: SNK has just come from doing business with Bamco by letting Geese Howard into Tekken 7 very recently. Also, the staff there had been on record wanting to revive what is basically the 2D equivalent of the Soul series for quite some time now. It would be a great opportunity to gain support on a possible revival of the brand by having their iconic samurai cross swords with Mitsurugi for the first time ever. (All consoles & PC)
  • Confirmed at EVO 2019!
• Jago: Fighting game-wise, he seems like the best pick for a Microsoft exclusive character to fit into the world of Soulcalibur, plus this wouldn't be the first time he's gone back in time... (Xbox One exclusive, possibly PC as well)
• KOS-MOS: SCIII, which otherwise lacked a guest character, previously had items in the Character Creation mode that allowed you to recreate her likeness through custom characters. (all consoles or PS4 exclusive)
• Shao Jun or Bayek of Siwa: SCV including Ezio Auditore as the guest character was one of the few things from that game that was generally well-received. (all consoles)
• Apollyon (all consoles)
• Master Chief or another SPARTAN: a time-displaced guest-character similar to Heihachi in II, the Star Wars guest characters in IV, and SPARTAN-458's appearance in Dead or Alive 4 (Xbox One and PC exclusive)
• Guts: He would fit right in with the cast of Soulcalibur. (all consoles or PS4 exclusive)
  • At the very least, Guts' inclusion would invite comparisons between him and Siegfried/Nightmare, both in terms of weaponry and traumatic backstories.
• Captain Jake: While we would have to admit, his show being aimed a much younger audience than pretty much of the Soul Calibur games, he would fit well with the Soul series' medieval era setting and of all people who came from something meant for younger fans, he would be competent enough to be the next Soul Calibur Guest Fighter, due to him being very fitting for a Medieval Weapon based Fighter. Also, imagine how awesome a fight between a Pirate Kid Hero against Siegfried/Nightmare to the blade shattering destiny. (All consoles)
• Samanosuke Akechi or Jubei Yagyu: Similar to how Tekken 7 included Akuma, Samanosuke or Jubei could be included as guest characters and either of them could fit perfectly due to the time period the Soul series is set in and they could seek out either Soul Edge or Soul Calibur and use either to destroy Nobunaga and the Genma demons for good. How they'll be able to fit in their assortment of weapons is beyond me, but it would be nice to see the two in action again after so long. (all consoles or PS4 exclusive)
• Kenshin Himura, Saito Hajime, Aoshi Shinomori, Hiko Seijuro XIII, or Shishio Makoto: Regardless of Watsuki's actions, any of these characters could fit due to the time period of the game, with differing motives for each. Plus, it would be neat to have Mitsurugi encounter and cross blades with either of the five. (all consoles or PS4 exclusive)
• Saber: She's a supernatural swordswoman who would fit in fairly well with the Soul series' setting and furthermore was already playable in a similar fighting game.
  • It's also worth noting that King Arthur was mentioned in the lore as the second known wielder of Soul Calibur (the Lady of the Lake gave him the spirit sword along with the Kali-Yuga and Dvapara-Yuga, with Soul Calibur becoming Excalibur in his hands). The significance of this info should be apparent to anyone familiar with FSN and the Nasuverse.
• Ryu or Akuma: Either could make an appearance via time displacement, especially since Street Fighter has already crossed over with the Soul saga's sister series, Tekken, twice before (Street Fighter X Tekken and Tekken 7). The number climbs to 5 if one includes Namco × Capcom and the Project × Zone titles.
• A Dark Souls character. The Chosen Undead, Bearer of the Curse, and the Ashen One hail from a dark fantasy series resplendent with cursed weapons, none of them would be too out of place in the Soul series and could have different armor sets and weapons available. Artorias of the Four Knights of Gwyn would also be fitting, as his corruption by the Abyss raises parallels with Siegfried's corruption by Soul Edge. (all consoles)
  • The Slayer of Demons or The Hunter (PlayStation exclusive)
• Jack and/or Ashi (all consoles)
• Wonder Woman: She could fit in well into the Soul universe's setting, as she wields/wielded a sword. Bonus points if Susan Eisenberg reprises the role.
  • More importantly, the Themyscirans have a close connection to the Greek gods, who were also driving forces in the background stories of Sophitia and Aeon/Lizardman (and Kratos, if one counts Broken Destiny). Plus, time travel is common enough in comics that Diana could reasonably land in an era several centuries before the time of her birth.
• Gamora: As an alternative to Kylo Ren and/or Rey above. Soulcalibur IV did have a guest from one of Disney's properties (though SCIV was released 4 years before Disney acquired Lucasfilm and the rights to Star Wars), so a character from a different Disney-owned property can also work.
  • Alternatively, Thor Odinson, since he would fit well more with the Medieval theme and era of the franchise.
• A Warhammer character, either Karl Franz, Grimgor Ironhide or Archaon the Everchosen: Any of these guys would be perfect for a Soulcalibur game. Even Lord Mazdamundi could be a good choice, if given the M.O.D.O.K. treatment. (all consoles or PC exclusive)
• Scorpion and Sub-Zero
  • Alternatively, Liu Kang, Lord Raiden, Kitana and/or Kung Lao, for obvious reasons.
• Blade: Bonus points if Khary Payton reprised his role.
• Deadpool: Who wouldn't like to see him making many kinds of Rule of Funny Cool vs. Awesome moments and Running Gag(s) plus with him making Breaking the Fourth Wall moments (especially with one being taken up to eleven) like he lampshaded at he got displaced in the Medieval era despite the fact he came from the present day? Instead of Modern day Firearms to fit with the Medieval setting, he would have to fight with Bows, Arrows and Crossbows as the closest thing we can get More Dakka in the game. Imagine lots and lots of Mythology Gag(s) (especially with his quotes) referencing X-Men's history and stuff (as well as a ton of Running Gag(s) mistaking everyone as everyone else from X-Men/X-Force). (All consoles)
  • Alternatively, we might get Gwenpool, of all people instead, since she's surprisingly popular in Japan. Imagine a ton of Hilarity Ensues of her in a Medieval World after she got displaced from the present day and as well as a Gwenpool vs. 2B match.
• Aang and/or Korra: Well, if Nickelodeon is generous with the TMNT for Injustice 2, then why not?
• Given that you can already make up pretty decent versions of Kallian Tabris and Cullen Ruthford the Dragon Age games would be ripe for this. Low fantasy, functional magic, with several fighting styles already built into the game.
• William Adams from Ni Oh, whose unique game mechanics could be integrated in a similar manner to Geralt's.
• Sekiro from Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice as a future DLC character. He's a magic powered ninja from a Historical Fantasy game focused on complex melee combat, so Sekiro would integrate perfectly with the Soulcalibur setting. His home stage could be the top of Ashina Castle, and he could even be set up as a rival to Taki or Yoshimitsu in the same way Geralt was to Mitsurugi and 2B was to Ivy.
• Sonic and/or Post-SGW Sally - It wouldn't be the very first time Sonic went to the Medieval era (or even further). Also, Sally (in her Post-SGW form) would be a perfect Funny Animal Guest Fighter for a Soul Calibur game (despite the fact her Ring-Blades are futuristic). (All consoles, of course).
• A character from the Ratchet & Clank series for future (PS4 and PS5-Exclusive) DLC, if the style of that series wouldn't be too much of a clash for this game—most likely Ratchet himself with a Style involving his wrench and gadgets. Alternatively, Alister Azimuth could also be a viable choice if one were to ignore any similarities between his potential fighting style and those of Kilik and Seong Mi-Na, as his debut had much to do with Time, tying in with SC VI being a Continuity Reboot.
  • Or imagine if a Ratchet & Clank character like Captain Qwark or Doctor Nefarious were pitted against more serious characters like Ivy, Nightmare, etc? Plus, for some odd reason I can't stop thinking of Nefarious having a Villainous Crush on 2B.
• Sakura Shinguji, Ichiro Ogami, Sumire Kanzaki, Gemini Sunrise, Sakura Amamiya, Seijuro Kamiyama, or Hatsuho Shinomome. Given the return of the Sakura Wars franchise through its newest game, why not commemorate the return of the franchise by bringing in any of the characters as DLC? Perhaps have the Archdemon or other evil forces vie to gain Soul Edge to destroy Tokyo and the world itself and have any of the characters mentioned above chase after the villain to keep them from gaining the demon sword itself.

Story Speculation

VI is a Cosmic Retcon that will return the series to its original setting permanently.

There are multiple hints that this is the case:

• The quote "Just as shadows are cast where there is light, history hides away more than one truth" suggests that there is an altered history with the implication that there's more than "one" truth.
• The teaser trailer shows clips of the legendary swords Soul Edge and Soul Calibur awakening in power from previous games (including V) in a flashback-like sequence. Specifically, this happens when Mitsurugi hits Sophitia with his attack.
• The German version of the Namco website translates to "Travel through a parallel world, set in the 16th century..." hinting that Astral Chaos may be a factor.

So what does this mean? It likely means there's some related to parallel worlds and alternate timelines. It's more than just a "revisiting" of the original game, but rather it's similar to Mortal Kombat 9 in that it tells — and alters — the events of the series. Sophitia is likely the one who gets the premonitions, based on the implications in the trailer. All of this is likely to prevent the polarizing V from happening.

• Half-confirmed, half-jossed. It's very similar to Mortal Kombat 9, but Zasalamel has the premonition from his alternate version, much like Raiden.

Soulcalibur VI will have cameos of the Soulcalibur V characters.

For example, Elysium will talk to people as Soul Calibur, Pyrrha and Patroklos will appear as kids with Rothion, Yoshimitsu I's appearance will have with him a ninja of the Fu-Ma Clan who will become Yoshimitsu II, etc.

• The appearance of Sophie's kids may not happen unless the story jumps beyond the SCI era (if the original timeline is any indication, the events of VI would be set before Sophitia meets Rothion, let alone them settling down and having children) and certain characters obviously wouldn't have been born by this time (like Natsu, Leixia, and Xiba), but it's a likely bet. As much scorn as the current Project Soul seems to have for certain characters (namely Pat), they don't seem like they'd throw the baby out with the bathwater, especially when some characters already should exist by/within VI's time frame.
• According to New Legends of Project Soul, Elysium wasn't "awakened" until the off-screen Siegfried vs. Nightmare duel that took place between the events of III and IV, making her speaking to anyone prior to that unlikely-to-impossible.
  • True, but it's possible that, as with the below WMG, something could happen within the story of VI that causes incidents from later on in the timeline to occur sooner than they "normally" would have. For example, if Soul Calibur ends up trapped with Inferno within Astral Chaos like much like what happened in the aftermath of the fated battle at Ostrheinsburg Castle, Elysium could awaken as a result of being corrupted by her close contact with Soul Edge (as seen with Inferno's Soulcalibur ending and the existence of Soul Calibur (Evil) in SCII), which would also give a more logical/understandable reason for the previously thought-to-be benevolent holy sword turning out to be a Knight Templar come IV and V. (This was implied to be part of the reason Soul Calibur/Elysium took a turn to the dark side in later installments, but the games never definitively stated it, which is why the whole "Evil!Soul Calibur" scenario was widely regarded as coming out of nowhere.)

Similarly, some of the post-SCI cast will only appear in cameos.

Project Soul probably can play fast and loose with continuity where several individuals are concerned. There's little reason to believe Zasalamel isn't out there lurking in the shadows with a scheme to obtain the power of the soul swords as was the case in his SCIII debut, and some events, such as Raphael learning of the Evil Seed that led to his ousting from his hometown and its connection to Soul Edge or Mitsurugi killing Setsuka's master in a duel, could happen earlier in this new timeline than they did originally to bring those combatants into the fray.

Not everyone would be so lucky, though, as most of the "20(-ish) and under" crew were barely teenagers when Soulcalibur took place in 1586/1587 (depending on the source), and VI is meant to take place in the same year. Notably, Yun-seong and Hilde were 14, Tira was 13 (and presumably living with her not-yet-murdered foster family), and Talim was 11. Granted, the series already had at least one prepubescent fighter in Amy, the next oldest minimum ages at debut were 15 (Talim in II, Leixia in V) and 16 (Siegfried and Mi-na in Soul Edge, Xianghua in Calibur, Xiba in V), and a few of those names above probably would've seen their fair of combat by the time of SCI (Tira was a trained assassin for the Bird of Passage, Hilde had been ruling Wolfkrone for about three years by that point), so we could have younger versions of certain characters. Even then, however, some of the "older" fighters in that group like Cassandra (who'd be 17 during the events of Soulcalibur) might not make the cut unless they're given new (or slightly revised) motivations.

As with the preceding WMG, Project Soul would likely include these characters in some capacity to let the fans know they haven't been forgotten and may reappear in a playable context in the next game.

Note: This is all based on the assumption that SCVI is only meant to be a retelling/expansion of the events of the original Soulcalibur. All bets are off if the game's story jumps ahead four years to the time period that SCII-SCIV occupied.

• Confirmed, somewhat. Cassandra and Amy do indeed appear in story mode but aren't playable in the base game. That said, it's very likely they'll be DLC later, given that they're fan-favorites and have updated appearances with way too much detail to be for nothing. Indeed, both were added as DLC.

The story will take a Broad Strokes approach with the previous continuity.

Considering that this is a reboot set during the times of SCI, yet not only are new characters featured and important to the story, but there's been leaks suggesting that Talim, Tira, and Zasalamel are in the game — the former two having been only 11 and 13 at this time and the latter not having been a part of the plot until SCIII. If the story stays firmly in the SCI era, it's not hard to imagine that they would simply reintroduce these characters from a new starting point, such as having Talim and Tira be born slightly before their established dates in the previous continuity, or have Zasalamel be a part of the story before he made his presence known in SCIII. Seeing as how all three of these characters placed in the Top 10 of the popularity poll which they made clear was for the future of the series, and Talim making it to #1, having them removed would be pretty dumb from a PR standpoint as well.

Furthermore, this would allow more younger characters introduced in later games to make an appearance, such as Yun-seong or Hilde. Also, this approach means that changes to the established continuity can happen in ways such as Lizardman (or Aeon) having two axes the whole time rather than being a Moveset Clone of Sophitia with an added crawl stance, or characters having different appearances such as Nightmare going by his iconic look rather from II than the plain(er) one from his debut. Sophitia's profile also makes no mention of Rothion or her kids, which could already hint that they never meet in this version, or at least haven't met at this point.

Basically, the whole reboot was made to be a clean slate after SCV backed the series into a corner. With this in mind, they can make changes to the old continuity to fit their new one. As the original lore was made on the spot, this would be the chance to streamline everything into a complete package.

• On one hand, Talim is confirmed to be in the game as of this edit (7/5/18) and looks like her usual fifteen-year-old self, while Lizardman is back to being a sword-and-shield user a la Calibur. On the other hand, Okubo is apparently on the record as saying the story would cover some of the events seen in II, which would logically indicate that Talim wouldn't factor into the story (as a playable character at least) until the timeframe of II is reached as opposed to some X-Men: Apocalypse-esque convoluted reworking of the characters' ages, but there's no official confirmation yet.

The SCVI story will, to some extent, (begin to) better tie together the events of the Soul series with that of Tekken.

Or, more specifically, there might be a few more definite links beyond the Yoshimitsu of this series being the predecessor of the one in Tekken, particularly when it comes to the characters hailing from the Far East.

For starters, fans have often pointed out the similarities in fighting style between Taki/Natsu and Kunimitsu. Additionally, as noted on the WMG page here (even though it may get kicked out of canon depending on where the new continuity goes), the Fu-Ma Blade that Yoshimitsu II uses in SCV may be one in the same as the Fumaken Yoshimitsu picks up in Tekken 6 to seal away the cursed properties of the Yoshimitsu blade, as Yoshi II also uses the Fu-Ma Blade to keep his cursed sword under control, Fu-Ma Blade could be a partial rendering of Fumaken, Yoshi II was born in the same village as Natsu and is acquainted with her, and Taki is known to be a capable blacksmith who was able to fuse a shard of Soul Edge with one of her ninjato, never mind that the Fu-Ma ninja are trained in exorcising and subduing demonic entities. Thus, Project Soul may see it fit to have the Manji Party and Fu-Ma Clan eventually merge together to form the Manji Party that's featured in Tekken, maybe even going as far as to make Kunimitsu a Legacy Character much in the same vein as Yoshimitsu.

On a different note, perhaps there will be a brief cameo of the white oak from which Mokujin was carved out of, with a Call-Forward about the tree reacting to the presence of great evils. Speaking of which, Azazel, the Final Boss of T6, has been infrequently derided as a character who seems to better fit into the Soul series, but since he's connected to the Mishima family and their Devil Gene situation, that might be a can of worms better left unopened.

Time Travel (Mental Time Travel?) will be involved in some manner.

The idea's been making rounds in various forums, and it's not one without merit.

For starters, we know that the soul swords are unnatural entities capable of distorting the very fabric of reality (the space-time continuum included), an aspect of their existences that is highlighted especially in II (the Soul Edge shards being responsible for the appearances of any of the Guest Fighters), IV (see Talim's profile), and V (Pyrrha Omega ripping open a hole in the sky above Denevér Castle that led to Astral Chaos after obtaining Soul Edge is but one example). SCV also establishes that Edge Master can (somehow) send people back in time, as he did with Patroklos after Elysium manipulated the boy into killing Pyrrha. Assuming this wasn't an ability Edge Master picked up recently (and given that he's an immortal, highly knowledgeable hermit who's crossed paths with the likes of Algol and Olcadan, that sounds unlikely), one would think he could pull off a similar feat here. Then there's the announcement trailer, which frames the visions of Nightmare massacring a battalion of knights (from the opening of III), Siegfried and Nightmare's "final" battle (from the opening of V), and the Malfested outbreak (from V proper) as prophetic visions experienced by Sophitia, not unlike how she saw a vision of Siegfried as Nightmare prior to her journey in the original Soulcalibur.

So, who's to say that this isn't some kind of Fling a Light into the Past scenario akin to Mortal Kombat 9?

Time travel would also allow Project Soul to bring in certain faces without having to resort to a convoluted reworking of the lore to explain why characters could be older than they were in their "previous" debuts in what is supposed to be a revision of events set only a few years prior to that time. Besides, having V be, for all intents and purposes, the Bad Future of the Soul series would make for some hilarious (and probably much-needed) meta commentary, regardless of one's feelings about that game.

There will be an Expy of Patroklos in this game.

Only this time, he'll actually be a villain. Sophitia will have a particular reaction to him.

Sophitia: Your mother obviously didn't raise you right.

• Or Patroklos' fighting style will be given to his uncle Lucius. However, he will not have Patroklos' personality so to avoid him becoming The Scrappy like Patroklos did.

Zasalamel is aware of the old timeline, and is plotting that to his advantage.

It may seem strange that Zasalamel is given an Adaptational Early Appearance in this game, since he canonically didn't debut until III while VI mainly covers Soulcalibur with some of II. However, he's not only an enigmatic Chessmaster operating in the shadows, but is an immortal Time Master who reincarnates every time he dies with memories of his past lives. Keep in mind that VI is actually a new, rebooted timeline but not a total wipe as evident by there being some Call-Forwards to V and the confirmation that the story is, in some way, a sequel to it. That lends itself to the idea that this is actually a Cosmic Retcon where time itself has been altered and caused history to be "retold" in an in-universe justified reboot (think like Mortal Kombat 9).

As for Zasalamel? The fact that he's connected to time and reincarnates means he has memories of the old timeline, specifically his past self, and is plotting accordingly. That would explain why he's stepped out of the shadows sooner than he originally did, and why he plays a role in the story at a point where he hadn't yet been introduced. Overall, he's using memories of the past to create a new future, and may be one of the only characters (the others likely being Algol and Edge Master) to have this kind of knowledge. This could be how the timeline gets altered from the original, changing the course of the series forever.

• While it ends up having little effect on VI's main story, this almost certainly confirmed and will likely affect Soulcalibur going forward as a whole. In Zasalamel's secret final chapter, he mentions that he's received visions of his future self and abandons his plan to achieve death so he can acquire the two spirit swords and lead humanity to a glorious new future. Many speculate that the visions are in fact coming from his Original Timeline self, meaning this is in effect if that's the case.

Seong Mi-na and Taki will meet, and Mi-na's inferiority complex over Taki's "assets" will be acknowledged

This one is a little more humorous, but Seong Mi-na met Taki at one point early in the series and it was due to Taki's massive bust size that Mi-na's inferiority complex was fueled. In a game showcasing all the events, is full of fanservice, and could probably do well with some humor, it'd be a total waste for this to go unacknowledged. Bonus points if it leads to a fight over it.

• Sorta happened. Seong Mi-na's A-Cup Angst — despite her having a C-cup — is acknowledged, but outside of the story and in regards to Ivy rather than Taki.

Azwel is trying to save humanity from Patroklos

Azwel is actually from the future. He saw how Patroklos' actions somehow has damaged his future as well as mankind's. In order to secure a better future, he travels to the past trying to screw history or making sure Patroklos is never born. Truly he is a leader of humanity because most of these guys share the same disgust.

• Jossed.

Grøh will have a Running Gag where everyone mispronounces his name.

Everyone will mistakenly say "grow", and he will indignantly correct them with "grewer". Bonus points for even the announcer getting in on the fail. His enemies might even do it deliberately to piss him off.

• Jossed.

All the Non-magic fighters will get powers in a later installment

With VI having more emphasis on magic than ever, and two of the soul chronicles deconstructing the Badass Normal trope with two characters being humiliated in public and nearly murdered respectively as one, it would make sense they will otherwise start lagging behind.

Roster Speculation

Soulcalibur VI roster guesses.

This is for your guesses of which playable characters will be in SCVI. The confirmed characters are in bold. Rumored characters are in italic.

From Soul Edge/Soul Blade:

• Heishiro Mitsurugi
• Sophitia Alexandra
• Taki
• Siegfried Schtauffen
• Nathaniel "Rock" Adams - Mention in the Encyclopedia as "The White Giant"
• Voldo
• Hwang Song-gyeong (as Season 2 DLC).
• Seong Mi-na
• Li Long - Mentioned by Mitsurugi
• Cervantes de Leon
• Seong Han-myeong - Cameos as an NPC.
• SoulEdge (Inferno)
• Sophitia!
  • Most likely, Sophitia! and/or Sophitia!! might make a "return" as an alternate outfit for Sophitia as opposed to being separate characters altogether.
• Sophitia!!
• Siegfried!
  • Siegfried! was essentially a prototype design for Nightmare with a few differences (like red armor and a mutated left arm), so it'd be a bit redundant for both "characters" to be included unless Siegfried!'s design was used as the basis for a secondary costume of Nightmare's. (That, or the Color Edit feature from SCIII returns.)

From Soulcalibur:

• Kilik
• Chai Xianghua
• Maxi
• Astaroth I
• Isabella "Ivy" Valentine
• Nightmare (Siegfried)
• Aeon Calcos/Lizardman - Cameos as an NPC
• Yoshimitsu I
• Edge Master - Cameos as an NPC
• Arthur - Cameos as an NPC

From Soulcalibur II:

• Raphael Sorel
• Talim
• Hong Yun-seong - Mentioned by Seong Mi-na.
• Cassandra Alexandra (as Season 1 DLC).
• Charade
• Berserker - Cameos as an NPC
• Assassin - Cameos as an NPC
• Lizardmen - Cameos as an NPC

From Soulcalibur III:

• Nightmare (Inferno) - Fought at the end of Siegfried's Chronicle of Souls
• Zasalamel
• Tira (as Season 1 DLC).
• Setsuka (as Season 2 DLC).
• Amy Sorel (as Season 1 DLC).
• Abyss
• Olcadan
• Night Terror
• Revenant
• Valeria
• Hualin
• Lynette
• Greed - Mentioned by Miser
• Miser - Cameos as an NPC
• Creatable Characters

From Soulcalibur IV:

• Hildegard "Hilde" von Krone - Mentioned by an NPC (as Season 2 DLC)
• Algol - Mentioned by Zasalamel
• Ashlotte Maedel
• Kamikirimushi
• Shura
• Scheherazade
• Angol Fear

From Soulcalibur: Broken Destiny:

• Lord Geo Dampierre

From Soulcalibur V

• Z.W.E.I. - Mentioned in Johan's new Encyclopedia entry
• Viola - Cameos in Amy's Soul Chronicle
• Elysium - Mentioned by Zasalamel

New playable characters:

• Grøh
• Azwel
• Kunpaetku - Cameos as an NPC
• Toki - Mentioned by Taki and the other Fu-ma ninjas.
• Salia Olschmidt - Cameos as an NPC
  • Odashima did single Salia out as the girl in Siegfried's Soulcalibur ending and specifically noted that she was a longsword user (and harbored feelings for Siegfried), which made many think she was at one point planned to be included in V, so Project Soul could revisit that and include her in the game even though Odashima is no longer with the team. And since VI is unlikely to revisit any of the developments from V, this would also give the roster another Schwarzwind member besides Sieg.
• Johan Dürer - Cameos as an NPC
• Chie
• Azola
• Edgardo
• King George von Krone - Cameos as an NPC
• Arcturus
• Lucius Alexander - Cameos as an NPC
• Rothion - Cameos as an NPC
• Iska Acht - Cameos as an NPC
• Shugen Kokonoe - Cameos as an NPC
  • He use the same fighting style as his student, Setsuka. The game follows the events of other games, his chance of becoming playable has been jossed.

Guest playable characters:

• Geralt of Rivia
• 2B / YoRHa No. 2 Type B (as Season 1 DLC).
• Haohmaru (as Season 2 DLC)

Roster cuts from the pre-V games.

Not counting the characters from V, as they're all ruled out, there have been confirmed to be roster cuts from the original timeline before that. Which characters from that era do you think might get the axe for now? Discuss.

• Rock — Easily the most forgotten character, all of his moves can be done better by the more popular Astaroth, and no one would mind if he was cut. His chances aren't looking good...
• Seong Mi-na — Despite having appeared first, she's often seen as a clone of Kilik and is often forgotten. There's a chance they might not consider her worth keeping around.
  • Jossed. The character reveals at EVO 2018 show that Mi-na is still along for the ride this go-round.
• Cassandra — Popular as she is, Cassandra didn't have relevance at this point and with Lizardman going back to the shield and sword style that could mean she won't be in this time and will have to be Saved for the Sequel.
  • Jossed, she is the fourth DLC character for season one.
• Raphael — Hadn't yet been involved, and some leaks haven't pointed to him being playable, sad to say.
  • Well, he should have already been ousted from his hometown due to having to kill a Evil Seed-infected nobleman in self-defense. Whether or not he learns of Soul Edge earlier in the new timeline is up in the air, especially with the likelihood of Talim's inclusion.
  • Jossed, Raphael is playable.
• Yun-seong — Would've only been 14, and a perceived lack of popularity might be a factor in him getting cut.
• Setsuka — Has no connection to the plot and didn't appear until later.
  • Like Raph, Setsuka's motivation for getting involved (the death of her master) could be moved up in time to justify her presence. Also like Raph, Setsuka's unique playstyle could be a point in her favor, especially since it was already programmed into the last game via Alpha Patroklos. But who knows?
  • Jossed, Setsuka is playable as the third season 2 DLC.
• Tira — For the same reason as Talim and Yun-seong, she would only be 13 at this time. But her popularity and the rebooted timeline means she can appear sooner.
  • Pending changes to the timeline notwithstanding, the lore indicates that Tira had already been serving as an assassin for the Bird of Passage (she escaped when the Evil Seed was unleashed by Siegfried at the end of Soul Edge), meaning she'd logically have the same fighting skills as she did during III/IV (though down four years of combat experience). She'd presumably still be with her foster family at this point in time, however, as she didn't enter Nightmare's employ until right before the events of II (Word of God says the raven seen handing out Soul Edge shards in the opening of II belonged to Tira), but as with many things, that could also change here.
  • Tira's since been confirmed (as DLC), officially Jossing this one, but she has the appearance of her 17-year-old self. She's also confirmed to have her own Soul Chronicle, though it's unknown when her story takes place in the grand scheme of things.

Gameplay/Misc. Speculation

Character design speculations

While the two costumes we've seen draw inspiration from I, they're not 1:1 remakes and are new themselves. Thus, we can expect new costumes in the game, so let's speculate.

• Taki: A composite of her I and later costumes with her physical appearance based on IV. She'll wear her signature form-fitting tights as always, which will be purple/red, and will have a mask that covers the lower half of her face. However, the open cleavage will be removed, as it doesn't mesh well with the design, and there will be armor pieces on her forearms and shins.
  • Basically spot-on. Taki's appearance is virtually identical to that of Soulcalibur, right down to the half-mask and color scheme. The original design's Cleavage Window has been removed in favor of barring some skin on the side, but only to the extent of what was shown in II as opposed to IV. Additionally, Taki's character art depicts various glowing inscriptions on her bodysuit; they're slightly harder to see in-game, but light up during her ninpo or while she's in Soul Charge. (Perhaps the characters have something to do with her sealing arts and demon exorcisms?)
• Siegfried: An armored knight with a more mature appearance, like his appearance in the post-Soul Edge games.
  • Pretty accurate. Siegfried has his now-standard look that originated with Soulcalibur, though the design of his armor is a fairly large departure from what's been seen in SCI-SCIV/Broken Destiny (and Legends).
• Yoshimitsu: This being, well, Yoshimitsu, we can expect something entirely new and ridiculous.
  • Yoshimitsu's p2 outfit will be his original Soul Calibur outfit.
• Seong Mi-na: Predominantly orange and as you can expect, Stripperiffic. It'll be a mix of her I and II costumes.
  • Almost, but not quite. It's actually based on her pink bonus costume from Soul Blade. It is indeed Stripperiffic and seems to be inspired by later games, though.
• Nightmare: A modernized update of the classic◊ Nightmare from I, something based on his more iconic look from II, or a combination thereof similar to what V did.
  • Mostly the former (with the helmet also having some touches of the SCIII Nightmare), though the Azure Knight now sports a long, tattered cloak and his claw is more detailed akin to IV and V.
• Ivy: Like her I outfit, only skimpier.
  • Confirmed.
• Kilik: Returns to being a Walking Shirtless Scene, similar to his appearance in I and III.
  • Sort of. His clothes are fashioned after his Soulcalibur appearance (and his outfit in III by proxy), only he wears half of a robe covering his left side. However, he does lose it when hit by Clothing Damage or when he enters his "possessed" state/Berserker trance.
• Xianghua: Either her I or II appearances, made significantly fancier and more regal.
  • Largely correct. While Xianghua's outfit is mostly original, it has her usual white-and-blue color scheme and draws on elements from her designs in I, II, and even IV.
• Inferno: His p2 outfit will be based on either Night Terror from III or Nightmare's Soul Calibur IV p1 outfit.

Role Reprise speculation

With there being both many cases of Role Reprise and The Other Darrin, who do you think will likely be reprised or recast assuming the character returns at some point?

• Algol (Jamieson Price) — Reprised. Price is both very active in the field of union and non-union, and has reprised many roles when able. He should be able to come back if Algol does.
• Amy (Heather Watson) — Hard to tell. Hogan isn't active much, but hasn't entirely dropped off. She could return, but also may not.
  • Watson does indeed reprise Amy.
• Cassandra (Heather Halley) — Recast. Not only has it been a decade since her last appearance, but her actress hasn't been active in a long time.
  • Jossed. Heather Halley reprises her role.
• Cervantes (Patrick Seitz) — Reprised. His actor is still very active and able to do non-union voice acting. Unless they decide on a different direction, there's no reason Seitz can't return.
  • Confirmed to be Patrick Seitz.
• Hilde (Julie Ann Taylor) — Reprised. Her actress is active and able to do non-union dubs, so she could easily return should Hilde be brought back.
  • Confirmed.
• Raphael (Charles Klausmeyer) — Hard to tell. Klausmeyer isn't a super active actor, but he's never been, yet he's returned to Raphael in all subsequent appearances. Could go either way.
  • Confirmed to be Charles Klausmeyer.
• Setsuka (Tara Platt) — Recast. Her actress is strictly union now after the infamous voice actor strike.
  • Jossed. Tara Platt reprises her role.
• Tira (Katie McNulty) — Recast. Her actress is very inactive so it's unlikely she'll return.
  • Confirmed. The surprising part is that Tira's new voice actress is none other than Kate Higgins, the previous voice of Talim (and Natsu in V).
• Yun-seong (Michael Reisz) — Recast. Reisz hasn't been active much in the last decade since Yun-seong appeared.

Motif speculation

Everyone this time around has a visual motif to accompany their artwork, which pertains to either their heritage or personality. Speculate here!

• Talim — Cats
  • Jossed. They instead went with flowers, the sampaguita specifically.
• Tira — Ravens
  • Jossed. It's instead bird skeletons, though given Tira's association with ravens, those skeletons probably do belong to ravens.
• Voldo — Spiders
  • A spiderweb, actually, but close! (The cobweb is also connected to some sort of marble carving, but it's hard to make out any other details due to how Voldo is positioned in front of it.)
• Lizardman — Lizards
• Astaroth — Skulls
  • Jossed. It's actually a cobra.
• Cervantes — Cthulhu
  • Jossed. It's a skull.

The Canon Name of the main character of Libra of Souls.

It will be:

• Libra

Inferno will be weak to throws.

Throws will do normal damage to Inferno, while the rest of the attacks will do 3/4 damage.

Inferno will be a Foil to the previous final boss Elysium.

Inferno will use flames to Elysium's crystal. Inferno will be chaotic to Elysium's lawful. Elysium hides behind A Form You Are Comfortable With, while Inferno doesn't hide what he is.

DLC/Future Speculation

DLC Characters Speculation

Who do you foresee being DLC characters, either in the first season, second season or potentially in future seasons? Speculate!

• Li Long — Unlikely, as Maxi fills his role while being far more iconic and popular.
• Rock — Unlikely, he's not exactly highly requested, which casts doubt that many would buy him, and Astaroth was made into a Composite Character with Rock's elements integrated into his playstyle and design.
• Hwang — Very likely, he appears in the story complete with a unique appearance, and his style is unique to him.
  • Confirmed
• Aeon Calcos/Lizardman — Very likely, he's prominent in the story and art, and he has major potential as far as moveset is concerned. There's also the fact that you never actually fight him in-story, when they could've just made a custom lizardman using the "lesser" set, but they didn't, which seems pretty suspect.
  • Not to mention some of them have Axe and Shield styles, something that was synonymous with Lizardman in both III and IV, if that's not a strong indication of him being in VI, I don't know what would be.
• Edge Master — Barring him being free, unlikely. No one would want to pay for a character who uses styles that are already in the game.
• Cassandra — Very likely, she appears in the story and has a new and updated appearance, plus she's very popular with fans would be an easy fit to sell as DLC.
  • Confirmed
• Yun-seong — Possibly, though Hwang is looking more likely at the moment.
• Setsuka — Very likely, as her style is unique and she's very marketable.
  • Confirmed for Season 2.
• Tira — Confirmed.
• Amy — Confirmed.
• Hilde — Very likely, not only is she unique but Wolfkrone exists as part of the lore as established in the encyclopedia. Her age could easily be retconned to 18 around the start of I like how Tira's age was in Soul Chronicle.
  • Confirmed as the first character for Season 2, release wise.
• Algol — Possibly, while not exactly a fan-favorite he's central to the lore, has a unique style, and major potential for the future.
• Dampierre — Possibly, he's not super popular and yet it's not hard to see him down the line, especially since he's unique.
• Toki
• Salia Olschmidt — It's been mentioned that Project Soul has wanted to include a realistic Germanic swordfighting character for the past few games, and Salia would be a perfect candidate for this.
  • Alternatively, Project Soul might make this realistic German swordfighter a completely new character.
• 2B — Okubo has stated they're very much considering guest DLC, and 2B is very highly requested and has been brought to their attention in the past, plus she would be very marketable and could sell well for them while having interesting moveset potential.
  • Confirmed.
• Haohmaru from Samurai Shodown, has been confirmed as season two DLC.
• Patroklos Alexander. Or more specifically, an evil alternate timeline version of him that is upgraded from Designated Hero to a depraved monster who will stop at nothing to ensure that he won't be erased from existence, including trying to kill everyone that was cut from SCV.

Amy will be a Composite Character of herself and Viola

There's a good chance that Amy will appear in the game playable as herself, but will have her (presumed) alter-ego Viola's Orb style instead of her pseudo-clone rapier, to better distinguish her from Raphael, while also keeping a unique style from V and avoiding the potential backlash of including a V character over Amy outright. May have an evolution of the form that integrates Amy's lore better, with vampiric moves as well.

• 75% jossed. Her style is based on the rapier, with Divergent Character Evolution taking after Arcade Edition. But her appearance does take cues from Viola, and Azwel evidently plays a role in the future.

Z.W.E.I. will have an Expy version of him as DLC

For similar reasons, he's got a unique style but Okubo and the team may not want to outright include him by virtue of being from V and potentially causing a backlash on that alone. Instead, similar to how they created Azwel as an Suspiciously Similar Substitute of Necrid, a new reinvention of Z.W.E.I.'s style will be made, given to a brand new character who they would hope is more of a hit with fans. Bonus points if that character is tied to the Aval Organization.

• Hinted as of Hilde's addition. It is heavily implied that Wilhelm, Hilde's cousin and fiance, is actually Z.W.E.I, or will become him. And yes, the Aval Organization does have a hand in corroborating the connection, as the sword they give Wilhelm to sedate Malfested looks exactly the same as Z.W.E.I's sword. At the end, Wilhelm is also reduced to using his sword arm due to sacrificing his spear arm to stop the rampaging George von Krone, and said sword arm also happens to be the same one as Z.W.E.I's.

Lucius, the brother of Sophitia and Cassandra, will be added with an updated version of Patroklos' style

Patroklos being as hated as he is, and it being completely out of place to add him, is very unlikely to be DLC. That said, his masculine shield and sword style may have been his only point of praise, and could be salvaged by giving it to Sophitia and Cassandra's brother, Lucius, as it might do well to give the style to someone with a (hopefully) more bearable personality while still keeping the mainstays.

• It looks unlikely now that he made an appearance in Cassandra's story mode and is very young not to mention uninterested in fighting and busy taking care of his family. While it doesn't automatically jossed it seeing as how both Amy and Talim are around the same age as him yet they are fighters as well, it looks to be a very slim chance right now.

Season 2 includes a newcomer

In an interview with Kayane, Okubo was asked about Season 2. When she asked if the three characters besides Haohmaru were legacies, he said Maybe? in a question form. Then, when she asked if there was a new one, he suddenly paused, hesitant to give a direct answer, before telling her to wait and see. This is very telling. Had all the characters been returnees, it likely would've been made clear right away like how Tekken 7 Season 2 was. Furthermore, the fact that he got nervous when Kayane pressed for details, especially the idea of one of them being a newcomer, to which he tried to dodge. Kayane noted that much, which seems rather suspect. There's a very good chance they're preparing a brand new character to appear in Season 2, considering all of this.

• Jossed. There is no Season 2 newcomer, only three legacies: Hilde, Setsuka and Hwang.

One of the npc's of the Souls Series will become an Ascended Extra in season two.

Simular to Cassandra, Amy, Pyrrha and Algol becoming playable characters. This time it will be someone like Salia, Toki, Lyra or Bangoo.

Soul Calibur VII will introduce a new feature to character creation.

The feature will be the ability to have the eyes two different colours. For example you could have one eye with a red pupil and another eye with a blue pupil.

If there's a Season 3, all of the characters will be male

All of the Season 1 characters were female, Season 2 was a 50/50 split (2 males and 2 females) and all of the remaining characters from previous games who haven't been added yet (not counting the newcomers from V or the bonus characters from IV) are male. So unless the developers decide to add another female Guest Character or suddenly start adding newcomers, it stands to reason that if there ends up being a Season 3, all of its characters will be male.

Future Story Speculation

Arc Welding of II, III, and IV, with new elements thrown in

The story for DLC and/or future games (VII, VIII, etc.) will continue VI's trend of sticking to telling the previously All There in the Manual canon story, with minor alterations to spruce things up.

• Siegfried-as-Nightmare — now fully under Soul Edge/Inferno's control — hunting down the scattered shards of Soul Edge, gathering an army of Malfested, and possibly recruiting Tira
  • Implied to be confirmed by screenshots in Hwang's reveal trailer, which show Nightmare commanding a Malfested to help him locate Soul Edge's shards.
• Astaroth going AWOL and deciding to take Soul Edge for himself, with Ker either siding with him or fighting against him.
• The construction of Ashlotte by Fygul Cestemus, and her being dispatched to kill Astaroth — with her possibly being indwelled by a vengeful Ker.
• Amy coming across Raphael too late to prevent him from being malfested, and either becoming malfested herself out of despair or while treating his wounds as in the original timeline, or forging a new path for herself
• Kilik and Xianghua struggling to develop a romance after learning of Nightmare and Soul Edge's return
• Setsuka's master being killed by Mitsurugi, with her swearing revenge and hunting him down before deciding it's not worth it.
  • Confirmed to have already happened in Setsuka's DLC.
• Raphael following in Siegfried's footsteps by hunting for Soul Edge while going increasingly insane, eventually finding and fighting Nightmare and narrowly avoiding being killed by unwittingly freeing Siegfried from Soul Edge's control
• Tira becoming Nightmare's lieutenant — possibly before Siegfried is freed from the cursed sword's control
• Zasalamel and Azwel becoming a Big Bad Duumvirate, with the former seeking to utilize the latter's Ultimate Seed plot to either end his Born-Again Immortality or attain Complete Immortality, and the latter seeking the former's ancient knowledge of both Soul swords to perfect his plans.
  • Alternatively, Azwel taking over Zasalamel's role in III and being the one to resurrect Nightmare in order to acquire Soul Edge and Soul Calibur for himself.
• The Ultimate Seed awakening Algol from his slumber in Astral Chaos and letting him reconstitute himself, with him pulling a Hijacked by Ganon on Azwel and Zasalamel.
• Grøh getting his revenge on Azwel — or alternatively having said revenge stolen from him by Nightmare, Zasalamel, and/or Algol.
• Hilde setting out to seek vengeance against the Azure Knight, eventually finding Siegfried and possibly running into Salia and Schwarzwind along the way
• Elysium — preferably given a new appearance — appearing before or speaking to Siegfried through Soul Calibur after he is freed, offering to help him absolve his sins if he dedicates himself to serving her and destroying Soul Edge.
• Sophitia becoming malfested a la Pyrrha Ω, but breaking free of Soul Edge's control — possibly with help from Cassandra.
• Inferno-as-Nightmare slowly degenerating due to its lack of a host, reclaiming Soul Edge from Siegfried, and transforming into Night Terror for their final battle.
• Maxi survives his battle with Astaroth not with the implied help of Edge Master, but Azwel, who proceeds to manipulate the vengeful pirate to his own ends.
• New/returning characters could include:
  • Cassandra Alexandra (searching for Sophitia) — Set up by VI's DLC (and also possibly taking up Lucius' suggestion below)
  • Amy Sorel (searching for Raphael) — Set up by VI's DLC
  • Lizardman/Aeon Calcos (tasked by Ares with obtaining Soul Edge after Astaroth goes AWOL)
  • Setsuka (on a quest for revenge against Mitsurugi)
  • Hildegard von Krone (setting out to find her missing father and seek revenge on Nightmare)
  • Ashlotte (being sent by Fygul Cestemus to kill Astaroth)
  • Geo Dampierre (searching for Soul Edge to sell it)
  • Toki (searching for Soul Edge while being hunted by Taki)
  • Salia Olschmidt (searching for Siegfried and learning of his sins as Nightmare)
  • Lucius Alexander (out to prevent Sophitia from dying)

Journey through the past

Depicting lore-relevant events that were previously only mentioned All There in the Manual:

• Soul Edge's forging and eventual transformation into the cursed sword
• Algol's ancient conquest utilizing the nascent Soul Edge, Arcturus being malfested and killed by his father, and the creation of Soul Calibur
• The alluded-to incident of Soul Edge causing calamity in Ancient Egypt
• The founding of the Kingdom of Wolfkrone by "the Wolf" and his battle against the Germanic warlord wielding Soul Edge.
• Showing Zasalamel's backstory — specifically his tenure as the lord of the malfested and what the unnamed dynasty he founded was.
• King Arthur wielding Soul Calibur to defend England against the Saxon king wielding Soul Edge, and his followers founding the Aval Organization after the Battle of Camlann.
• Edge Master's backstory and how he came to be an immortal Master of All
• The establishment of the Birds of Passage during the Black Death — which could be portrayed as a widespread malfestation outbreak akin to the Evil Seed.
• Nobunaga's destruction of the Manji clan, with Toki leading the Fu-ma clan
• The events of and leading up to Soul Edge,^note Cervantes establishing himself as an infamous pirate and finding Soul Edge; Siegfried joining Schwarzwind, killing his father, going insane, and hunting for Soul Edge; Sophitia and Aeon being chosen by Hephaestus to retrieve Soul Edge, and the latter's transformation into Lizardman; etc. since VI skipped them over.

The setting will seriously diverge here compared to what was portrayed in VI

Soulcalibur VI, barring easy to miss changes, mainly stuck to the original lore while streamlining various unconnected aspects, inconsistencies, and obscure elements together to make a more fully-realized world. However, one of the biggest changes, hinted at in Zasalamel's secret final chapter, is that he sees a vision from the future, possibly of his future self, which instead motivates him to abandon his plans to die so he can achieve it. This gives us a very good hint at what's to come, as whatever it is, it's something that's different from the Original Timeline, and changed the way things progressed. It's safe to assume that here is where the story will create a unique lore of its own that's not tied to the original lore, and continue forward without the infamous Time Skip of V.

• At the end of the main Chronicle, Kilik rejects the piece of the Dvapara Yuga that Xianghua recovers for him and instead lets her keep it as a memento. Not only does this provide hints at Kilik's development and control over his malfestation, but it affects how Raphael's arc from III, wherein he sought out Kilik for information about the Dvapara Yuga with regards to its effects on malfested. If this same story plays out, he'd likely pursue Xianghua instead.

The existence of the Conduit will cause/has already caused the timeline to diverge.

The one thing that we're sure has changed in a major way this time around is that Zasalamel's plans have altered, apparently due to a vision sent by his future self. And who is it that saves the Conduit at the beginning of their story and informs them how to survive? My theory is that in the original timeline the Conduit either died or became a mindless Malfested and had no serious effects on history. Azwel's plan therefore failed on it's own, as the existence of the Conduit was required for success. This time round Zasalamel saved the Conduit due to his changed objectives. The Conduit then went on to change Azwel and Grøh's destinies in a big way (at a guess I'd say in the original timeline Grøh died fighting Azwel and Azwel himself was later killed by Zasalamel to remove him as a complication). They also interacted in small but significant ways with most of the rest of the cast, which may account for some of the minor differences in the story (with the rest being indirect results of Zasalamel's meddling). As such the Conduit's adventures have already set the world down a different path.

Viola is not Amy herself, but rather she is Amy's clone.

Azwel is shown to be connected to Viola in the New Timeline, and he's a mastery of things like sorcery and alchemy. Furthermore, this interaction◊ roughly translates to "How these nice colors are reflected! You used to be a doll, now you're really human! The most experimental subject, what a drama!". While out of context right now, each sentence can refer to this:

• The line "how these nice colors are reflected" could refer to Viola being a reflection from Amy.
• The line "you used to be a doll, now you're really human" could refer to Viola, a lifeless doll, becoming human from Amy's blood.
• The line "the most experimental subject, what a drama!" could refer to Viola being a subject of Amy.

This would be in contrast to how Viola was portrayed in the Original Timeline, who was all but said to be Amy with amnesia, especially since Azwel didn't exist back then yet has an Adaptation Origin Connection to her here. He would also be pretty difficult to introduce since V's 17-year Time Skip was intended to be the status quo of the series going forward, and it wasn't. What this likely means is that Viola could be introduced into the New Timeline, but in a different context, allowing for the one character that was considered a success to continue while being separate from Amy. This being a confirmed reboot, with Tira and especially Zasalamel showing bigger divergences than characters introduced earlier, this will set up the timeline to massively diverge from the original without the 17-year time skip.

The Conduit's story will continue in the next game.

It seems unlikely that the Conduit would just vanish from the setting after the events of Libra of Soul; perhaps the next game will include a save file import feature to facilitate this.

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